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The Relationship Between Closed-Loop Auditory Stimulation During Sleep And Eeg On Memory Consolidation, Hector Patricio Valverde

Psychology ETDs

Slow-wave sleep is critical for consolidating information into long-term memory. Past research has found this process can be enhanced using closed-loop auditory stimulation (CLAS), where pink noise tones are timed to slow oscillations using live EEG to increase slow wave amplitude and synchronize connections across the neocortex, thalamus, and hippocampus. In this study, subjects slept in our laboratory while receiving counterbalanced sham or verum CLAS. Memory retention scores were calculated using a paired associates word task completed before and after sleep. Subjective sleep quality scores were also obtained. A total of 33 verum and 35 sham nights of data were …

The Role Of The Female Reproductive Cycle In Social Communication And Relevance To Mental Health, Julissa Amaro Castillo, Fernando Dominguez, Ariana Hinojosa, Giselle Padilla, Mario Gil

Research Symposium

The female reproductive cycle is characterized by fluctuating hormones, including estrogens and progesterone, that are involved in reproductive health; however, they have also been linked to disorders like Premenstrual syndrome (PMS), Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder (PMDD), mood swings, depression and others. The goal of this study is to use the Syrian hamster (Mesocricetus auratus) as an animal model to examine the influence of the reproductive cycle and hormones on behavior. Scent-marking activity known as flank marking is exhibited by territorial or sociable animals. In essence, animals mark their territory or convey information such as reproductive status by rubbing their flanks or …

Effects Of Arginine-Vasopressin In The Brain On Cardiovascular Function In A Psychosocial Stress Animal Model, Esmeralda Lopez-Garcia, Ariana V. Hinojosa, Esperanza I. Alaniz, Fernando Dominguez, Giselle Padilla, Mario Gil

Research Symposium

Background: Psychosocial stress impacts cardiovascular health, increasing the risk of events like myocardial infarction (MI), stress cardiomyopathy, and neuropsychiatric disorders, including Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) and Anxiety. However, our understanding of the biological mechanisms that connect psychosocial stress with negative cardiovascular and psychological outcomes remains incomplete. Arginine-vasopressin (AVP) is linked to both mental and physical health by regulating social behavior, blood pressure, and anxiety-related behaviors. This study investigates the potential cardioprotective effects of the neuropeptide AVP, in an effort to generate evidence that it may strengthen heart function and lessen the severity of adverse cardiovascular events caused by stress, brain …

Personal Pronoun Comprehension In Addressed And Non-Addressed Situations In Autistic And Nonautistic Preschoolers, Jonet Artis, Rhiannon Luyster, Lily Carroll, Angela Xiaoxue He, Sudha Arunachalam

Emerson Authors, Researchers, & Creators

This research paper explores the role of speaker, listener and real-time social attention for pronoun comprehension in autistic and nonautistic children in the northeast United States. We assessed the pronoun comprehension of 22 autistic children (average age of 62 months, range 46–80 months) and 22 nonautistic children (average age 44 months, range 30–57 months) matched on expressive vocabulary scores. We evaluated the first- and second-person possessive pronoun comprehension (“my” and “your”) using a game in which two experimenters hid stickers and provided clues to their location by providing a verbal clue (e.g. “It’s in your box”) with accompanying gaze to …

When Grief Comes To Court: Supporting Bereaved Court Involved Youth, Lane Pease, Erin Richter

National Youth Advocacy & Resilience Conference

Youth who are court involved have higher rates of bereavement than the general population. Learn how grief impacts youth involved in the Juvenile Court. This session will focus on how bringing together court stakeholders and partnering with outside experts to provide grief support can decrease further court involvement and lead to positive outcomes.

Investigating The Relationship Among Environmental Factors, Reproductive Status, And Stress In A Preclinical Model Of Endocrine Function In Women’S Translational Health, Bianca A. Camacho, Laura Emma Garcia, Raquel Villarreal, Mario Gil

Research Symposium

Background: The average menstrual cycle of a healthy adult woman is a duration of approximately 28 days, during which in the follicular phase (first 14 days) the progesterone hormone is at a stable level while estrogen increases to its peak level on day 14. Day 14 is known as ovulation, during which progesterone increases during its Luteinizing Hormone (LH) surge while estrogen decreases. Menses, known colloquially as a woman’s “period,” begins approximately at day 14 after ovulation and lasts an average of 7 days. The luteal phase, otherwise known as the secretory phase, lasts for the remaining 14 days until …

Exploring The Effects Of Serotonin And Ssris On The Neurological, Behavioral, And Cardiovascular Systems Under Induced Stress –Using The Animal Model Of The Syrian Hamster, Ariana V. Hinojosa, Esperanza I. Alaniz, Esmeralda Lopez-Garcia, Giselle Padilla, Fernando Dominquez, Mario Gil

Research Symposium

Background: Serotonin is a neurotransmitter that has been found to have a wide range of effects on not just the neuropsychological processes but has also been found to exert effects outside the central nervous system (CNS); regulating numerous biological processes, such as metabolism, gastrointestinal system, reproductive function, and even the cardiovascular system. However, there is still a limited understanding of how serotonin affects all these systems due to its complexity and ability to regulate homeostasis. This project aims to create a stronger foundation of knowledge about serotonin and its influence on the interaction between the CNS, behavior, and cardiac function …

The Associations Of Negative And Disorganization Symptoms With Verbal Fluency In Schizophrenia: The Mediation Effect Of Processing Speed And Cognitive Flexibility, Ernest Marek Tyburski, Ewa Zawadzka, Adrianna Bober, Ewa Karabanowicz, Piotr Podwalski, Jerzy Samochowiec, Anna Michalczyk, Leszek Sagan, Ashok Jansari, Shane T. Mueller, Michał Harciarek, Błażej Misiak, Karolina Lutkiewicz, Krzysztof Wietrzyński, Jolanta Kucharska-Mazur, Artur Reginia, Monika Mak

Michigan Tech Publications

Background: Psychopathological symptoms appear important for cognitive functions in schizophrenia. Nevertheless, the factors and their impact on relationships between negative or disorganization symptoms and verbal fluency are still debatable. The preliminary objective of the study was to compare verbal fluency, including clustering and switching as cognitive strategies, executive functions, and processing speed between individuals with schizophrenia (SZ) and healthy controls (HC). The main aim of the study was to investigate mediation models and identify whether relationships between negative and disorganization symptoms and verbal fluency in schizophrenia are mediated by cognitive flexibility and processing speed. Methods: Semantic (animal and fruit) and …

Contraceptive Hormone Influences On The Role Of Primary Reinforcement And Reinforcer-Enhancement In Nicotine Self-Administration, Kathleen Robin Mcnealy

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

Hormonal contraceptives contain a synthetic estrogen (e.g., ethinyl estradiol/EE) and/or a synthetic progestin (e.g., levonorgestrel/LEVO) and can exacerbate nicotine intake. However, whether altered intake reflects changes in nicotine reinforcement or enhancement by nicotine of co-occurring reinforcers is unknown. This reinforcer-enhancement effect is evidenced in rats when nicotine self-administration is increased by the presence of a visual stimulus (VS) reinforcer. This dissertation examined the effects of EE and LEVO on nicotine reinforcement and reinforcer-enhancement in ovary-intact female Sprague-Dawley rats. Rats were implanted with a jugular catheter and assigned to receive daily injections of EE (Vehicle, 0.125 [Low], or 0.18 [High] μg/day; …

A Comparison Of Training Procedures On The Emergence Of Intraverbal-Tacts, Mary Halbur, Tiffany Kodak, Jessi Reidy

Psychology Faculty Research and Publications

Vocal exchanges are often comprised of responses under multiple sources of stimulus control. For example, a picture may contain multiple components, and an instructor may ask a learner to respond differentially to questions about the picture (e.g., “who,” “what,” “where,” “color,” “number,” “shape”). The format of teaching may affect the development of verbal behavior under multiple sources of stimulus control. Therefore, the present investigation compared teaching stimuli in isolation to teaching with compound stimuli on the emergence of verbal behavior to evaluate methods that assist with correctly answering questions about compound stimuli. This study used a translational model with undergraduate …

Ubuntu In Namibia And Kenya: How Emerging Adults Live An Essential African Value Today, Julia S. Rotzinger, Lene Arnett Jensen, Amber Gayle Thalmayer

Psychology

Psychology in Africa often relies on Euro-American theories, despite their limitations in African cultures. Here, a shift to an Afrocentric perspective was made by exploring Ubuntu in two sub-Saharan African countries using a cultural-developmental psychology approach for in-depth emic understanding. Ubuntu (also known as botho, etc.) is a moral ideal that at core means placing a higher importance on the community than on oneself. Most literature on this important African concept has been theoretical rather than empirical, and little is known about how well it describes contemporary worldviews and experiences of emerging adults. In this interview study, Namibian and Kenyan …

The Role Of Mthfr Gene Mutation In Neurodevelopmental Disorders: Exploring Potential Correlations With Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder And Anxiety, Heba Mehmood

All NMU Master's Theses

One of the most common neurodevelopmental disorders is Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), which is often co-occurring with symptoms of depression and anxiety. The misdiagnosis and overdiagnosis of ADHD is agreed to be a prevalent problem. The methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) gene has been identified as a possible contributor to ADHD. The goal of this research is to decrease the frequency at which ADHD is misdiagnosed by investigating the correlation between the MTHFR gene at the single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) C677T to ADHD and anxiety. A group of 80 participants’ DNA samples were collected through cheek swabs following IRB approval. Participants …

Examining Children's Verb Learning In The United States And Japan: Do Comparisons Help?, Jane B. Childers, Mutsumi Imai, Masato Ohba, Faith Perry, Leah Marsh

Psychology Faculty Research

Learning verbs is an important part of learning one's native language. Prior studies have shown that children younger than 5 years can have difficulty in learning and extending new verbs. The current study extended these studies by showing children multiple events that can be compared during learning, including Japanese- and English-speaking children. In the study, 2-, 3-, and 4-year-olds saw two similar events and then one varied (progressive alignment) or three varied (low alignable) events in a learning phase before test, and this was repeated for four sets. Children were asked to extend these novel verbs in easy (non-cross-mapping) and …

A Qualitative Look At The Impact Of Animal-Assisted Therapy On The Lived Experiences Of Recovery Home Residents With Co-Occurring Substance Use And Mental Health Disorders, Philip M. Papoojian

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Animal-assisted therapy (AAT) is a commonly used intervention strategy for addressing psychiatric disorders comorbid with substance use in Europe but is a rarely used intervention in North America. As substance abuse continues to rise in contemporary Western culture, particularly in the United States, new interventions, including AAT, need to be considered. Cannabis abuse and opioid abuse are often comorbid with other psychiatric disorders such as alcoholism, general anxiety disorder, depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and PTSD. The combination of these factors can stunt developmental processes. This study was designed as a qualitative exploration of the lived experiences of male substance users …

Exploring Mental Health, Future Rehabilitation, And Systemic Oppression In Inmates: A Qualitative Study, Vennissica F. Kelly

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this study was to examine the experiences of systemic oppression in incarcerated inmates, with a focus on their emotional/psychological experience of systemic oppression and how it impacted their willingness to participate in rehabilitation programs. This phenomenological study used elements of the narrative approach to obtain the common themes that surfaced while communicating with the participants and focused on two areas: systemic oppression and how it affected the mental health of inmates and how it affected their willingness to participate in rehabilitation programs. For this purpose, systemic oppression was defined as systemic power used to control others. To …

Nature-Based Education As A Learning Tool: Unleashing The Power Of Nature-Based Education In Egyptian Primary Schools. "The Effects Of Outdoor Learning And Open-Air Classrooms On Primary School Students In Egypt.", Nermeen Bekhiet

Theses and Dissertations

When learning modalities are tailored to each student's preferences and needs, academic success follows. This effect is contingent upon both individual and surrounding factors. Many schools in Egypt and the Middle East do not concentrate on how exposure to nature and nature-based learning can affect how the learner perceives his or her learning area. Most schools in Egypt have no exposure to nature to allow students to explore the world in their way; there is no room for diverse students to excel. Therefore, this exploratory research aims to reestablish a connection between private primary school students and the natural world …

“Feels Good Man”: How One Amphibian Became A Weapon Of Mass Disinformation, Samuel Stiller

Binghamton University Undergraduate Journal

This paper investigates the “Pepe the Frog” meme to explore the significance of memes as a medium of disinformation with particular emphasis on how the psychology of anonymity affects how disinformation is disseminated.

Benefits Of Equilibrium Between Microbiota- And Host-Derived Ligands Of The Aryl Hydrocarbon Receptor After Stroke In Aged Male Mice, Pedram Peesh, Maria P Blasco-Conesa, Ahmad El Hamamy, Romeesa Khan, Gary U Guzman, Parisa Honarpisheh, Eric C Mohan, Grant W Goodman, Justin N Nguyen, Anik Banerjee, Bryce E West, Kyung Ae Ko, Janelle M Korf, Chunfeng Tan, Huihui Fan, Gabriela D Colpo, Hilda Ahnstedt, Lucy Couture, Solji Roh, Julia K Kofler, Jose F Moruno-Manchon, Michael E Maniskas, Jaroslaw Aronowski, Rodney M Ritzel, Juneyoung Lee, Jun Li, Robert M Bryan, Anjali Chauhan, Venugopal Reddy Venna, Louise D Mccullough, Bhanu Priya Ganesh

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Recent studies have highlighted the crucial role of microglia (MG) and their interactions with the gut microbiome in post-stroke neuroinflammation. The activation of immunoregulatory pathways, including the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR) pathway, is influenced by a dynamic balance of ligands derived from both the host and microbiota. This study aimed to investigate the association between stroke-induced dysbiosis and the resultant imbalance in AHR ligand sources (loss of microbiota-derived [indole-based] and increase of host-derived [kynurenine-based]) after stroke. Microbiota-derived AHR ligands decreased in human plasma and remained low for days following an ischemic stroke highlighting the translational significance. Transient-middle-cerebral-artery-occlusion was performed in …

Parental Strategies For Modifying Behavior: The Positives Of Positive Reinforcement, Benjamin D. Rasmussen

Intuition: The BYU Undergraduate Journal of Psychology

This research investigates the effectiveness of positive reinforcement as a central parenting strategy for modifying children’s behavior, grounded in B.F. Skinner’s operant conditioning theory. Using factor analysis, two key factors emerged: the impact of positive reinforcement on behavior change and its influence on parent-child dynamics. Positive reinforcement, which involves rewarding desirable behaviors with positive stimuli, has been found to promote the repetition of those behaviors and yield beneficial long-term outcomes. The evidence indicates that this approach not only strengthens desirable behaviors but also enhances the quality of relationships between parents and children, and teachers and students. Although some argue that …

Transhumanism And Artificial Personality, John D. Mayer

UNH Personality Lab

No abstract provided.

Understanding The Relationship Between Food And Connection To God, Angela M. Hall

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

A person’s relationship with God is a personal one, as is the choice of the food we eat. Today we see more and more people struggle with unhealthy relationships with food. And our relationship with food affects more than just our physical health. Food and diet can play a role in how we hear from God. The present qualitative study aimed to understand the relationship between food and connection to God. Specifically, this study aimed to explain lived experiences with food and if diet affected connection to God. A total of twelve Christian, adult men and women participated in 1:1 …

Learning From Sesame Street: A Qualitative Analysis Of Acceptance, Inclusion, And Cultural Diversity, Justin M. Polette

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Sesame Street first aired on public television in 1968. Sesame Street was developed by television producer Joan Ganz Cooney in partnership with educational and developmental psychologists to bridge the achievement gap in school readiness, specifically in underserved and underrepresented urban communities. This achievement gap was credited to societal racism and a lack of acculturation and racial diversity. Sesame Street was one of the first television programs, and the first children’s program, to feature an urban setting and a culturally diverse cast. During the 1940s, television programming was an almost exclusively white, Caucasian medium. The roles written for minority characters were …

Culture And Attachment Preference Among Young Adults In Egypt And The United States, Musheera Anis Abdellatif

School of Education Faculty Publications

We explored the relationship between cultural values, recollected early caregiving experiences and young adult attachment preference. Young adults in Egypt (N = 209) and the United States (N = 554) ranked their current attachment preference, rated their collectivist and individualist beliefs, and recalled the relative contributions of their early caregivers. Egyptian students scored higher than US students on collectivism and recalled more involvement from non-parental caregivers. Most participants reported a preference hierarchy (82% Egypt & 84% US). Surprisingly, individualism was negatively associated with maternal attachment ratings and with having a clear principal attachment relationship, whereas higher collectivism predicted …

Seguir Adelante: A Qualitative Exploration Of Latino Farmworkers' Work And Nonwork Resources., Faviola Robles Saenz, Julissa Castellanos Regalado, Larry Martinez, Greg Townley

Psychology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Latino immigrant workers have been an exploited community within many dangerous workforces, but especially within the agricultural industry. They are a crucial population for the labor and economy of the U.S., yet Latino farmworkers report feeling expendable, discriminated against, and exposed to hazardous working conditions. Due to these experiences, it is essential to explore the resources that farmworkers find valuable in improving their working conditions. This study draws upon qualitative interviews conducted with 41 Latino farmworkers in Oregon. Themes pertaining to work and nonwork resources were uncovered through thematic analysis, illustrating that farmworkers receive support from their proximal communities and …

Constructing A Parameterized Stimuli Space Suitable To Induce Controlled Changes In Human And Machine Perceptual Systems, Andrew Frankel

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Traditional computer vision applications focus on objective tasks, such as object detection, classification, or segmentation. Much of human experience is inherently subjective, such as our personal response to artwork. Individualized experiences are challenging to replicate in a controlled laboratory environment, as those experiences depend on the unique history and internal models of the observer. This work presents a technique to construct a 2-dimensional parameterized stimuli space suitable to induce controlled changes in the perceptual systems of both human and machine observers. Our contributions are threefold:

1. Using a balanced dataset of 8,800 fine art images spanning 11 art movements and 88 …

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Beauty Comes With A Price: But How Much Is It Worth It, Fabliha Afia

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The global skincare market, valued at 104.24 billion dollars in the year 2022, is very heterogeneous, ranging from prestige brands to more drugstore types. Even when the same key ingredients are present, the latter often sells for much higher due to branding and packaging and the aura of prestige created. This capstone project entitled "Beauty comes with a price: but how much is it worth?" investigates if such higher costs are justified due to superior quality or are driven by non-functional factors. It systematically compared the high-end versus drugstore skincare products in categories like sunscreens, serums, and exfoliants with respect …

A Benjaminian Rumination Of Grasses And Tomatoes In Contemporary Anatolian Film, Ceren Izci

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This thesis interprets the intersection of history, ecology, and politics through two contemporary Anatolian films: Nuri Bilge Ceylan’s About Dry Grasses and Murat Fıratoğlu’s One of These Days When Hemme Dies. We focus on the films’ portrayal of social relations and relationships to other living beings through interpreting the temporal layers and historical tensions present in the plots of the films. We introduce the paper by pondering over the question of whether these films are political. Drawing on Walter Benjamin’s concepts of “first nature” and “second nature”, the first chapter introduces the philosophical framework for understanding the connection between …

Religion: Evolutionary Foundation For, Nicole Fellice Ko, Norman P. Li

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Religion refers to a structured set of spiritual beliefs and rituals. Evolution refers to the process by which living organisms transform and develop over time. Religion—the belief in spiritual beings—influences nearly every aspect of life, making it challenging to understand many phenomena without considering its influence (Bloom, 2012). About two-thirds of the world’s population is religious (Kramer & Tong, 2024); 70% of Americans consider themselves spiritual, and 83% believe they have a spirit separate from their bodies (PEW Research Center, 2023). Throughout history, religion has played a significant role in conflicts like war and continues to influence contemporary issues such …

Examining The Effects Of A Social Cognitive Intervention Aimed At Promoting Appropriate Antibiotic Use Self-Efficacy, Erin M. Hill, Andriana Frost

Journal of Social, Behavioral, and Health Sciences

Our goal in this study was to examine the effect of a social cognitive intervention aimed at improving appropriate antibiotic use self-efficacy (AAUSE). The intervention incorporated several aspects of self-efficacy theory, including mastery, vicarious learning, and verbal persuasion. To test the effectiveness of the intervention, we used two comparison conditions—reading a pamphlet focused on antibiotic resistance (ABR) or one focused on general health (diet, physical activity, sleep). A total of 226 undergraduate students completed the study, which involved completing a series of questions/questionnaires at time 1 (preintervention), engaging in the intervention (or reading a pamphlet), and then completing the time …

Exploring Global Research Trends On Smoking And Mental Health: A Bibliometric Analysis, Martaria Rizky Rinaldi, Jelang Hardika

Jurnal Ekonomi Kependudukan dan Keluarga

This bibliometric analysis explores global trends, author productivity, institutional and country contributions, citation patterns, and thematic relationships in the literature linking smoking and mental health. Data from the Scopus database were retrieved using specific keyword combinations related to smoking and mental health, resulting in 1,782 eligible articles after filtering for research quality. The study examines publication trends, identifies high-impact studies, and maps thematic clusters in the field. Results indicate a notable increase in publications after 2000, driven by growing recognition of smoking's impact on mental well-being and the integration of mental health considerations in tobacco control policies. Thematic mapping reveals …