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Communicative Competence In Persons With Aphasia: The Impact Of Executive Function, Judy Marie Mikola

Wayne State University Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between executive function and performance on selected linguistic tasks in persons with aphasia secondary to left frontal lesions.

A group of 15 persons with aphasia (PWA) completed three communication board tasks of varying levels of complexity and structure. The subject's functional use of the picture/word communication board was tested during a Story Retelling task. In addition, the PWA's executive function skills were examined using six nonverbal tests. The PWA group performance scores were compared to that of the neurologically healthy control group.

Results demonstrated that the control group performed significantly …

Differential Effects And Rates Of Normal Aging In Cerebellum And Hippocampus, Diana S. Woodruff-Pak, Michael R. Foy, Garnik G. Akopian, Ka Hung Lee, Jordan Zach, Kim Phuong Thi Nguyen, David M. Comalli, John A. Kennard, Alexis Agelan, Richard F. Thompson

Psychological Science Faculty Works

Cognitive functions show many alternative outcomes and great individual variation during normal aging. We examined learning over the adult life span in CBA mice, along with morphological and electrophysiological substrates. Our aim was to compare cerebellum-dependent delay eyeblink classical conditioning and hippocampus-dependent contextual fear conditioning in the same animals using the same conditioned and unconditioned stimuli for eyeblink and fear conditioning. In a subset of the behaviorally tested mice, we used unbiased stereology to estimate the total number of Purkinje neurons in cerebellar cortex and pyramidal neurons in the hippocampus. Several forms of synaptic plasticity were assessed at different ages …

The Effects Of Mood And Dispositional Affectivity On Self-Reported Job Satisfaction, Cristina D. Kirkendall

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

Job satisfaction has several antecedents, including situational factors (e.g., pay, job characteristics), personality factors (e.g., positive and negative affectivity), and social interactions at work. Job satisfaction is most often measured with self-report surveys which may not effectively capture unconscious attitudes or context effects such as mood. Mood at time of survey completion has been shown to have an effect on self-reported satisfaction measures. This study uses animal-related video clips as a mood induction and examines the effect of induced mood and personality factors on self-report measures of job satisfaction.

Influence Of Edge Rate, Global Optical Flow Rate, Angle, And Expansion Rate On Braking Behavior, Sheldon M. Russell

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

A driving simulator was used to understand the way humans control collisions. Based on the research of Smith et al. (2001), and McKenna (2004), this study altered distance to and size of a target to determine if optical angle and expansion rate were used independently to control behavior in a collision event rather than combined into a single variable, tau, as suggested by Lee (1976). Furthermore, edge rate as defined by Denton (1980) and global optical flow rate (GOFR) (Warren, 1982) were considered as possible visual sources of egomotion information. Similar to the results found by McKenna (2004), participants appeared …

Reference Place Conditioning Procedure With Cocaine: Increased Sensitivity For Measuring Associatively Motivated Choice Behavior In Rats, Carmela M. Reichel, Jamie L. Wilkinson, Rick A. Bevins

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

Place conditioning is widely used to study the conditioned rewarding effects of drugs. In the standard version, one reward (cocaine) is compared to no reward (saline). A modified variant of this task, “reference-conditioning” procedure, compares two potentially rewarding stimuli (high versus low cocaine dose). There has been little research on the utility of this procedure. Experiment 1 used the standard protocol with saline administered before confinement to the reference compartment of a place-conditioning chamber. On alternating days, saline, 2.5, 5, 7.5, 10, or 20 mg/kg cocaine was administered before confinement to the opposite compartment. In Experiments 2 and 3, reference-compartment …

Vocabulary And Phonological Awareness In 3- To 4-Year-Old Children: Effects Of A Training Program, Iuliana Elena Baciu

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The impact of a preschool training program that combined a vocabulary instruction strategy with phonological awareness activities and instruction in the alphabetic principle, as well as incidental teaching of basic vocabulary items was evaluated using a pretest-posttest design with a control group. This language and literacy (LL) training targeted three to four year-old English as a second language (L2) learners and monolingual (L1) English speakers (n = 63) and was conducted twice a week for two hours, for a total of 24 weeks. Both language groups contained a low socioeconomic status (SES) and a middle SES groups. The children …

Training Children Where They Learned Information: A Test Of Two Techniques, Justine Renner

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Source-monitoring abilities are crucial skills for children’s social and cognitive development, thus, source-monitoring training (SMT) has the potential to benefit children in many practical settings. While some previous research reported that older (7- to 8-years-old) but not younger children (3- to 4-year-olds) benefitted from SMT (Poole & Lindsay, 2002), other studies have found training effects with younger children (Thierry & Spence, 2002; 2004). The current study examined younger and older children's source monitoring trainability by comparing the two different training used in these previous studies: training to a criterion versus a set amount of training. 158 children (aged 3-4 and …

Investigating The Relationship Between Motor Resonance And Nonconscious Mimicry, Jeremy Hogeveen

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Motor resonance refers to the mirroring of observed actions in one’s own motor system. It is possible that motor resonance is the neural mechanism underlying nonconscious mimicry (NCM)—the ubiquitous phenomenon wherein people mimic the behaviour of interaction partners (Chartrand & Bargh, 1999). Previous research has shown that priming interdependent selfconstrual (interSC) increases mimicry (van Baaren et al., 2003). If motor resonance is the mechanism underlying NCM, then a manipulation known to facilitate mimicry (i.e. interSC) should increase motor resonance. In experiment one, we variably primed independent selfconstrual (indSC)—known to inhibit mimicryv—and interSC in a motor priming paradigm. Participants observed videos …

Administration Of A Cannabinoid Receptor Antagonist Following Chronic ∆9-Tetrahydrocannabinol Induces Physical Withdrawal In The Absence Of A Dysphoric State, Brittany Ford

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The selective cannabinoid CB1 receptor antagonist SR141716 has been shown to precipitate physical signs of withdrawal in ∆⁹-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC)-dependent rats; however, the affective state associated with this withdrawal state has not yet been well characterized. Thus, the aim of present study was to examine the physical and affective consequences of SR141716-precipitated THC withdrawal in male Sprague-Dawley rats. Rats were injected with THC (5 mg/kg, i.p.) or its vehicle twice daily for 13 consecutive days, and challenged with SRI 41716 (1 mg/kg, i.p.) or its vehicle 1 h later on days 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, and 13. Consistent …

Age And Amount Of Experience On Children’S Representations Of Repeated Events, Una Glisic

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The current study examined how children’s event representations changed with increasing experience with an event. There were 81 children (40 4-to-5-year-olds, and 41 7-to-8-year-olds) who participated in either 2 (n = 41) or 4 (n = 40) repeated event sessions, which consisted of activities such as playing a counting game, and/or doing a puzzle. Event sessions included three different item types; variable items (which changed at every occurrence), fixed items (which stayed constant throughout the event), and new items (which only occurred once throughout the series). Children were interviewed 5-7- days following their last event session using free-recall, …

A Model Of Animal Bereavement With Pair-Housed Male Rats Using The Forced Swim Test Model Of Depression, Lindsay Kalin Dutton

Modern Psychological Studies

In the present study, 12 male rats were tested to create a model of animal bereavement: the rats were separated, simulating their housing mates' deaths, and then tested for depression. Depression was determined using the forced swim test, and by monitoring daily weight and food consumption. Data for all factors were collected before separation, during separation, and after reunion. The results of the forced swim test showed that the rats spent significantly more time immobile, a sign of depression, when they were separated. Food intake and weight, however, did not appear to be a factor of the separation. The results …

Volunteer Web Site Effectiveness: Attracting Volunteers Via The Web, Adrian Goh, Joseph A. Allen, Steven G. Rogelberg, Anna Currie

Psychology Faculty Publications

Volunteer programs are shifting towards the use of web sites to recruit volunteers. Using previously recommended practices for web site management, the authors analyzed 93 web sites of volunteer-based animal welfare organizations regarding 14 best practices in web design and management. On average, the organizations used nine of the 14 best practices. The most commonly used practices included (1) providing a link to the volunteer program web page and (2) providing an organizational mission statement. The least commonly used practices included (1) providing information for future orientation sessions and (2) providing a volunteer program mission statement. Analyses further indicated that …

Predictors Of Depression In Nursing Home Residents, Lauren M. Yoggerst

Masters Theses

Research dealing with mental health issues in the aged has recently become an area of increased interest. As population trends continue to show that the elderly are increasing in life expectancy, the need for additional and more comprehensive knowledge of the elderly is needed. The present study aimed to further previous research dealing with predictors of depression in the elderly. More specifically, this study sought to target nursing home residents, which is a group that is often overlooked in the literature. The present study aimed to look at the possible relationship between satisfaction with life events and the amount of …

Machinima And Video-Based Soft Skills Training, Curtis Conkey

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Multimedia training methods have traditionally relied heavily on video based technologies and significant research has shown these to be very effective training tools. However production of video is time and resource intensive. Machinima (pronounced 'muh-sheen-eh-mah') technologies are based on video gaming technology. Machinima technology allows video game technology to be manipulated into unique scenarios based on entertainment or training and practice applications. Machinima is the converting of these unique scenarios into video vignettes that tell a story. These vignettes can be interconnected with branching points in much the same way that education videos are interconnected as vignettes between decision points. …

Observational Learning In Wild And Captive Dolphins, Deirdre Yeater, Stan A. Kuczaj Ii

Psychology Faculty Publications

Many non-human species imitate the behavior of others, and dolphins seem particularly adept at this form of observational learning. Evidence for observational learning in wild dolphins is rare, given the difficulty of observing individual wild animals in sufficient detail to eliminate other possible explanations of purported imitation. Consequently, much of the evidence supporting observational learning in dolphins has involved animals in captive settings. This research suggests that dolphins have an affinity for mimicry, and that they are more successful at observational learning if they choose to imitate another rather than being asked to do so. These results, combined with those …

Cross-Sectional Analysis Of The Association Between Age And Corpus Callosum Size In Chimpanzees (Pan Troglodytes), William D. Hopkins, Kimberley A. Phillips

Psychology Faculty Research

The CC is the major white matter tract connecting the cerebral hemispheres and provides for interhemispheric integration of sensory, motor and higher‐order cognitive information. The midsagittal area of the CC has been frequently used as a marker of brain development in humans. We report the first investigation into the development of the corpus callosum and its regional subdivisions in chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes). Magnetic resonance images were collected from 104 chimpanzees (female n = 63, male n = 41) ranging in age from 6 years (pre‐pubescent period) to 54 years (old age). Sustained linear growth was observed in the …

Examination Of The Cognitive Mechanisms Underlying Evaluative And Semantic Priming Effects By Varying Task Instructions: An Erp Study, Jennifer Hilda Taylor

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This study examined the cognitive processes that underlie stimulus identification and the activation of attitudes by investigating behavioral and psychophysiological effects in a priming paradigm. Cognitive mechanisms were investigated by examining evaluative and semantic priming effects on behavioral response times, the N400, and LPP event-related potential (ERP) components by varying tasks between-subjects. Participants either completed an evaluative task, a semantic task, or a feature-detection task. It was hypothesized that the behavioral evaluative priming effect would occur in the evaluative task and that the behavioral semantic priming effect would occur in the semantic and feature-detection tasks. The N400 was hypothesized to …

Developmental Variation In Children's Acquisition Of Metrical Structure: How Early Treatment Of Stressless Syllables Can Inform Phonological Theory, Clifford S. Jones

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The present study uses 26 color photos to elicit a total of 14 words conforming to a very specific pattern: a stressless syllable word-initially, followed by a stressed syllable, and at most one more stressless syllable. This was found to be a particularly difficult metrical structure for the two- and three-year old participants to produce in an adult-like manner. Based on the findings that a fairly reliable (if language-particular) order of acquisition is observable for contrasts of both place and manner of articulation, the case is made for a system of six emergent features, which may be characterized as combinable …

An Investigation Of The Individual Differences In Cognitive Factors That Contribute To Bilingual Lexical Disambiguation, Ana B. Areas Da Luz Fontes

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of working memory capacity, access to subordinate meanings of L1 homonyms and degree of cross-language activation on the access to subordinate meanings of L2 homonyms. In Experiment 1, Spanish-English bilinguals completed a word recognition task which assessed how quickly and accurately they accessed subordinate meanings of English homonyms that were either noncognates (e.g. fast/rápido) or cognates (e.g. letter/letra) with Spanish. In Experiment 2, another group of Spanish-English bilinguals read sentences while having their eye-movements recorded for measures of lexical access. On the critical trials, sentences contained a homonym that was …

Alcohol Use In College Students As A Function Of Reinforcement Sensitivity, Life Events, And Affect, Hyoung S. Lee

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Mood has been commonly viewed as an important determinant of drinking, but studies of positive and negative affect and alcohol use have reported inconsistent results. It has been suggested that the relationship between negative affect and heavy drinking or drinking problems depends on individual vulnerability dimensions such as personality. Gray's Reinforcement Sensitivity Theory (RST) may provide a particularly useful framework in studies about alcohol use, connecting personality, motivational processes, and responses to environmental stimuli. In past studies, the sensitivity of Gray's Behavioral Activation System (BAS) has been linked to alcohol use, but results have been less consistent for the Behavioral …

The Role Of Generation And Monitoring Processes In Governing The Paradoxical Effects Of Retrieval On Memory For Faces, Kyle Joseph Susa

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Verbal descriptions of faces can at times impair and at other times facilitate subsequent face identification accuracy. Three experiments were conducted from a retrieval-based theoretical perspective to determine the underlying cognitive processes that can account for these paradoxical findings. Results demonstrated that the verbal description-identification relationship is analogous to other domains of memory where an initial retrieval of memory can have both positive and negative effects on subsequent retrieval attempts. Results of Experiment 1 showed that verbal facilitation is a product of self-generated descriptions that enrich the semantic encoding of the original memory trace. Experiments 2 and 3 demonstrated that …

Posttraumatic Stress Symptom Clusters And Externalizing Problems In Young Urban African American Adolescents, Maria Ann Horn-Rollins

Master's Theses

The purpose of this study was to investigate the associations between five posttraumatic stress symptom (PTSS) clusters and two forms of externalizing problems within and across the middle school years in a low income urban sample of young adolescent African Americans. A secondary aim of this study was to explore moderation effects by gender. Total PTSS positively predicted a little over 58% of the cross-sectional externalizing outcomes and uniquely explained between 5 and 12% of the variance in these outcomes over and above gender and exposure to violence. Total PTSS significantly and positively predicted one-third of the longitudinal outcomes and …

Predictors Of Mental Health Outcomes Among Foster Care Children Receiving Community-Based Services, Alison Merri Dunleavy

Master's Theses

Historically, children served in the foster care system experience less favorable mental health outcomes compared to those in the general population (Anctil, McCubbin, & Pecora, 2006; Burns et al., 2004; Garland et al., 2001; Zima, Bussing, Yang, & Berlin, 2000). As a result, the child welfare system has been described as a "de facto public behavioral health care system" (Lyons & Rogers, 2004), prompting state child welfare agencies to seek to put systems and policies in place to serve the needs of these youth, such as Illinios' statewide community-based program, System of Care (SOC), designed to provide multi-modal services to …

The Effect Of Homesickness On Air Force Academy Cadets, Earl J. Banning

PCOM Psychology Dissertations

A slightly modified version of the Homesickness Questionnaire (HQ) was administered to 176 Air Force Academy cadets during the spring semester of 2010. Total HQ scores were positively correlated with cadet somatic complaints. Total HQ scores were negatively correlated with cadet Grade Point Average (GPA), but only for male cadets. Factor analysis of the HQ revealed two factors, as in previous studies, disliking the Academy and attachment to home. There were no significant correlations found between cadet HQ total score and Military Performance Average (MPA), Physical Education Average score (PEA), or number of demerits received. Cadets were less likely to …

A Case Study: Use Of Applied Behavior Analysis With An Austistic Adolescent, Evan Jaffe

PCOM Psychology Dissertations

Socialization between individuals is an important characteristic in human development. In individuals with autism, there is a profound deficit with social skills and with social reciprocity. Interventions and techniques are utilized to help enhance these skills. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects that Applied Behavior Analysis using discrete trials can have on the ability to elicit a spontaneous greeting in various settings by an adolescent male diagnosed with autism. This study analyzed data collected during a ten week intervention program. Behavior ratings reflected some uneven progress over the ten weeks, but significant improvements in the targeted …

Empathy And Error Processing, Scott A. Baldwin, Michael J. Larson, Joseph E. Fair, Daniel A. Good

Faculty Publications

Recent research suggests a relationship between empathy and error processing. Error processing is an evaluativecontrol function that can be measured using post-error response time slowing and the error-related negativity (ERN)and post-error positivity (Pe) components of the event-related potential (ERP). Thirty healthy participants completedtwo measures of empathy, the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI) and the Empathy Quotient (EQ), and a modifiedStroop task. Post-error slowing was associated with increased empathic personal distress on the IRI. ERN amplitudewas related to overall empathy score on the EQ and the fantasy subscale of the IRI. The Pe and measures of empathywere not related. Results remained consistent …

Effects Of Early-Life Stress On 5-Ht1a Receptors In Juvenile Rhesus Monkeys Measured By Pet, Simona Spinelli, Svetlana Chefer, Richard E. Carson, Elaine Jagoda, Lixin Lang, Markus Heilig, Christina S. Barr, Stephen J. Suomi, J. Dee Higley, Elliot A. Stein

Faculty Publications

Background—Traumatic experiences in early childhood are associated with increased risk for developing mood and anxiety disorders later in life. Low serotonin1A receptor (5-HT1AR) density during development has been proposed as a trait-like characteristic leading to increased vulnerability of stress-related neuropsychiatric disorders.

Methods—To assess the relationship between early-life stress and alterations in the serotonin system during development, we used positron emission tomography (PET) to measure in vivo 5- HT1AR density and apparent dissociation constant (KD app) in the brain of juvenile rhesus monkeys exposed to the early-life stress of peer-rearing.

Results—In general, 5-HT1AR density and KD app were decreased in peer-reared …

Alcohol Response And Consumption In Adolescent Rhesus Macaques: Life History And Genetic Influences, Melanie L. Schwandt, Stephen G. Lindell, Scott Chen, James Dee Higley, Stephen J. Suomi, Markus Heilig, Christina S. Barr

Faculty Publications

The use of alcohol by adolescents is a growing problem and has become an important research topic in the etiology of the alcohol use disorders. A key component of this research has been the development of animal models of adolescent alcohol consumption and alcohol response. Due to their extended period of adolescence, rhesus macaques are especially well-suited for modeling alcoholrelated phenotypes that contribute to the adolescent propensity for alcohol consumption. In this review, we discuss studies from our laboratory that have investigated both the initial response to acute alcohol administration and the consumption of alcohol in voluntary self-administration paradigms in …

Endocrine Disruptors And Obesity: An Examination Of Selected Persistent Organic Pollutants In The Nhanes 1999-2002 Data, Mai A. Elobeid, Miguel A. Padilla, David W. Brock, Douglas M. Ruden, David B. Allison

Psychology Faculty Publications

Recent evidence suggests that endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) may cause perturbations in endogenous hormonal regulation that predispose to weight gain. Using data from NHANES (1999-2002), we investigated the association between body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC) and selected persistent organic pollutants (POPs) via multiple linear regressions. Consistent interaction was found between gender, ln oxychlordane and ln p,p' DDT. Also, we found an association between WC and ln oxychlordane and ln hpcdd in subjects with detectable levels of POPs, whereas an association between WC and ln p,p' DDT was observed in all subjects. Furthermore, ln Ocdd showed an increase with …

An Examination Of The Association Of Selected Toxic Metals With Total And Central Obesity Indices: Nhanes 99-02, Miguel A. Padilla, Mai Elobeid, Douglas M. Ruden, David B. Allison

Psychology Faculty Publications

It is conceivable that toxic metals contribute to obesity by influencing various aspects of metabolism, such as by substituting for essential micronutrients and vital metals, or by inducing oxidative stress. Deficiency of the essential metal zinc decreases adiposity in humans and rodent models, whereas deficiencies of chromium, copper, iron, and magnesium increases adiposity. This study utilized the NHANES 99-02 data to explore the association between waist circumference and body mass index with the body burdens of selected toxic metals (barium, cadmium, cobalt, cesium, molybdenum, lead, antimony, thallium, and tungsten). Some of the associations were significant direct relationships (barium and thallium), …