Digital Commons Network^™

The Effects Of Acute Stress On Human Prefrontal Working Memory Systems, Anthony J. Porcelli, Daniel Cruz, Karen Wenberg, Michael D. Patterson, Bharat B. Biswal, Bart Rypma

Psychology Faculty Research and Publications

We examined the relationship between acute stress and prefrontal-cortex (PFC) based working memory (WM) systems using behavioral (Experiment 1) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI; Experiment 2) paradigms. Subjects performed a delayed-response item-recognition task, with alternating blocks of high and low WM demand trials. During scanning, participants performed this task under three stress conditions: cold stress (induced by cold-water hand-immersion), a room temperature water control (induced by tepid-water hand-immersion), and no-water control (no hand-immersion). Performance was affected by WM demand, but not stress. Cold stress elicited greater salivary cortisol readings in behavioral subjects, and greater PFC signal change in fMRI …

The Claustrum In Autism And Typically Developing Male Children: A Quantitative Mri Study, Warren B. Davis

Theses and Dissertations

The claustrum (Cl) is a subcortical gray-matter structure housed between the external capsule medially and the extreme capsule laterally. Due to its extensive reciprocal connections throughout the brain, it has been implicated in consciousness and other higher order functions including linking behavior and emotion. Such linkage may be important in understanding the neurobiology of autism since other cortical and subcortical regions including the spatially and ontologically related basal ganglia, as well as limbic structures, have been implicated in the disorder. Participants were males with autism (n=16) and typically developing (TD; n=14) matched for head circumference and age. The Cl and …

Effects Of Pre-Pubertal Social Experiences On The Responsiveness Of Juvenile Rats To Predator Odors, Stephen M. Siviy

Psychology Faculty Publications

The extent to which social variables may modulate the fear associated with a predator cue was assessed in juvenile rats. Cat odor reduced play to a comparable extent in both socially housed and isolate-housed rats, although socially housed rats exhibited more risk assessment during extinction. Rats that had played previously in the context used for assessing fear hid slightly less when exposed to cat odor than those rats that had not played previously in the testing context. However, no other differences were found between these two groups suggesting that prior social experience with the testing context has minimal effects on …

The Political Personality Of 2008 Republican Presidential Nominee John Mccain, Aubrey Immelman

Psychology Faculty Publications

This paper presents the results of an indirect assessment of the personality of Arizona senator John McCain, Republican nominee in the 2008 U.S. presidential election, from the conceptual perspective of personologist Theodore Millon.

Psychodiagnostically relevant data regarding Sen. McCain was extracted from biographical sources and published reports and synthesized into a personality profile using the second edition of the Millon Inventory of Diagnostic Criteria (MIDC), which yields 34 normal and maladaptive personality classifications congruent with Axis II of DSM–IV.

The personality profile yielded by the MIDC was analyzed in accordance with interpretive guidelines provided in the MIDC manual. McCain’s …

The Importance Of Early Intervention: Treatments For Conduct Disorder Versus Treatments For Antisocial Personality Disorder, Lindsay J. Buck

Modern Psychological Studies

This literature review focuses on both medicinal and therapeutic treatment options for Conduct Disorder and Antisocial Personality Disorder. Conduct Disorder is considered a precursor to Antisocial Personality Disorder, and research on the treatment of both of these disorders suggests that early intervention, during childhood and adolescence, is the most promising treatment option for people diagnosed with Conduct Disorder. Medicinal treatments for Conduct Disorder that are discussed within this literature review are lithium, methylphenidate, and risperidone, while the therapeutic treatments reviewed are parent management training and cognitive-behavioral therapy. Less encouraging research results have been found for the treatment of Antisocial Personality …

Healing Young People Thru Empowerment (H.Y.P.E.): A Hip-Hop Therapy Program For Black Adolescent Males, Adia B. Mcclellan

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

Treating Black adolescent males with disruptive behavior disorders can be challenging for psychologists and other mental health professionals The negative perception of this group within society, as well as the absence of clinical training exploring issues pertinent to Black adolescent males, among other things, may hinder a professional’s ability to effectively work with this population. This doctoral project discussed the research in several areas currently pertinent to Black adolescent males, as well as factors that have historically been oppressive to Black Americans. It then describes several DSM-IV-TR diagnoses and legal classifications associated with Disruptive Behavior Disorders. In addition, research analyzing …

Automatic Vigilance: Does Emotional State Affect Search Times For Positively And Negatively Valenced Targets?, Stephen Long

Modern Psychological Studies

Recent research has suggested that specific emotions, such as fear, may impact visual acuity (Phelps, Ling, & Carrasco, 2006). To see if emotion can influence higher order perceptions, an affective priming visual search task (APVST) was used to examine the effect of either fear or joy on participants' ability to find an associated search stimulus. A face showing either fear or joy was presented to induce a mood state, and participants searched for either a spider or a flower in a wooded background. It was found that search times were faster for the spider, but mood induction seemed to have …

Arginine Vasopressin And Male Attachment: A Marital And Family Therapy Perspective, Calvin James Thomsen

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Social neuroscience offers a promising way to understand some dimensions of adult attachment. Arginine vasopressin (AVP) is a neuropeptide with significant implications for human social behavior and it provides an important testing ground to explore links between social/interpersonal neurobiology and attachment. It has a distinctive impact on the social/relational behavior of certain male animals, most notably prairie voles. It fosters monogamy, creates attachment to both mate and offspring, and increases affiliation and a desire for physical proximity with other animals of the species. There has been much speculation that it might play a similar role with human males. This study …

Adolescent Adherence To Orthopedic Brace Wear: A Behavioral Assessment Of High Risk Factors, Teresa J. Lynch

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

An important challenge physicians encounter when treating adolescent patients with moderate scoliotic curves is that the adolescents may not wear the brace as prescribed or long enough for the brace to be effective. The present investigation used electronic monitoring and temperature probes to investigate whether the adolescents were wearing their brace during events identified using a modified Daily Reconstruction Method for six randomly selected days over a 14-day period. It was hypothesized that environmental, interpersonal, and intrapersonal variables during the events would be predictive of objective brace-wear across and within participants, and patterns of significant variables would differ from subjective …

A Note On The Effectiveness Of Behavioural Rehabilitation For Reducing Inter-Dog Aggression In Shelter Dogs, Jane S. Orihel, David Fraser

Interactive Behavior Collection

The effectiveness of a rehabilitation program for reducing inter-dog aggression was evaluated at the municipal animal shelter. Sixteen dogs (of 60 examined) met the study criteria of medium inter-dog aggression as determined by an inter-dog aggression test. These dogs received a 10-day treatment of daily rehabilitation for 30 min (rehabilitation group, n = 9) or daily release into an outdoor enclosure for 30 min (control group, n = 7). Rehabilitation consisted of desensitising and counter-conditioning dogs to the approach of other ‘‘stimulus’’ dogs. Most dogs in the rehabilitation group showed a decline in aggression scores when re-tested after the last …

Attentive Mothers Versus Minimally Invested/Neglectful Mothers : The Development Of New Neurons In The Hippocampus Specifically Activated By Foster Pup Exposure, Danielle Christina Worthington Stoneman

Master's Theses

As pregnancy progresses, the female is transformed from an animal that actively avoids pup-related cues (Kinsley, 1994) to one highly motivated to build nests, and retrieve, group, groom, and crouch over a set of pups. In the vast majority of events, motherhood progresses normally; in a striking subset, however, it does not. This study seeks to evaluate neurological differences in the dentate gyrus between primiparous females that respond maternally and those that do not when exposed to foster pups. It was hypothesized that the attentive mothers which perform the expected maternal behaviors have a different number of triple labeled BrdU(measuring …

A Comparison Of Maintenance-Training Methods For Children Diagnosed With Autism, Nicholas L. Weatherly

Dissertations

The current study evaluated the effects of two different maintenance-training methods and one control condition on skill maintenance within a public-school classroom for children diagnosed with autism. The two training methods involved the use of either a continuous-reinforcement schedule or a thinned partial-reinforcement schedule during 20 overlearning training sessions following skill acquisition. The control condition did not involve any overlearning following skill acquisition. Three children were each taught two curricular programs, with each program involving the two training methods and the control condition using a multielement design. Overlearning using a thinned partial-reinforcement schedule reliably produced greater maintenance across all participants, …

Postpartum Depression In Anishinaabe American Indians, Natalie M. Nicholson

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to better understand the personal experience of postpartum depression among Anishinaabe American Indian women and further examine how various resources such as family, friends, Traditional healing, local and healthcare options were utilized. In addition advice was sought from a Traditional leader as to how these women can care for themselves in the postnatal period and how providers can properly manage their care.

A descriptive qualitative analysis approach was used. Interviews were conducted in 1-1.5 hours in the home of the Anishinaabe American Indian women who are from Red Lake Band of Chippewa Indian Reservation. …

The Use Of Personality Assessments In Designing Environmental Enrichment For Garnett's Bushbabies (Otolemur Garnettii), Lauren Elizabeth Highfill

Dissertations

Recently the study of animal personality has become an important and credible topic of research and a number of studies have revealed personality traits in a variety of species. The consideration of individual animal personality traits is important for animal management and welfare. For example, ensuring inter-individual compatibility in group housing animals may serve to ensure the safety of the whole group. To date, no formal research has been conducted on whether the assessment of individual personality traits could be used as a tool for individualizing environmental enrichment interventions. The goal of environmental enrichment is to increase the rate of …

Exploring The Cognitive Underpinnings Of Word Retrieval Deficits In Dyslexia Using The Tip-Of-The-Tongue Paradigm, Sarah Margaret Hanly

Dissertations

Over the past thirty years a consensus has emerged that the word reading difficulties of dyslexic readers stem from deficits in phonological processing. One experimental paradigm that has provided support for this view is the finding that dyslexic readers demonstrate deficits in word retrieval from long term memory on picture naming tasks. Dyslexic readers are able to retrieve fewer words in their receptive vocabularies and are less accurate than normally developing readers. However, the conclusion that dyslexic readers? difficulties in picture naming are the consequence of deficits in phonological processing is inferential. The current study uses the tip-of-the-tongue (TOT) paradigm …

Perceiving Aperture Widths During Teleoperation, Suzanne Butler

All Theses

When teleoperating robots it is often difficult for operators to perceive aspects of remote environments within which they are working (Tittle, Roesler, & Woods, 2002). It is difficult to perceive the sizes of objects in remote environments and to determine if the robot can pass through apertures of various sizes (Casper & Murphy, 2003; Murphy 2004). The present experiment investigated whether remote perception could be improved by providing optic flow during robot movement or by positioning an on-board camera so that the forward portion the robot is in the camera's view. Participants judges the sizes of remote apertures viewed through …

Clinical Applications Of Fmri: An Adaptation Of A Standard Neuropsychological Battery, Alina K. F. Ichimura

Theses and Dissertations

The goal of this study is to advance the utility of functional brain imaging as a tool for the diagnosis and treatment of neurological disorders by creating a statistical database of functional MRI (fMRI) brain activation patterns collected from neurologically and psychiatrically unimpaired subjects. Continuous fMRI scans have been obtained from each subject while s/he performed a variety of cognitive tasks that are commonly found in standard neurological and cognitive assessment batteries. The collected fMRI data has been processed, analyzed, and converted into database which can be used as a reference of reliable indices of normal brain activity patterns for …

Tnfα Sirna Reduces Brain Tnf And Eeg Delta Wave Activity In Rats, Ping Taishi, Lynn Churchill, Mingxiang Wang, Daniel Kay, Christopher J. Davis, Xin Guan, Alok De, Tadanobu Yasuda, Fan Liao, James M. Krueger

Faculty Publications

Tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFα) is a pleiotropic cytokine with several CNS physiological and pathophysiological actions including sleep, memory, thermal and appetite regulation. Short interfering RNAs (siRNA) targeting TNFα were incubated with cortical cell cultures and microinjected into the primary somatosensory cortex (SSctx) of rats. The TNFα siRNA treatment specifically reduced TNFα mRNA by 45% in vitro without affecting interleukin-6 or gluR1-4 mRNA levels. In vivo the TNFα siRNAα reduced TNFα mRNA, interleukin-6 mRNA and gluR1 mRNA levels compared to treatment with a scrambled control siRNA. After in vivo microinjection, the density of TNFα-immunoreactive cells in layer V of the …

The Evolution Of Problem Solving: An Assessment Of Preference In Concurrent Schedules Of Reinforcement, Melissa Roark

Psychology Dissertations - Archive

In personal problem-solving, an organism emits responses that have been useful in the past to alter its personal contingencies and produce a response that "solves" a problem. In verbal behavior, a human organism emits responses that have previously been useful to alter the contingencies of another human, this producing a response that "solves a problem". Additionally, in verbal behavior, an organism is controlled by its current contingencies rather than its history of reinforcement. It is suggested that personal problem-solving resembles a tandem schedule of reinforcement and that verbal behavior, which has evolved in humans, resembles multiple schedule reinforcement. This study …

Heuristics, Biases, And Philosophy, Jeffrey J. Rachlinski

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

Commenting on Professor Cass Sunstein's work is a daunting task. There is simply so much of it. Professor Sunstein produces scholarship at a rate that is faster than I can consume it. Scarcely an area of law has failed to feel his impact. One cannot today write an article on administrative law, free speech, punitive damages, Internet law, law and economics, separation of powers, or animal rights law without addressing one or more of Sunstein's papers. And his work is typically not a mere footnote. Sunstein has changed how scholars think about each of these areas of law. More broadly, …

The Contribution Of The Dorsal Root Reflex And The Sympathetic Nervous System In Formalin-Evoked Neurogenic Inflammation, Lara A. Kachlic

Psychology Theses - Archive

The present study investigated the role of dorsal root reflex (DRR), which is characterized as antidromic firing via primary afferent fibers towards the periphery, and the sympathetic nervous system in neurogenic inflammation. Neurogenic inflammation is defined as inflammation that is caused by substances released from sensory nerve terminals (Willis Jr., 1999). The first objective of the study was to determine bilateral blood perfusion, a measure of redness, one of the cardinal signs of inflammation, following a formalin injection with the use of laser Doppler imaging. The hypothesis stated that there would be a bilateral increase in blood perfusion, following formalin. …

The Development Of Day-Night Differences In Sleep And Wakefulness In Norway Rats And The Effect Of Bilateral Enucleation, Andrew J. Gall, William D. Todd, Baisali Ray, Cassandra M. Coleman, Mark S. Blumberg

Faculty Publications

The suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) exhibits circadian rhythmicity in fetal and infant rats, but little is known about the consequences of this rhythmicity for infant behavior. Here, in Experiment 1, we measured sleep and wakefulness in rats during the day and night in postnatal day (P)2, P8, P15 and P21 subjects. As early as P2, day-night differences in sleep-wake activity were detected. Nocturnal wakefulness began to emerge around P15 and was reliably expressed by P21. We hypothesized that the process of photic entrainment over the first postnatal week, which depends upon the development of connectivity between the retinohypothalamic tract (RHT) and …

Disruptive Effects Of Aβ Oligomers To The Radial-Arm Maze Performance Of Rats, Kineta Lynn Morgan-Paisley

Dissertations

Converging lines of research have implicated a causal relationship between oligomers of amyloid-β and the cognitive impairments associated with Alzheimer's disease (AD); however, very few studies have provided direct experimental evidence of this relationship and none of those studies have used an established model of working memory. The present study used an established model of working memory, the radial-arm maze, to examine the effects of amyloid-β oligomers on the memory of two groups of rats. The experimental group received ICV injections of the culture media (CM) of Chinese Hamster Ovary (CHO) cells transfected with a human mutation of APP containing …

Day Length And Estradiol Affect Same-Sex Affiliative Behavior In The Female Meadow Vole, Annaliese K. Beery, Theresa J. Loo, Irving Zucker

Neuroscience: Faculty Publications

Non-sexual social bonding between adult mammals remains poorly understood, despite its importance in many species. Female meadow voles are territorial and nest alone in long summer day lengths when circulating estradiol concentrations are high, but cohabit in groups in short winter photoperiods when estradiol secretion is low. The influence of day length and estradiol on same-sex huddling behavior was assessed in adult female pairs housed together in long day lengths (LDs) or short day lengths (SDs) from weaning. The behavior of intact, ovariectomized, and estradiol-treated ovariectomized females from each photoperiod was assessed during 3 hour partner preference tests. Intact SD …

Factors That Affect Performance On Executive Functioning After Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting, Sapna Mahesh Patel

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Research suggests that individuals who undergo coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) experience declines in neuropsychological functioning post-operatively. This decline has been observed in up to 80% of patients early after surgery, and in up to 30% of patients after six months. Many studies have examined the potential effects of CABG on neuropsychological functioning in general, and numerous studies have found that executive functions are impaired in particular. However, none have examined what factors contribute to observed executive dysfunction after CABG. This study investigated the role of memory functions on executive functions in a selected sample of patients undergoing CABG. This …

Broadening International Perspectives On The Legal Environment For Personnel Selection, Brett Myors, Filip Lievens, Greet Van Hoye, Steven F Cronshaw, Antonio Mladinic, Viviana Rodriguez, Herman Aguinis, Dirk D Steiner, Florence Rolland, Heinz Schuler, Andreas Frintrup, Ioannis Nikolaou, Maria Tomprou, S Subramony, Shabu B Raj, Shay Tzafrir, Peter Bamberger, Marilena Bertolino, Marco Mariani, Franco Fraccaroli

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Perspectives from 22 countries on aspects of the legal environment for selection are presented. Issues addressed include a) whether there are racial/ethnic/religious subgroups viewed as “disadvantaged minority”, b) whether research documents mean differences between groups on individual difference measures relevant to job performance, whether there are laws prohibiting discrimination against specific groups, d) what is required to make and refute a claim of discrimination, e) what are the consequences of violation of the laws, f) whether particular selection methods are limited or banned, g) whether preferential treatment of members of minority groups is permitted, and h) whether the practice of …

International Perspectives On The Legal Environment For Selection, Brett Myors, Filip Lievens, Steven F. Cronshow, E Schollaert, G Van Hoye, A Mladinic, V Rodriguez, H Aguinis, Dd Steiner, F Rolland, H Schuler, A Frintrup, I Nikolaou, M Tomprou, S Subramony, Sb Raj, S Tzafrir, P Bamberger, M Bertolino, M Mariani

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Perspectives from 22 countries on aspects of the legal environment for selection are presented in this article. Issues addressed include (a) whether there are racial/ethnic/religious subgroups viewed as "disadvantaged,'' (b) whether research documents mean differences between groups on individual difference measures relevant to job performance, (c) whether there are laws prohibiting discrimination against specific groups, (d) the evidence required to make and refute a claim of discrimination, (e) the consequences of violation of the laws, (f) whether particular selection methods are limited or banned, (g) whether preferential treatment of members of disadvantaged groups is permitted, and (h) whether the practice …

Emotional Speech Corpus Construction, Annotation And Distribution, Brian Vaughan, Charlie Cullen, Spyros Kousidis, John Mcauley

Conference papers

This paper details a process of creating an emotional speech corpus by collecting natural emotional speech assets, analysisng and tagging them (for certain acoustic and linguistic features) and annotating them within an on-line database. The definition of specific metadata for use with an emotional speech corpus is crucial, in that poorly (or inaccurately) annotated assets are of little use in analysis. This problem is compounded by the lack of standardisation for speech corpora, particularly in relation to emotion content. The ISLE Metadata Initiative (IMDI) is the only cohesive attempt at corpus metadata standardisation performed thus far. Although not a comprehensive …

The Relationship Between Psychological Well-Being And Work Productivity: Validation Of The Oq Productivity Index, Vinessa Kaye Trotter

Theses and Dissertations

Managed Mental Health Care (MMHC) began blanketing the United States when cost of care rose exponentially. MMHC is one avenue many employers and insurance companies have chosen to provide employees with mental health treatment at controlled costs. However, not all employers view supplying their employees with mental health treatment beneficial, as they do not know mental health problems can significantly decrease work productivity. Brown and Jones (2005) used the Social Role Scale (SR) of the Severe Outcome Questionnaire (SOQ) to estimate work productivity in employees under the assumption that the scale measures work productivity. The purpose of this study was …

Just Say “Nootropic”: The Effects Of Nicotine On Memory And Learning, Elyse N. Goveia

Psychology Honors Papers

This study investigated the effects of nicotine on memory and learning in adolescent and adult male Fischer-344 rats. Rats were given 0.2 mg/kg/day of either nicotine or saline chronically for 2 weeks and were tested in the Morris water maze as adolescents (Phase 1) and then again 4 months later as adults (Phase 2). There were 4 main groups: nicotine/nicotine, nicotine/saline, saline/nicotine, and saline/saline. In Phase 2 rats were tested for c-Fos and BrdU expression in the dentate gyrus of the hippocampus. Behavioral data indicated that as adults, rats given nicotine were significantly improved at the water maze task compared …