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Taste Activity In The Parabrachial Region In Adult Rats Following Neonatal Chorda Tympani Transection, Louis J. Martin, Joseph M. Breza, Suzanne I. Sollars

Psychology Faculty Publications

The chorda tympani is a gustatory nerve that fails to regenerate if sectioned in rats 10 days of age or younger. This early denervation causes an abnormally high preference for NH₄Cl in adult rats, but the impact of neonatal chorda tympani transection on the development of the gustatory hindbrain is unclear. Here, we tested the effect of neonatal chorda tympani transection (CTX) on gustatory responses in the parabrachial nucleus (PbN). We recorded in vivo extracellular spikes in single PbN units of urethane-anesthetized adult rats following CTX at P5 (chronic CTX group) or immediately prior to recording (acute CTX …

Children As Mischievous Spirits: Legitimizing Child Cruelty And Filicide In Contemporary Africa, Chima Agazue

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

The belief that certain humans are spiritual entities and the belief that some people are spiritually possessed can be found across histories and cultures. While these individuals are not always viewed in the negative or treated inhumanely, cases abound whereby degrading and inhumane treatments are meted out to some of them. In the African continent, certain groups of people, particularly children are linked to certain mischievous spirits due to their unusual appearance, aberrant behavior, disability, chronic illness, psychopathology or exceptional ability. Some are also suspected and consequently mistreated due to events surrounding their birth. Such children are known by different …

Black Men’S Perception Of Their Father-Son Relationship, Shaakira E. Jones

Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to investigate the perceptions that Black men have of their relationships with their fathers, specifically, adult sons’ retrospective perceptions of their fathers’/father figures’ involvement and nurturance during childhood, and their current emotional availability. The aim is also to explore whether perceptions of their fathers predict Black men’s current psychological well-being. The following measures are used: (a) a demographic questionnaire, (b) the Nurturant Fathering Scale (NFS, Finley & Schwartz, 2004; Williams & Finley, 1997), (c) the Father Involvement Scale (FIS, Finley & Schwartz, 2004), (d) the Lum Emotional Availability of Parenting Scale (LEAP; Lum & …

Disinhibition And Persistent Maladaptive Behavior, Angela T. West

Student Theses

Objective: There is an urgent need to reduce overpopulation in U.S. prisons, which are inundated with individuals needing substance use treatment. Research on both substance use and antisocial behaviors highlight maladaptive beliefs and behaviors, while also implicating disinhibition as an important factor. Disinhibition is a dynamic trait that can be targeted with therapeutic interventions. The current study explored the relationships between neurocognitive disinhibition, substance use, and recidivism among incarcerated men. The study hypothesized that disinhibition would be associated with history of substance use, history of antisocial behavior, and institutional misconduct, as well as predicting recidivism over and above history of …

Social Production Of Intellectual Disability And The Mechanics Of Moral Exclusion: Past, Present, And Future, Emese Ilyes

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The institutionalized dehumanization in the United States continues to allow for people who are categorized as intellectually disabled to be legally warehoused and paid as little as pennies per hour to complete rote, repetitive work within segregated environments. An entire court case was conducted about whether a man labeled as intellectually disabled was able to engage in a consensual relationship or whether he was the victim of sexual assault without ever allowing him to express his desires and lived experiences. This project is an attempt to explore a theoretical, historical explanation for how humanity is denied in some bodies, how …

Vulnerability: Sensation And Subjectivity In The Late Victorian Novel, Michael Shelichach

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

“Vulnerability: Sensation and Subjectivity in the Late Victorian Novel” explores how developments in the science of psychology in the second half of the nineteenth century destabilized the genre of literary realism in Britain. Prominent mid-Victorian psychologists theorized a subject with a highly impressionable brain and nervous system. This new understanding of the mind’s potential vulnerability to external influence impelled contemporary novelists to contemplate the extent to which subjective interiority could be altered by the environment. Through close readings of canonical realist novels like Charles Dickens’s Great Expectations, George Eliot’s The Mill on the Floss and Wilkie Collins’s The Moonstone …

The Effect Of Anticipatory Anxiety On Fear Extinction Learning, Daniela C. Echeverria

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Adaptive regulation of fear is dependent on successful fear extinction learning; therefore, investigating factors that both enhance and diminish fear extinction learning is a critical line of research. In the present study, we induce mild anticipatory anxiety during fear extinction learning in an attempt to modulate how participants extinguish fear memory. In the experiment, we apply a classic three-day fear learning protocol to both control participants (N = 20) and an experimental group (N = 20) with fear acquisition, fear extinction, and fear recovery phases; each phase is separated by a period of 24 hours and we use a skin …

Anticipatory Fear And Psychopathic Traits In Adolescents, Catherine Chan

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Psychopathy is characterized by impulsive antisocial behavior, interpersonal and affective deficits such as lack of guilt, empathy, and remorse. An affective deficit observed in individuals with psychopathic traits is the lack of anticipatory fear. In a fearful situation, individuals generally develop fear and associate it with the situation, so they know to avoid it in the future. The ability to anticipate fear prevents individuals from committing wrongdoings due to the negative consequences that arise from it. However, individuals with psychopathic traits have been found to show reduced anticipatory fear, which in turn may contribute to more antisocial behavior. To date, …

Characterizing The Brain Dynamics And Eye Movement Behavior Of Memory-Guided Saccades: A Preliminary Investigation Of Distractor Influence On Memory-Guided Saccades, Angelo V. Colmenero

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Research has helped to shed light on the functional organization and neural mechanisms of distractors on memory-guided saccades. In our current study we have utilized eye tracking and EEG technology to simultaneously record the changes in saccadic eye movement (SEM) behavior and event-related potentials (ERPs) associated with performance on a memory-guided saccade task with distractor conditions. Thirteen healthy control participants (n = 13; 6 female) were tasked to complete 864 memory-guided saccade trials with both visible (white) and invisible (black) distractors presented on a black background before saccade initiation. Compared with the control (black) distractor condition, distractor presentation produced a …

Learning To Feel Safe: A Translational Study Of The Influence Of Safety Learning On Anxiety-Related Overgeneralized Fear, Hyein Cho

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Anxiety disorders are among the most common mental health diagnoses, affecting about a third of the population in their lifetime. However, approximately a third of individuals with anxiety do not respond to current treatment approaches, highlighting the need to identify additional potential therapeutic mechanisms. Safety learning is one such mechanism, but methodological challenges and a dearth of research have prevented the field from advancing the understanding of the role of safety learning in the etiology and remediation of anxiety disorders. Animal research, using single-cued safety learning paradigms, has yielded promising early findings, demonstrating that safety learning directly reduces anxiety-related behaviors …

Relationship Between Race, United States Nativity, Perceived Discrimination, And Acculturation Stress, Simone N. Henderson

Student Theses

Acculturation has been defined as “changes that take place as a result of contact with culturally dissimilar people, groups, and social influences” (Gibson, 2001). This experience can cause stress for those experiencing it, especially when the individual is having a hard time adjusting to a new culture (Kim, 2019). One’s nativity, a person’s native-born status in their environment, and racial/ethnic group can also contribute to their experience of acculturation due to personal differences that these demographic variables create (Bondy et al., 2017; Hall & Carter, 2006). Studying race, nativity, perceived discrimination, and acculturation are essential for understanding the experiences of …

Early Emotion Regulation In The Children Of Superstorm Sandy, Jessica L. Buthmann

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Rising prevalence of childhood psychopathology mandate investigation into the antecedents of symptom onset. Growing evidence shows prenatal maternal stress experienced in utero is a strong contributor to offspring neurodevelopmental deficits, including emotion dysregulation, a core feature of many types of psychopathology. This dissertation summarizes a body of work studying children prenatally exposed to maternal stress related to a natural disaster, Superstorm Sandy (i.e., storm stress). This work includes six experiments conducted in the framework of the Developmental Origins of Health and Disease (DOHaD) hypothesis. The DOHaD hypothesis posits that developmental disruptions, like storm stress exposure, during a critical period of …

Kicking In Diabetes Support (Kids) Intervention Effects: Parent Reports Of Diabetes Management, Jessica C. Kichler, Astrida S. Kaugars

Psychology Faculty Research and Publications

Objectives: The Kicking In Diabetes Support (KIDS) Project is a semistructured multifamily group therapy (MGT) intervention for adolescents who have type 1 diabetes (T1D) and their parents, which incorporates both peer support and family systems processes to improve diabetes management skills. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the clinical utility of this intervention by examining parent perspectives and health-related outcomes. Methods: Adolescents and their parents participated in the 8-session (6 core sessions and 2 booster follow-up sessions at 2 and 4 months) intervention in 1 of 8 waves of the group administration over a four-year period. Parents …

Social Psychology Of Climate Change In The Asian Context: Introduction To Special Issue, Kim-Pong Tam, Angela K. Y. Leung, Susan Clayton

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Climate change is one of the biggest challenges facing many countries in the Asia Pacific. Asia as a whole is a primary contributor to carbon emissions. According to the BP Statistical Review of World Energy 2020, the Asia Pacific region alone accounts for more than half of the world’s total greenhouse gas emissions. This represents an increase in consumption of oil, gas, and coal in Asia Pacific from 44.5% in 2009 to 50.5% in 2019. According to the review, compared to the rest of the world, Asia Pacific had the highest growth rate (2.7%) of carbon emissions between 2008 and …

An Exploratory Examination Of Internalized Weight Stigma In A Sample Living With Food Insecurity, Carolyn Black Becker, Keesha M. Middlemass, Francesca Gomez, Lisa S. Kilpela

Psychology Faculty Research

Internalized weight stigma (IWS) is associated with various health concerns, regardless of body size. One weakness of existing IWS research is that it largely lacks diverse study populations. One recent exception, however, found increasing IWS was associated with higher levels of food insecurity (FI) in a low-income, majority Latinx sample. Using the same sample (N = 530), the present study further explored levels of IWS as compared to documented (mostly White/European) samples; we also investigated IWS in relation to three dichotomous eating disorder (ED) outcomes (e.g., any/no vomiting). Finally, based on previous qualitative findings regarding dietary restraint in the most …

Atypical Structural Neuroconnectivity Associated With Emotional Face Processing And Clinical Affect In Children With Chromosome 22q11.2 Deletion Syndrome, David Dodd Stephenson Jr

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Schizophrenia spectrum disorder (SCZ) is a debilitating psychiatric disorder that affects approximately 1% of the general population. The etiopathology of this disorder is not fully understood with genetic and environmental factors underpinning vulnerability and disease progression. Children with chromosome 22q11.2 deletion syndrome (22q11.2DS) are at ultra-high risk for developing SCZ with 30% developing the disorder in adolescence or young adulthood. To investigate associations with psychosis vulnerability, much work has been performed looking at neurological underpinnings between schizophrenia and 22q11.2DS to assess similarities between both genetic and idiopathic forms of schizophrenia in adults. However, many past studies have assessed this using …

The Complexities Of Crankiness And Cortisol: Exploring The Association Between Irritability, Cortisol Reactivity, And Psychopathology, Rachel Kaplan

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Irritability is an indicator and predictor of psychopathology, as well as a sign of acute and chronic stress. Cortisol reactivity (CR), a physiological index of psychological stress, is bidirectionally associated with and predictive of psychopathology. Research addressing irritability and CR together is limited. Participants were 156 children enrolled in a longitudinal study. At age three, saliva was collected in relation to a stressor task and parents reported on child psychopathology. Psychopathology reports were also completed for ages six, nine, and 12. Results showed CR to have a moderating effect on the association between irritability and psychopathology symptoms when sex was …

Impact Of Moral Injury For Ethnic/Racial Minority Male Veterans, Kristopher Kern

Doctoral Dissertations

Trends in demographics of post-9/11 veterans (deployments to the Middle East after 2001) describe this group as having higher survival rates, increased service-connected disabilities, and more racially diverse (NCVAS, 2018; Schnurr et al., 2009; Tanelian & Jaycox, 2008). Additionally, their deployment experiences include combat-related experiences that contradict personal moral beliefs, later named “moral injury” (MI) (Litz et al., 2009). Currier, Holland, and Mallot (2015) describe MI as intense emotions of shame, guilt, and anger alongside maladaptive behaviors emerging after “witnessing and/or participating in warzone events that challenge one’s basic sense of humanity” (p. 231).

The research on MI continues to …

Put The Score On The Back Burner: Coach–Athlete Relationships And Anxiety, Tiffany Peterson

Intuition: The BYU Undergraduate Journal of Psychology

Anxiety is a very prevalent mental disorder among adolescents and can be unfavorable to their developing mental, cognitive, and social health. Although it comes in many forms, social anxiety disorder, which can affect peer relations, academic success, and sport performance, can be especially difficult during teenage years. More specifically, high school sports provide many situations and stressors that can trigger social anxiety. Some major aspects of high school sports that can trigger social anxiety are working with teammates and learning from coaches. This review seeks to provide a better understanding of the effect that the coach–athlete relationship has on anxiety …

Anxiety Disorders: A Review Of Neurobiological Structures, Neurocognitive Expressions, And Treatment Options, Lucy A. Jessee

Intuition: The BYU Undergraduate Journal of Psychology

There are many types of anxiety disorders, all of which are most recognizable by their display of excessive fear or worry. In order to fully recognize and treat anxiety disorders, individuals must understand the neurobiological causes and neurocognitive expressions of the disorder. This review examines 16 studies on the neurobiology, cognitive symptoms, and treatment options for anxiety disorders. This revealed that the amygdala, prefrontal cortex, visual cortex, and superior temporal gyrus play a substantial role in anxiety disorders. These biological substrates are then linked to common cognitive symptoms of anxiety disorders, including executive function deficits. Finally, both neuropharmacological therapy and …

Empathy And Fairness In Nonhuman Primates: Evolutionary Bases Of Human Morality, Colt Halter

Intuition: The BYU Undergraduate Journal of Psychology

Darwin offered an evolutionary perspective on the origins of human morality, suggesting that humans share a biological foundation with nonhuman primates. This paper reviews the current literature on moral and prosocial behaviors of nonhuman primates, specifically examining whether nonhuman primates exhibit behaviors that are typical of empathy and fairness. The literature documents that nonhuman primates exhibit empathetic behaviors regarding emotional contagion and sympathetic concern. There is also evidence that nonhuman primates have a sense of fairness, seen in their reciprocal behaviors and aversion to inequity. Taken together, this suggests that there are evolutionary roots of morality, lending empirical support to …

Guilt By Obesity: A Closer Look At Obesity Stigmas, Loriana Goulding

Intuition: The BYU Undergraduate Journal of Psychology

Obesity stigmas have led to an increased interest in the body-positivity movement in recent years. However, despite the decreasing discrimination and shaming of the obese, many people still consciously and unconsciously adhere to obesity stigmas and myths. These false beliefs are harmful not only to obese individuals but also to society, given that over 1/3 of the U.S. adult population is now obese (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2017). These stigmas can be especially harmful to obese individuals who are victims of wrongdoings and to obese individuals who are accused of a wrongdoing (Yamawaki, Riley, Rasmussen, & Cook, 2018). …

The Comorbidity Of Drug And Alcohol Consumption In Relation To Mental Health Disorders, Sydney Dawson

Intuition: The BYU Undergraduate Journal of Psychology

The constantly increasing use of drugs and alcohol in young adults has created great controversy in the medical community on the long-term effects of these substances. The average brain development of adolescence and young adults is not complete until the age of 25, though drug and alcohol intake occur across the United States at younger ages each year. Impulsive behavior and underdeveloped neural pathways create a strong pull for addiction formulations and the development of severe mental-health problems. This paper reviews the positive and negative effects of illicit drugs and alcohol intake and their comorbidity with mental health disorders. There …

Specific Challenges Faced By Females With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Brad W. Davis

Intuition: The BYU Undergraduate Journal of Psychology

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a complicated developmental condition. ASD is typically known as a male-associated disorder with three to four times as many males diagnosed with the disorder than females (Loomes, Hull, & Mandy, 2017). Recent studies on the differences between males and females with ASD have recognized an underdiagnosis of females with ASD. Researchers have found that females with ASD have a specific set of mannerisms and struggles that differ from their male counterparts, which may be “camouflaging” the females into society (Lai et al., 2019). Many undiagnosed females with ASD are not receiving the mental, emotional, and …

The Biopsychosocial Model And Clinical Decision Science In The Age Of Black Lives Matter: A Clinical Reflection, Abdul-Rahman M. Suleiman, Samer Ilayan

Clinical Research in Practice: The Journal of Team Hippocrates

The author reflects on the biopsychosocial considerations of elevated blood pressure in teenage African American youth during the era of Black Lives Matter (BLM). Parallels are drawn between Dr. Engel’s biopsychosocial model and clinical decision science.

Dehumanizing From A Distance: How Perceptions Of Human Uniqueness Traits And The Importance Of Social Justice Issues Predict Negative Attitudes And Avoidant Behaviors Towards Individuals Experiencing Homelessness, Isabelle Dennis, Anna Dischinger, Brittany Tausen

School of Psychology, Family, and Community Research Conference

The current study examined the relationship between dehumanization and the corresponding treatment of and support for individuals experiencing homelessness. Participants (N = 240) took part in a short survey assessing their perceptions of individuals experiencing homelessness, the extent to which they engaged in behaviors to avoid individuals experiencing homelessness, and their attitudes about offering physical and financial support. Two questions then assessed the importance of social justice issues. Analyses revealed that perceptions of human uniqueness significantly predicted avoidance and support for tax increases. Additionally, the perceived importance of social justice issues moderated the relationship between the attribution of human uniqueness …

Self-Control And Impulsivity In Nonhuman Animals: A Literature Review, Avalon Amya, Julia Flores, Isabel Jackson, Emily Northey, Emme Tucker

School of Psychology, Family, and Community Research Conference

In various disciplines (e.g., Psychology, Philosophy, Theology), self-control has been considered a uniquely human trait or even a virtue. However, self-controlled responding has been observed in experiments with nonhuman animals. For example, self-controlled responding has been studied in dogs and more recently, fish. Here we define self-controlled behavior as the choice for a larger reward that is delayed versus a smaller reward that is available sooner (i.e., impulsivity). Despite recent self-control studies in animals, no comprehensive review of this literature has been conducted. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to provide a review of recent self-control experiments in animals.

Review Of: Cates, James. 2020. Serpent In The Garden: Amish Sexuality In A Changing World., Mark A. Yarhouse

Journal of Amish and Plain Anabaptist Studies

James Cates offers a fascinating look at Amish views and experiences of marriage, family, sexuality, and gender in the book, Serpent in the Garden: Amish Sexuality in a Changing World. The analysis is based on “many years of interaction, informal interviews, and conversations with Amish confidantes…” (p. xiii). The upside of this approach is that the book has an “insider” feel to it. The downside is that the reader is not always sure how representative the stories are of the Amish community. From the opening story in the Preface to similar, colorful anecdotes throughout, the book may lend itself to …

Making Meaning Of The Family's Immigrant Experience, Distress, And Help-Seeking: A Critical Inquiry Of Mental Health Support For Second-Generation Korean Americans, Kristin Kim-Martin

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

The Korean American community is a predominantly immigrant population with a long history of historical and cultural trauma, including the continued losses, hardships, and violence endured through the immigration process, that continues to impact the well-being and functioning of individuals and families today. Second-generation Korean Americans play critical roles in establishing and maintaining the livelihoods and security of their immigrant families; however, they have been underrepresented and under-researched within the literature on immigration and its effects on the mental health and help-seeking patterns of this population. Although there is strong evidence for the influence of culture in the intergenerational patterns …

Influencing Motivation For Alcohol Through Social Bonding, Bryan Benitez

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Human survival depends upon the ability to cooperate by forming affiliative social bonds. Social bonding should therefore be a powerful motivating force in practically all human decision making. Past research demonstrates that social bonding and motivation for alcohol consumption share similar psychological and neurobiological pathways. In this study, we attempted to reduce alcohol motivation by enhancing perceptions of social bonding prior to and during the hours and days when alcohol consumption was most likely. In a predominantly female college student sample, we found mixed support for our hypotheses that a novel social bonding manipulation delivered through mobile technology would satiate …