Digital Commons Network^™

Why Clowns Taste Funny: The Relationship Between Humor And Semantic Ambiguity, Tristan A. Bekinschtein, Matthew H. Davis, Jennifer M. Rodd, Adrian M. Owen

Psychology Publications

What makes us laugh? One crucial component of many jokes is the disambiguation of words with multiple meanings. In this functional MRI study of normal participants, the neural mechanisms that underlie our experience of getting a joke that depends on the resolution of semantically ambiguous words were explored. Jokes that contained ambiguous words were compared with sentences that contained ambiguous words but were not funny, as well as to matched verbal jokes that did not depend on semantic ambiguity. The results confirm that both the left inferior temporal gyrus and left inferior frontal gyrus are involved in processing the semantic …

The Nature And Origins Of Attachment In Infancy And Early Childhood: Constructing Life’S Foundations, Greg Moran

Psychology Presentations

No abstract provided.

Prefrontal Cortex Deactivation In Macaques Alters Activity In The Superior Colliculus And Impairs Voluntary Control Of Saccades, Michael J. Koval, Stephen G. Lombar, Stefan Everling

Brain and Mind Institute Researchers' Publications

The cognitive control of action requires both the suppression of automatic responses to sudden stimuli and the generation of behavior specified by abstract instructions. Though patient, functional imaging and neurophysiological studies have implicated the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC) in these abilities, the mechanism by which the dlPFC exerts this control remains unknown. Here we examined the functional interaction of the dlPFC with the saccade circuitry by deactivating area 46 of the dlPFC and measuring its effects on the activity of single superior colliculus neurons in monkeys performing a cognitive saccade task. Deactivation of the dlPFC reduced preparatory activity and increased …

Neuroimaging Social Emotional Processing In Women: Fmri Study Of Script-Driven Imagery., Paul A Frewen, David J A Dozois, Richard W J Neufeld, Maria Densmore, Todd K Stevens, Ruth A Lanius

Psychology Publications

Emotion theory emphasizes the distinction between social vs non-social emotional-processing (E-P) although few functional neuroimaging studies have examined whether the neural systems that mediate social vs non-social E-P are similar or distinct. The present fMRI study of script-driven imagery in 20 women demonstrates that social E-P, independent of valence, more strongly recruits brain regions involved in social- and self-referential processing, specifically the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex, posterior cingulate/precuneus, bilateral temporal poles, bilateral temporoparietal junction and right amygdala. Functional response within brain regions involved in E-P was also significantly more pronounced during negatively relative to positively valenced E-P. Finally, the effect for …

A Preliminary Examination Of The Psychometric Properties Of The Coparenting Questionnaire And The Diabetes-Specific Coparenting Questionnaire In Families Of Children With Type I Diabetes, Mor Barzel, Graham J. Reid

Paediatrics Publications

Objectives: To examine the structure and psychometric properties of a general childrearing [Coparenting Questionnaire (CQ)] and an adapted Diabetes-Specific Coparenting Questionnaire (DCQ) and compare general and diabetes-specific coparenting among two-parent families caring for a child with type I diabetes. Methods: Mothers and fathers of children (N=61) aged 8-12 years with type I diabetes completed self-report measures of marital functioning, parenting, and coparenting, including the CQ and DCQ. Results: Confirmatory factor analyses favored the hypothesized 3-factor model for mothers and fathers for the CQ and DCQ. The internal consistencies and convergent validities of the CQ and DCQ were adequate. Coparenting conflict …

Coparenting In Relation To Children's Psychosocial And Diabetes-Specific Adjustment, Mor Barzel, Graham J. Reid

Paediatrics Publications

Objective: To explore the potential utility of a general and diabetes-specific measure of coparenting by evaluating linkages between coparenting and both the psychosocial and medical adjustment of children with type 1 diabetes (TID). Method: Mothers and fathers of children (ages 8-12 years; n=61) with TID completed questionnaires including measures of general and diabetes-specific coparenting, and children's internalizing and externalizing problems. Medical adjustment included parent-reported diabetes management behaviors, children's self-reported diabetes quality of life (QOL), and metabolic control (HbA1c) assessed during clinic appointments. Results: Coparenting conflict around general child rearing tasks was significantly related to children's internalizing and externalizing problems. Diabetes-specific …

Music For Life: Promoting Social Engagement And Well-Being In Older People Through Community Supported Participation In Musical Activities, Andrea Creech

Leading Music Education International Conference

Within our current social context where extraordinary demographic transitions are underway, where the numbers of old people suffering from depression is increasing and where there is an accepted need for initiatives that support older people’s well-being and productivity (Age concern, 2008) little attention has been paid to the potential for music-making to effect a significant contribution to the quality of life of older people. This research explored the role of music in older people’s lives and how active participation in making music, particularly in community settings can enhance their social, emotional and cognitive well-being. The specific aims were to investigate …

The Effect Of Dopamine Therapy On Ventral And Dorsal Striatum-Mediated Cognition In Parkinson's Disease: Support From Functional Mri., Penny A Macdonald, Alex A Macdonald, Ken N Seergobin, Ruzbeh Tamjeedi, Hooman Ganjavi, Jean-Sebastien Provost, Oury Monchi

Brain and Mind Institute Researchers' Publications

The central aim of our study was to elucidate functions mediated by the ventral and dorsal striatum, respectively, to better understand the cognitive effects of dopamine replacement in Parkinson's disease. We proposed that the ventral striatum underlies general learning of stimulus associations, whereas the dorsal striatum promotes integration of various influences on selecting. In Parkinson's disease, dopamine depletion is substantially less notable in the ventral relative to the dorsal striatum, and therefore greater improvements are expected for dorsal striatum-mediated functions with dopamine replacement. Using a simple selection task, we found that dopamine replacement impaired encoding and facilitation of consistent stimulus-stimulus …

Assimilation And Its Discontented, Kay Deaux

Western Migration Conference Series

Bio:

Kay Deaux is a Distinguished Professor Emerita at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York and a Research Affiliate in the Department of Psychology at New York University. Her most recent book, To Be An Immigrant (Russell Sage, 2006), offers a broad-gauged social psychological analysis of immigration, focusing particularly on the perspective and experiences of the immigrant. She has served as President of the Association for Psychological Science and serves on the Advisory Committee for Cultural Contact and Immigration at the Russell Sage Foundation.

Cultural Brokering And Bicultural Identity: An Exploratory Study, Jorida Cila, Richard Lalonde, Zohrah Haqanee

Western Migration Conference Series

Abstract: Cultural brokering refers to a process where individuals mediate between two parties that are experiencing some type of cultural misunderstanding. Our exploratory study indicates that cultural brokering is a diverse experience that spans the boundaries of one’s family and includes various norms, values and traditions.

Acculturation And Crisis Of Identity: A Case Study Of Karen Refugees, Secil Erdogan

Western Migration Conference Series

Abstract: This study examines acculturation attitudes of Karen refugees who are resettled in London, Ontario. Deriving on the data collected from 50 Karen refugees, various orientations of acculturation are discussed and the correlations between psychological health, identity, and acculturation are analyzed in order to identify certain patterns that are predictive of integration.

Understanding Developmental Processes Underlying Mother-Child Conversations About Emotions, Celia Hsiao, Greg Moran

Psychology Presentations

No abstract provided.

Cognitive Control: Easy To Identify But Hard To Define, J. Bruce Morton, Fredrick Ezekiel, Heather A. Wilk

Paediatrics Publications

Cognitive control is easy to identify in its effects, but difficult to grasp conceptually. This creates somewhat of a puzzle: Is cognitive control a bona fide process or an epiphenomenon that merely exists in the mind of the observer? The topiCS special edition on cognitive control presents a broad set of perspectives on this issue and helps to clarify central conceptual and empirical challenges confronting the field. Our commentary provides a summary of and critical response to each of the papers. © 2011 Cognitive Science Society, Inc.

Examining Associations Between Mothers' Early Adversity, Depression And Maternal Sensitivity, Rossana Bisceglia, Greg Moran, Jennifer Jenkins

Psychology Presentations

This study tested two models for the indirect influence of mothers’ early adversity on maternal sensitivity:

Model A:

• Mothers’ appraisal of infant temperament was hypothesized to mediate the influence of mothers’ early adversity and depression on maternal sensitivity
• There would be no direct influence of maternal depression

Model B:

• Mothers’ depression was hypothesized to have a direct influence on maternal sensitivity
• Mothers’ perception of infant temperament would not mediate the influence of maternal depression on maternal sensitivity

Antecedents Of Mother-Child Co-Construction Of Coherent Narratives Of Past Emotional Experiences, Celia Hsiao, Greg Moran, Nina Koren-Karie, Belal Chemali, David Pederson, Heidi N. Bailey

Psychology Presentations

The purpose of this longitudinal study is to further our knowledge of the early developmental antecedents of coherent mother-child emotion dialogues in the preschool years.

The Continuity Of Attachment Development From Infancy To Toddlerhood: The Birth Of A Sibling, Ya F. Xue, Kathleen A. O'Connor, Greg Moran

Psychology Presentations

This study investigates the impact of the arrival of a new infant on firstborn attachment. The patterns of attachment continuity and discontinuity are compared between children who transitioned to siblinghood for the first time and children who did not experience this transition.

Exploring The Development Of Adolescent Mother-Infant Attachment Relationships: The Contribution Of Ecological Factors, Tara Morley, Heidi Bailey, David Pederson, Greg Moran

Psychology Presentations

The current study set out to identify specific factors associated with adolescent motherhood that may reduce sensitivity and subsequently contribute to the development of non-secure mother-infant attachment relationships.

The Puzzle Of Sibling Attachment Non-Concordance: Implications Of Categorical Versus Continuous Approaches To Attachment, Kathleen A. O'Connor, Ya F. Xue, David R. Pederson, Sandi Bento, Heidi N. Bailey, Greg Moran

Psychology Presentations

PURPOSE OF THE CURRENT STUDY:

• To determine whether characterizing the quality of attachment as a continuous measure impacts the extent to which siblings’ attachment relationships are judged concordant.
• To investigate whether continuous measures of attachment provide additional information regarding the similarity of more specific aspects of siblings attachment relationships.

Online Mental Health Information Behaviours Of Emerging Adults: A Web Usability And User Experience Study, Diane M. Rasmussen Neal, Cameron Hoffman, Ye Liu

Research Day (Arts & Humanities, FIMS, and Education)

This study aims to employ usability study technologies to learn how emerging adults interact online with mental health information.

Exploring Collaborative Teaching And Learning Models In A University Drama Literature Classroom, Kim Solga, Jennifer Boman, Elan Paulson

Research Day (Arts & Humanities, FIMS, and Education)

No abstract provided.

Differential Effects Of Dopaminergic Therapies On Dorsal And Ventral Striatum In Parkinson's Disease: Implications For Cognitive Function., Penny A Macdonald, Oury Monchi

Brain and Mind Institute Researchers' Publications

Cognitive abnormalities are a feature of Parkinson's disease (PD). Unlike motor symptoms that are clearly improved by dopaminergic therapy, the effect of dopamine replacement on cognition seems paradoxical. Some cognitive functions are improved whereas others are unaltered or even hindered. Our aim was to understand the effect of dopamine replacement therapy on various aspects of cognition. Whereas dorsal striatum receives dopamine input from the substantia nigra (SN), ventral striatum is innervated by dopamine-producing cells in the ventral tegmental area (VTA). In PD, degeneration of SN is substantially greater than cell loss in VTA and hence dopamine-deficiency is significantly greater in …

Sis-Map; Suicide Risk Assessment Scale, Amresh Srivastava

Data and Test Instruments

This is a New Scale for Assessment of suicide risk to evaluate clients referals and disposition. This Copy Right to Amresh Shrivastava and Chrles Nelson

The Mechanics Of Embodiment: A Dialog On Embodiment And Computational Modeling, Giovanni Pezzulo, Lawrence W. Barsalou, Angelo Cangelosi, Martin H. Fischer, Ken Mcrae, Michael J. Spivey

Psychology Publications

Embodied theories are increasingly challenging traditional views of cognition by arguing that conceptual representations that constitute our knowledge are grounded in sensory and motor experiences, and processed at this sensorimotor level, rather than being represented and processed abstractly in an amodal conceptual system. Given the established empirical foundation, and the relatively underspeci ed theories to date, many researchers are extremely interested in embodied cognition but are clamoring for more mechanistic implementations. What is needed at this stage is a push toward explicit computational models that implement sensorimotor grounding as intrinsic to cognitive processes. In this article, six authors from varying …

Beyond Early Intervention, Amresh Srivastava

Psychiatry Presentations

No abstract provided.

Single Mother’S Adverse And Traumatic Experiences And Post-Traumatic Stress Symptoms, Joan A. Samuels-Dennis, Marilyn Ford-Gilboe, Susan Ray

Nursing Publications

A random sample of 247 Canadian single mothers currently receiving social assistance participated in a study designed to: a) provide a comprehensive description of mother’s lifetime exposure to 11 adversities, four psychological traumas, and eight assaultive traumas; b) examine the association between exposure to childhood and adulthood adversities and traumas, and mother’s current post-traumatic stress symptom. Of those surveyed, 31% met the criteria for a probable PTSD diagnosis. Between 78% and 80% reported 1 or more lifetime adversity, psychological trauma, and assaultive trauma. Rates of adversities were similar to the general female population. However, rates of psychological and assaultive trauma …

Learning From Mistakes: Improving Initial Fingertip Force Scaling By Observing Lifting Errors, Gavin Buckingham, Minnie Tang, Paul Gribble, Melvyn A. Goodale

Psychology Presentations

• When lifting objects that are lighter or heaver than we expect them to be, individuals typically misapply forces in a way that reflects their prior expectations of heaviness.

• Because we lift in this predictive way, large and small cubes elicit these characteristic errors even when they are adjusted to have equal mass. Lifters will apply too much force to a large cube and substantially less force to a small cube – errors that are rapidly corrected with repeated lifts (Flanagan & Beltzner, 2000).

• When watching others lift objects, an observer’s motor system automatically reacts in a way …

False Recall In The Deese–Roediger–Mcdermott Paradigm: The Roles Of Gist And Associative Strength, David R. Cann, Ken Mcrae, Albert N. Katz

Psychology Publications

Theories of false memories, particularly in the Deese–Roediger–McDermott (DRM) paradigm, focus on word association strength and gist. Backward associative strength (BAS) is a strong predictor of false recall in this paradigm. However, other than being defined as a measure of association between studied list words and falsely recalled nonpresented critical words, there is little understanding of this variable. In Experiment 1, we used a knowledge-type taxonomy to classify the semantic relations in DRM stimuli. These knowledge types predicted false-recall probability, as well as BAS itself, with the most important being situation features, synonyms, and taxonomic relations. In three subsequent experiments, …

Measuring Cognitive Errors: Initial Development Of The Cognitive Distortions Scale (Cds), Roger Covin, David J. A. Dozois, Avital Ogniewicz, Pamela M. Seeds

Psychology Publications

The ability to assess and correct biases in thinking is central to cognitive-behavioral therapy. Although measures of cognitive distortions exist, no measure comprehensively assesses the cognitive errors that are typically cited in the literature. The development and initial validation of the Cognitive Distortions Scale (CDS), a questionnaire that measures the tendency to make 10 cognitive distortions (e.g., mindreading, catastrophizing, all-or-nothing thinking) as they occur in interpersonal and achievement domains, is described. Across two studies, undergraduate students (n = 318) completed the CDS and other clinically relevant measures. The CDS and its two subscales appear to exhibit good psychometric properties; …

The Role Of Psychology In The Philosophy Of Language, Robert Stainton

Philosophy Publications

Are psychological facts relevant to philosophy of language; and, in particular, does scientific psychology have a legitimate role to play? For example, is it methodologically permissible for philosophers of language to rely upon evidence from neurological development, experiments about processing, brain scans, clinical case histories, longitudinal studies, questionnaires, etc.? If so, why? These two questions are the focus of this survey. I address them in two stages. Psychology may seem obviously relevant. I thus begin by introducing arguments against relevance, to motivate the discussion. I will urge that these ultimately fail, and that the appearance of relevance should be taken …

Sleep Problems, Tiredness, And Psychological Symptoms Among Healthy Adolescents, J. Aimée Coulombe, Graham J. Reid, Michael H. Boyle, Yvonne Racine

Paediatrics Publications

Objective To examine the contribution of adolescents' sleep problems and tiredness to psychological symptoms after accounting for shared risk and psychological co-morbidity. Methods Secondary analyses of cross-sectional data on 12-16-year-old (N = 980) adolescents without chronic illness, functional limitation, or developmental delay. Adolescents rated sleep problems, tiredness, and psychological symptoms. Parents provided information about risk factors, adolescent tiredness, and psychological symptoms. Results Prior to accounting for psychological co-morbidity, most sleep variables were significant correlates of adolescent-, but not parent-rated, psychological symptoms. After accounting for psychological co-morbidity: nightmares were associated with adolescent-rated anxiety/depression; sleeping more than others was associated with adolescent-rated …