Psychiatry and Psychology Commons^™

Mental Context Reinstatement Reduces Resistance To False Suggestions After Children Have Experienced A Repeated Event, Donna M. Jennings, Kim P. Roberts, Martine B. Powell

Psychology Faculty Publications

When children allege repeated abuse, they are required to provide details about specific instances. This often results in children confusing details from different instances and so we examined whether ‘mental context reinstatement’ (MCR) could be used to improve children’s accuracy. Children (N = 120, 6-7-year olds) participated in 4 activities over a 2-week period and were interviewed about the last (4^th) time with a standard recall or mental context reinstatement interview. They were then asked questions about specific details, and some questions contained false information. When interviewed again a day later, children in the MCR condition resisted …

Reality-Monitoring Characteristics In Confirmed And Doubtful Allegations Of Abuse, Kim P. Roberts, Michael E. Lamb

Psychology Faculty Publications

According to reality-monitoring theory, memories of experienced and imagined events are qualitatively different, and can be distinguished by children from the age of 3. Across three studies, a total of 119 allegations of sexual abuse by younger (aged 3-8) and older (aged 9-16) children were analyzed for developmental differences in the presence of reality-monitoring criteria, which should characterise descriptions of experienced events. Statements were deemed likely or unlikely to be descriptions of actual incidents using independent case information (e.g., medical evidence). Accounts by older children consistently contained more reality-monitoring criteria than those provided by younger children, and age differences were …

Multiple Instances Of Vocal Sensorimotor Adaptation To Frequency-Altered Feedback Within A Single Experimental Session, Colin S. Hawco, Jeffery A. Jones

Psychology Faculty Publications

Vocal sensory-motor adaptation is typically studied by introducing a prolonged change in auditory feedback. While it may be preferable to perform multiple blocks of adaptation within a single experiment, it is possible that a carry-over effect from previous blocks of adaptation may affect the results of subsequent blocks. Speakers were asked to vocalize an /a/ sound and match a target note during ten adaptation blocks. Each block represented a unique combination of target note and shift direction. The adaptation response was found to be similar for all blocks, indicating that there were no carry-over effects from previous blocks of adaptation.

Sex-Related Differences In Vocal Responses To Pitch Feedback Perturbations During Sustained Vocalization, Zhaocong Chen, Peng Liu, Jeffery A. Jones, Dongfeng Huang, Hanjun Liu

Psychology Faculty Publications

The present study assessed the effect of sex on voice fundamental frequency (F₀) responses to pitch feedback perturbations during sustained vocalization. Sixty-four native-Mandarin speakers heard their voice pitch feedback shifted at ±50, ±100, or ±200 cents for 200 ms, five times during each vocalization. The results showed that, as compared to female speakers, male speakers produced significantly larger but slower vocal responses to the pitch-shifted stimuli. These findings reveal a modulation of vocal response as a function of sex, and suggest that there may be a differential processing of vocal pitch feedback perturbations between men and women

Effects Of Chlorpromazine On Feeding And Wheel Running On Rats With Acute Wheel Access, Graham Gregory Parfeniuk

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Anorexia Nervosa (AN) is characterized by a self-imposed starvation and is often accompanied by excessive exercise that results in severe malnutrition and sometimes death. Behavioural and pharmacological treatments of AN need to be improved. In rats, acute 3 h daytime wheel access suppresses ad lib feeding over the subsequent night relative to no wheel controls, a phenomenon that has been suggested as an animal model of AN. This acute wheel induced feeding suppression (WIFS), can be induced reliably when rats are given limited wheel access exposure during the light cycle (Lattanzio & Eikelboom, 2003). The acute WIFS is useful because …

Perceiving Pervasive Discrimination Over Time: Implications For Coping, Mindi D. Foster

Psychology Faculty Publications

This study suggests the effects of perceived pervasiveness may be dynamic over time. The hypothesis was that participants who perceived discrimination to be highly pervasive would initially be more likely to engage in inactive coping strategies than those who perceived low pervasiveness. However, those who continued to perceive high pervasiveness over time would ultimately show greater evidence of using active strategies than those perceiving low pervasiveness. Using a 28-day diary, women and ethnic minorities described their daily experiences of discrimination and indicated their appraisals of its pervasiveness as well as their coping strategies. Results showed that participants who initially perceived …

The Dynamic Nature Of Coping With Gender Discrimination: Appraisals, Strategies And Well-Being Over Time, Mindi D. Foster

Psychology Faculty Publications

Female introductory psychology students at a Canadian university (N = 31) participated in a lab simulation of discrimination, completed coping and well-being measures and then an online survey of well-being one year later. Expectations were that active (inactive) coping would initially be related to decreased (increased) well-being. A reverse pattern was expected for relationships between coping and well-being one year later. Results showed that among those perceiving high pervasive discrimination, active and inactive coping was related to decreased well-being immediately after the discrimination was portrayed, but among those perceiving low pervasiveness inactive coping was related to increased well-being. One year …

Can Paraphrasing Increase The Amount And Accuracy Of Reports From Child Eyewitnesses?, Angela D. Evans, Kim P. Roberts

Psychology Faculty Publications

Young children’s descriptions of sexual abuse are often sparse thus creating the need for techniques that elicit lengthier accounts. ‘Paraphrasing’, or repeating information children have just disclosed, is a technique sometimes used by forensic interviewers to clarify or elicit information. (e.g., if a child stated “He touched me”, an interviewer could respond “He touched you?”). However, the effects of paraphrasing have yet to be scientifically assessed. The impact of different paraphrasing styles on young children’s reports was investigated. Overall, paraphrasing per se did not improve the length, richness, or accuracy of reports when compared to open-ended prompts such as …

The Sensitivity Of Auditory-Motor Representations To Subtle Changes In Auditory Feedback While Singing, Dwayne Nicholas Keough, Jeffery A. Jones

Psychology Faculty Publications

Singing requires accurate control of the fundamental frequency (F₀) of the voice. This study examined trained singers’ and untrained singers’ (nonsingers’) sensitivity to subtle manipulations in auditory feedback and the subsequent effect on the mapping between F₀ feedback and vocal control. Participants produced the consonant-vowel /ta/ while receiving auditory feedback that was shifted up and down in frequency. Results showed that singers and nonsingers compensated to a similar degree when presented with frequency-altered feedback (FAF); however, singers’ F₀ values were consistently closer to the intended pitch target. Moreover, singers initiated their compensatory responses when auditory feedback …

Does Type Of Memory Practice Matter When Interviewing Children About A Single Or Repeated Event?, Sonja Brubacher, Kim Roberts, Martine Powell

Psychology Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Can Overeating Induce A Conditioned Taste Avoidance In Previously Restricted Rats?, Amanda Louise Hertel

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

While feeding is rewarding, the feeling of satiation has been theorized to be aversive under certain conditions. Using a food-restriction model of overeating developed in our laboratory the results presented here suggest that overeating, and the resulting experience of satiation, is capable of supporting a conditioned taste avoidance.

Rats had either ad lib (n=8) or restricted (n=24) food access (receiving 50% of the food eaten by ad lib fed rats) for 8 days. All rats were then given 24 hr access to a 0.1% saccharin solution, and two groups of food-restricted rats were given access to either 100% of the …

Neural And Behavioral Responses To The Use Of Auditory Feedback In Vocal Control, Colin S. Haweo

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

A large body of evidence suggests that the motor system maintains a forward model that predicts the sensory outcome of movements. When sensory feedback does not match the predicted consequences, a compensatory response corrects for the motor error and the forward model is updated to prevent future errors. Like other motor behaviours, vocalization relies on sensory feedback for the maintenance of forward models and to stabilize vocalizations.

Experiment 1 used event-related potentials (ERPs) to examine sensory processing of short feedback perturbations during an ongoing utterance. In one session, participants produced a vowel at an FO of their own choosing. In …

Internal And External Triggers For Action, Shannon Matkovich

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

When the self paced preparation of an action is interrupted by a stimulus prompting the same motor response there is an increase in the reaction time to the stimulus as compared to an external or simple reaction time (SRT) condition (Obhi & Haggard, 2004). Previous studies have suggested that this cost is not attributable to perceptual or attentional factors. Therefore, to investigate the source of this RT cost we varied the motor demands of movements in Experiments one and two. Results indicated that the level of motor programming demands did not influence the RT cost in these experiments. While RTs …

Effects Of Context On Target Localization, Cheryl M. Lavell

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The purpose of this thesis was to investigate how the presence of non-target objects can influence the planning of a movement towards a remembered target location. One specific aim was to examine how the temporal effects of the task could affect movement planning. The final aim of this thesis was to examine whether or not the mere presence of extrinsic cues can suppress the encoding of intrinsic cues.

It was found that when non-target objects are presented simultaneously with the target, interference occurs; however, if the non-target objects are presented at least 250 ms in advance of the targets performance …

Birds Of A Feather Sit Together: Physical Similarity Predicts Seating Choice, Sean Mackinnon

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The relationship between physical similarity and seating preference was examined using two observational studies and one laboratory study. Using Campbell et al.’s (1966) seating adjacency formula, Study 1 found significant aggregation by glasses-wearing status and sex when observing seating patterns in a library computer lab. That is, men sat beside other men, glasses-wearers by other glasses wearers, and so on. Study 2 broadened this methodology by examining a wider variety of physical traits in university classrooms; specifically, race, sex, glasses-wearing, hair length and hair colour. Broadly speaking, multivariate tests revealed an overall tendency for people to sit beside physically similar …

The Effect On Response Complexity On Task-Switching Behaviour, Christina Shepherd

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Research on task-switching has shown that when participants are asked to switch between two different tasks, they are slower than when they repeat the same task. These costs have also been shown to increase when the previous response is repeated; however, very little has been done to investigate the role of response complexity in this relationship. We manipulated response complexity by increasing both the number of stimulus-response pairs and the number of individual response components. We hypothesized that increased response complexity would increase both the switch costs and the response repetition effect. Results indicated that increasing the number of S-R …

The Tactile Motion Aftereffect, Peggy Joanne Planetta

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The tactile motion aftereffect (tMAE) is a perceptual phenomenon in which illusory motion is reported following adaptation to a unidirectionally moving tactile stimulus. Unlike its visual counterpart, relatively little is known about the tMAE. For that reason, the purpose of this dissertation was to gain a better understanding of the tMAE using both psychophysical and neuroimaging techniques. In a series of five experiments the skin was adapted using a plastic cylinder with a square-wave patterned surface. Chapter 2 consists of two experiments, both of which adapted the glabrous surface of the right hand. Experiment 1 showed that the prevalence, duration, …

Neural And Behavioural Effects Of The Ginkgo Biloba Leaf Extract Egb 761, Elham Satvat

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Numerous studies have documented the cognitive-enhancing effects of standardized Ginkgo biloba leaf extracts (Ginkgo) both in humans and in rodents. In addition to its antioxidant and platelet-activating factor inhibiting properties, Gingko has been shown to protect cellular membrane fluidity, to enhance cerebral blood flow and microcirculation, and to modulate cholinergic system functioning, properties that have been suggested to underlie its cognitive-enhancing effects. However, the possible neurogenic-enhancing effects of Ginkgo on adult hippocampal neurogenesis as a possible mechanism underlying its nootropic effects have not been evaluated. The experiments discussed in the present thesis assessed such a possibility.

Chapter 1 …

Escalation Of Wheel Running: An Animal Model Of Non-Drug Addiction, Ali Gheidi

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Animal studies using the self-administration paradigm suggest that duration of drug access (Ahmed, 2005) and individual phenotype (Piazza, Deminiere, Le Moal and Simon, 1989) are important factors in the development of drug addiction. Wheel running in rats has been proposed as a model to study non-drug addictions (Eikelboom & Lattanzio, 2003). When first given ad lib wheel access, young male rats initially run at low levels (about 1000 wheel turns per night) and gradually increase this distance to high levels (about 5000 wheel turns per night) (Afonso and Eikelboom, 2003). Like with self-administration, duration of wheel access has been found …

List Composition Effects For Masked Semantic Primes: Evidence Inconsistent With Activation Accounts, Jennifer C. Major

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Priming is the benefit that an event receives when its processing has been preceded by the processing of a related or identical event. Context effects on priming are evident when priming changes as a function of some feature of experimental trials. The most commonly explored context effect is that of relatedness proportion (RP), where it has often been shown that the magnitude of priming (semantic or repetition) is directly related to the proportion of related trials: Increasing the related trials results in greater priming. Although previously thought to depend on strategic processing, recent evidence of context effects from designs using …

Urgency Is A Non-Monotonic Function Of Pulse Rate, Frank A. Russo, Jeffery A. Jones

Psychology Faculty Publications

Magnitude estimation was used to assess the experience of urgency in pulse-train stimuli (pulsed white noise) ranging from 3.13 to 200 Hz. At low pulse rates, pulses were easily resolved. At high pulse rates, pulses fused together leading to a tonal sensation with a clear pitch level. Urgency ratings followed a nonmonotonic (polynomial) function with local maxima at 17.68 and 200 Hz. The same stimuli were also used in response time and pitch scaling experiments. Response times were negatively correlated with urgency ratings. Pitch scaling results indicated that urgency of pulse trains is mediated by the perceptual constructs of speed …

Speech Disruption During Delayed Auditory Feedback With Simultaneous Visual Feedback, Jeffery A. Jones, Danielle Streimer

Psychology Faculty Publications

Delayed auditory feedback (DAF) regarding speech can cause dysfluency. The purpose of this study was to explore whether providing visual feedback in addition to DAF would ameliorate speech disruption. Speakers repeated sentences and heard their auditory feedback delayed with and without simultaneous visual feedback. DAF led to increased sentence durations and an increased number of speech disruptions. Although visual feedback did not reduce DAF effects on duration, a promising but nonsignificant trend was observed for fewer speech disruptions when visual feedback was provided. This trend was significant in speakers who were overall less affected by DAF. The results suggest the …

Particularisation Of Child Abuse Offences: Common Problems When Questioning Child Witnesses, Martine B. Powell, Kim P. Roberts, Belinda Guadagno

Psychology Faculty Publications

Prosecuting child abusers is often difficult due to lack of particularising details. Two possible ways of addressing this difficulty are: (a) to change the justice system to better serve prosecution for repeated offences (i.e., allow generic testimony), and (b) to bolster children's testimony. As this article has illustrated, there is still considerable potential for increasing (b). Given the low prosecution rates of child abuse offences, the need for exceptional interviewer training programs coupled with resources for ongoing supervision is now critical. While there have been some major improvements in child witness investigative interviews over the past two decades, there are …

Les 25 Ans De La Revue Canadienne De Santé Mental Communautaire: Observations Et Perspectives, Geoffrey Nelson

Psychology Faculty Publications

En tant qu’ancien rédacteur de la Revue canadienne de santé mentale communautaire (RCSMC), membre de longue date de son comité de rédaction et collaborateur régulier, j’ai accepté avec plaisir de commenter l’analyse de contenu de la RCSMC faite par Fortin-Pellerin, Pouliot-Lapointe, Thibodeau et Gagné. Je tiens d’abord à préciser que je ne prétends pas ici faire un compte rendu objectif, non seulement à cause de mon profond investissement dans la Revue, mais aussi à cause de ma partialité, de mes valeurs et de ma position privilégiée, tant personnelles que professionnelles, qui m’empêchent d’être totalement objectif. Je peux toutefois offrir, en …

Strengthening Ontario's System Of Housing For People With Serious Mental Illness, John Sylvestre, Lindsey George, Tim Aubry, Janet Durbin, Geoffrey Nelson, John Trainor

Psychology Faculty Publications

This article describes recent work to support recommendations for improving Ontario’s system of housing for people with serious mental illness. This multifaceted project engaged stakeholders in discussions concerning strategies for improving the system based on (a) values that underlie housing programs, (b) evidence of effective housing practices, (c) the current status of the system, and (d) international practices for monitoring community mental health systems. Stakeholders reviewed summaries of the work and discussed implications for improving the provincial system of housing and supports. Recommendations are made for improving the system, focusing on both regional and provincial level actions.

25 Years Of The Canadian Journal Of Community Mental Health: Reflections And Future Directions, Geoffrey Nelson

Psychology Faculty Publications

As a former senior editor, a long-term member of the editorial board, and a regular contributor to the Canadian Journal of Community Mental Health (CJCMH), I am delighted with the invitation to comment on the 25-year review of the contents of CJCMH by Fortin-Pellerin, Pouliot-Lapointe, Thibodeau, and Gagné. I want to begin by acknowledging that I cannot pretend to give an objective account of CJCMH, not only because of my deep investment in it, but also because of my personal and professional biases, values, and position of privilege. What I can offer are some reflections on CJCMH, as well as …

The Impact Of Experienced Versus Non-Experienced Suggestions On Children’S Recall Of Repeated Events, Martine B. Powell, Kim Roberts, Donald M. Thomson, Stephen J. Ceci

Psychology Faculty Publications

Three experiments were conducted to test the proposition that children’s suggestibility about an occurrence of a repeated event is heightened when an interviewer suggests false details that were experienced in non-target occurrences of the event as opposed to new details that never occurred. In each experiment, children participated in a repeated event during which specific items varied each time (e.g., the children always got a sticker but the theme of the sticker was different in each occurrence). Separate biasing and memory interviews were then conducted. In Experiment 1, the interviewer merely suggested that the false details might have occurred in …

Responding To Discrimination As A Function Of Meritocracy Beliefs And Personal Experiences: Testing The Model Of Shattered Assumptions, Mindi D. Foster, Lisa Sloto, Richard Ruby

Psychology Faculty Publications

We examined whether the model of shattered assumptions (Janoff-Bulman, 1992) could be applied to the reactions of victims of discrimination. Consistent with this model, it was hypothesized that those whose positive world assumptions are inconsistent with their negative experiences of discrimination would report more negative responses than those whose world assumptions match their experience. Disadvantaged group (both gender and ethnicity) members’ responses to discrimination (self-esteem, collective action, intergroup anxiety) were predicted from their meritocracy beliefs and personal experiences of discrimination. Regression analyses showed a significant interaction between meritocracy beliefs and personal discrimination such that among those who reported personal discrimination, …

The Consistency Of False Suggestions Moderates Children’S Reports Of A Single Instance Of A Repeated Event: Predicting Increases And Decreases In Suggestibility, Kim Roberts, Martine B. Powell

Psychology Faculty Publications

Six- to 7-year-olds (N = 130) participated in classroom activities four times. The children were interviewed about the final occurrence (target event) either a week or a month later, during which half of the event items were inaccurately described. Half of these suggestions were consistent with the theme of the detail across the occurrences (e.g., always sat on a kind of floor mat) or were inconsistent (e.g., sat on a chair). When memory for the target event was tested a day later, children falsely recognized fewer inconsistent than consistent suggestions, especially compared to a control group of children who …

A Narrative Approach To The Evaluation Of Supportive Housing: Stories Of Homeless People Who Have Experienced Serious Mental Illness, Geoffrey Nelson, Juanne Nancarrow Clarke, Angela Febbraro, Maria Hatzipantelis

Psychology Faculty Publications

We present the findings of a narrative approach to the evaluation of supportive housing for formerly homeless people who have experienced serious mental illness. According to the accounts of 11 men and 9 women, their youth and adult years were piled with personal problems, troubled relationships, and a lack of adequate social resources. Since entering supportive housing, participants noted more stability in their lives and the beginning of journeys to recover positive personal identities, restore or develop new supportive relationships, and reclaim resources vital to leading lives with dignity and meaning. The findings add to the literature on housing interventions …