Behavior and Behavior Mechanisms Commons^™

Relational Reasoning Across Cultures: Consistency And Variation In South Korea, The United States, And China, Alexandra Carstensen, Minju Kim, Youngon Choi, Caren M. Walker

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

Abstract reasoning in early childhood is often described as following a “relational shift,” over which children become increasingly sensitive to relations. However, recent work has challenged the generality of this account, showing that children in the US and China follow distinct trajectories in a relational match-to-sample task. This difference aligns with multiple cultural and linguistic factors implicated in relational reasoning, where the US and China appear at opposite ends of a continuum, focusing on objects (US) versus relations (CN). This raises the possibility that differences in culture and language may shape variation in the development of abstract reasoning. Here, we …

A Multi-Measurement Study Of The Relation Between Deliberation And Volition, Guillaume P. Pech, Emilie A. Caspar, Elisabeth Pacherie, Axel Cleeremans, Uri Maoz

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

Historically, voluntary action and volition more generally have been investigated through the lens of meaningless decisions. Importantly, these findings have been used in the debate about key notions like free will and moral responsibility. However, more recent claims have challenged the possibility of generalizing findings from a meaningless context to a more meaningful one. The current study investigates the markers of volition, specifically comparing meaningful and meaningless decisions. In an effort to maximize their monetary gain, 50 participants repeatedly deliberated between two options, making either rewarded choices—hard-deliberation decisions (where the options differed along two dimensions) or easy-deliberation decisions (where the …

Probing For Intentions: The Early Readiness Potential Does Not Reflect Awareness Of Motor Preparation, Jake Gavenas, Aaron Schurger, Uri Maoz

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

Voluntary actions are typically preceded by the readiness potential (RP), a negative midfrontal electroencephalography (EEG) deflection that begins ~2 s before movement. What cognitive and neural process the RP reflects and how it relates to conscious intention remain unclear due to conflicting findings. We investigated the neural basis and cognitive significance of the RP in a novel probe-based paradigm. Contrary to prior reports, we found that pre-probe RP buildups were not related to reported awareness of motor preparation. Computational modeling suggested that the best explanation for these results is via metacognitive access to stochastic accumulation. Reported preparation was also related …

Empirically Validating A Computational Model Of Automatic Behavior Shaping, Vincent Berardi, Tian Lan, Ariane Guirguis, Uri Maoz

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

Background

Mobile sensing technology allows automated behavior shaping routines to be incorporated into health behavior interventions and other settings. In previous work, a computational model was built to investigate how to best arrange automatic behavior shaping procedures, but the degree to which this model reflects actual human behavior is not known.

Purpose

To translate a previously developed computational model of automatic behavior shaping into an experimental setting.

Methods

Participants (n = 54) operated a computer mouse and attempted to locate a hidden, randomly-placed target circle on a blank computer screen and clicks within some threshold distance of the target …

Childhood Prosocial Behavior And Body Mass Index: Longitudinal Findings In The Millennium Cohort Study, Farah Qureshi, Krista Woodward, Laura D. Kubzansky, Julia K. Boehm

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

Objective: Childhood obesity affects millions worldwide but is challenging to treat. Prosocial or helping behavior may help mitigate childhood obesity. We investigated whether prosocial behavior at ages 5–11 was associated with body mass index (BMI) and reduced obesity risk through age 17. Method: Data were from 8,894 participants in the Millennium Cohort Study. Parents reported children’s prosocial behavior using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire at ages 5, 7, and 11. BMI scores (kg/m2) were calculated from children’s height and weight at ages 5, 7, 11, 14, and 17, which were then standardized by sex (M = 0, SD = 1) …

Affect Regulation And Allostatic Load Over Time, Amanda E. Ng, Tara Gruenewald, Robert-Paul Juster, Claudia Trudel-Fitzgerald

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

Objective

Emerging work suggests that affect regulation strategies (e.g., active coping, anger expression) predict disease and mortality risk, with sometimes divergent estimates by sex or education levels. However, few studies have examined potential underlying biological mechanisms. This study assessed the longitudinal association of affect regulation with future allostatic load.

Method

In 2004–2006, 574 participants from the Midlife in the United States study completed validated scales assessing use of nine general and emotion-specific regulatory strategies (e.g., denial, anger expression). As a proxy for how flexibly participants regulate their affect, variability in the use of regulatory strategies was operationalized using a standard …

Targeting Social Connection In The Context Of Trauma: Functional Outcomes And Mechanisms Of Change, Andrew J. Smith, David Pincus, Bernard P. Ricca

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

The current study presents and preliminarily tests a brief, theory driven intervention designed to target social connectivity as a transdiagnostic mechanism of health. We tested four hypotheses to examine whether and how explicitly targeting social behavior engagement (activating values-led behaviors towards specific network members) may improve other downstream aspects of social connectivity (i.e., social cognitions measured as loneliness, interpersonal closeness, perceived social support) and functioning (quality of life [QOL] and posttraumatic stress symptoms [PTS]). Methods. Participants included 15 patients (10 veterans, 5 firefighters) who completed the six-session intervention. Demographics: age (M = 46, SD = 17), 87% male, race (80% …

Early Life Exposure To Unpredictable Parental Sensory Signals Shapes Cognitive Development Across Three Species, Elyssia Poggi Davis, Kari Mccormack, Hina Arora, Desiree Sharpe, Annabel K. Short, Jocelyne Bachevalier, Laura M. Glynn, Curt A. Sandman, Hal S. Stern, Mar Sanchez, Tallie Z. Baram

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

Exposure to early life adversity has long term consequences on cognitive function. Most research has focused on understanding components of early life adversities that contribute to later risk, including poverty, trauma, maltreatment, and neglect. Whereas these factors, in the aggregate, explain a significant proportion of emotional and cognitive problems, there are serious gaps in our ability to identify potential mechanisms by which early life adversities might promote vulnerability or resilience. Here we discuss early life exposure to unpredictable signals from the caretaker as an understudied type of adversity that is amenable to prevention and intervention. We employ a translational approach …

Maintaining Physical Activity During Covid-19: The Influence Of Psychosocial Variables In Individuals With Back Pain, Heidi Stabbert

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

Stressor events, such as COVID-19, may trigger adaptive or maladaptive pain management strategies among individuals with persistent low back pain (LBP). Individuals with lower fear avoidance, depression and anxiety, and greater positive affect and quality of life may better maintain positive pain management strategies during stressor events. This study investigated psychosocial characteristics of individuals with LBP who demonstrated adaptive pain management strategies during COVID-19, indicated by maintenance of physical activity (PA). Individuals with persistent LBP (age 22.4 (3.4) years, n=25) from an existing longitudinal cohort participated. Participants completed a baseline survey prior to COVID-19 quantifying demographics, pain characteristics, the Physical …

Functional Seizures: The Patient’S Perspective Of A Diagnostic And Treatment Odyssey, Heather J. Andrini, Sydni L. Au Hoy, Ashley M. Okhovat, Juliana Lockman, Gregory R. Goldsmith

Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research

Functional seizures can be challenging to properly diagnose, often leading to delays in treatment. The etiology of functional seizures is multifactorial, with psychological factors identified in many, but not all cases. Misdiagnosis may occur due to clinical features mimicking other medical conditions. Once a correct diagnosis is reached, delivery of definitive, evidence-based treatment may be challenging due to limited availability of specialized resources. Research shows psychological education and cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) have the greatest efficacy. However, individual differences, including acceptance of the diagnosis, therapeutic alliance, duration of symptoms, comorbidities, and access to care may influence outcomes. There is a …

Identifying App-Based Meditation Habits And The Associated Mental Health Benefits: Longitudinal Observational Study, Chad Stecher, Vincent Berardi, Ryan Fowers, Jaclyn Christ, Yunro Chung, Jennifer Huberty

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

Background: Behavioral habits are often initiated by contextual cues that occur at approximately the same time each day; so, it may be possible to identify a reflexive habit based on the temporal similarity of repeated daily behavior. Mobile health tools provide the detailed, longitudinal data necessary for constructing such an indicator of reflexive habits, which can improve our understanding of habit formation and help design more effective mobile health interventions for promoting healthier habits.

Objective: This study aims to use behavioral data from a commercial mindfulness meditation mobile phone app to construct an indicator of reflexive meditation habits …

The Association Of Parent-Child Communication With Internet Addiction In Left-Behind Children In China: A Cross-Sectional Study, Jingjing Cai, Yun Wang, Feng Wang, Jingjing Lu, Lu Li, Xudong Zhou

Pharmacy Faculty Articles and Research

Objective: Internet addiction has emerged as a growing concern worldwide. This study aimed to compare the prevalence of Internet addiction between left-behind children (LBC) and non-left-behind children (non-LBC), and explore the role of paternal and maternal parent-child communication on LBC.

Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional survey in rural areas in Anhui, China. The complete data were available from 699 LBC and 740 non-LBC. Multivariable logistic regression was used to examine 1) whether LBC were more likely to develop Internet addiction, and 2) the association between parent-child communication and Internet addiction among LBC.

Results: LBC had a higher likelihood to report …

What Is The Readiness Potential?, Aaron Schurger, Pengbo 'Ben' Hu, Joanna Pak, Adina L. Roskies

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

The readiness potential (RP) has been widely interpreted to indicate preparation for movement and is used to argue that our brains decide before we do. It thus has been a fulcrum for discussion about the neuroscience of free will.

Recent computational models provide an alternative framework for thinking about the significance of the RP, suggesting instead that the RP is a natural result of the operation of a stochastic accumulator process of decision-making, analyzed by time-locking to threshold-crossing events.

These models call for a reevaluation of: (i) the ontological standing of the RP as reflecting a real, causally efficacious signal …

Smart Homes For Smart Health: Developing An Interactive System To Reduce In-Home Secondhand Smoke, Christie Kika, Janice Han, Vincent Berardi

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

Smoke from any source is potentially harmful because it contains fine particulate matter that is associated with acute and chronic conditions. Second-hand smoke (SHS) is particularly unsafe for children due to biological characteristics (higher breathing rates, immature lungs and underdeveloped immune systems) that make it difficult to filter toxins.To address this concern, we recently completed Project Fresh Air (PFA), an NIH-funded R01 intervention that installed air particle sensors in the households of tobacco smokers who lived with children. The purpose of our research is to investigate and develop efficient smart home devices that monitor SHS in various living spaces to …

Perturbing The Sense Of Agency, Maiia Tolia-Shah, Brenda Gutierrez, Sook Mun (Alice) Wong, Uri Maoz

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

The goal of this experiment is to test a model of the sense of agency, intention, volition, and causality in order to examine the time course of the sense of agency associated with voluntary and involuntary movements. We examine the roles of context, expectation, and sensory feedback in the feeling of agency as well as examining the aspects of volition in different kinds of decisions. This experiment is thought to be very novel as it stimulates an internal signal for movement from an external source which is why the participant can find it hard to decipher if they are fully …

Pediatric Asthma And Psychological Resilience: Examining Whether Family Functioning And Social Support Relate To Asthma Symptoms And Lung Function, Dalia Jaafar, Natasha H. Hikita, Pornchai Tirakitsoontorn, Azucena Talamantes, Anchalee Yuengsrigul, Eric Sternlicht, Brooke N. Jenkins

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

Upwards of 6 million children in the United States are afflicted with pediatric asthma. While previous research has linked asthma to multiple contributing biological and environmental factors, recent research suggests that psychological and social factors may have an impact on physiological outcomes of asthma like lung function and lung inflammation. Therefore, we suggest the need to study the impact of positive psychological factors such as a well-functioning family environment and beneficial social support on symptoms and lung function of children diagnosed with asthma. In the present pilot study, we recruited a total of 15 children with a confirmed asthma diagnosis …

So Others May Live: The Price Of Healthcare In Combat, Robert Del Toro

War, Diplomacy, and Society (MA) Theses

“Medics carried more responsibilities than dry feet, salt tablets, syphilis, and puncture wounds,” U.S. Army Medic Ben Sherman stated after reflecting on his tour in Vietnam. On the battlefields of North Africa, Italy, France, and Vietnam, the medics of the U.S. Army Medical Department faced the difficult duty of preserving life while death surrounded them. Their patients were not strangers but, men they had grown close to, they were comrades and family. Analyzing the memoirs and letters of forward medical personnel from the Second World War and the Vietnam War, this thesis analyzes how a medic’s care went beyond the …

Sense Of Purpose In Life And Five Health Behaviors In Older Adults, Eric S. Kim, Koichiro Shiba, Julia K. Boehm, Laura D. Kubzansky

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

Accumulating evidence shows that a higher sense of purpose in life is associated with lower risk of chronic conditions and premature mortality. Health behaviors might partially explain these findings, however, the prospective association between sense of purpose and health behaviors is understudied. We tested whether a higher sense of purpose at baseline was associated with lower likelihood of developing unhealthy behaviors over time. Prospective data were from the Health and Retirement Study, a national sample of U.S. older adults. Our sample included 13,770 adults assessed up to five times across eight years. Among people who met recommended guidelines for a …

Supporting Self-Regulation Of Children With Adhd Using Wearables: Tensions And Design Challenges, Franceli L. Cibrian, Kimberley D. Lakes, Arya Tavakoulnia, Kayla Guzman, Sabrina Schuck, Gillian R. Hayes

Engineering Faculty Articles and Research

The design of wearable applications supporting children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorders (ADHD) requires a deep understanding not only of what is possible from a clinical standpoint but also how the children might understand and orient towards wearable technologies, such as a smartwatch. Through a series of participatory design workshops with children with ADHD and their caregivers, we identified tensions and challenges in designing wearable applications supporting the self-regulation of children with ADHD. In this paper, we describe the specific challenges of smartwatches for this population, the balance between self-regulation and co-regulation, and tensions when receiving notifications on a smartwatch …

Variable Magnitude And Frequency Financial Reinforcement Is Effective At Increasing Adults’ Free-Living Physical Activity, Vincent Berardi, Melbourne Hovell, Jane C. Hurley, Christine B. Phillips, John Belletierre, Michael Todd, Marc A. Adams

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

Financial rewards can increase health behaviors, but little research has quantified the effects of different reinforcement schedules on this process. This analysis compares the average moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) associated with six distinct positive reinforcement schedules implemented within a physical activity promotion clinical trial. In this trial, participants (N = 512) wore an accelerometer for 1 year and were prescribed one of two types of MVPA goals: a static 30-min goal or an adaptive goal based on the MVPA produced over the previous 9 days. As participants met goals, they transitioned through a sequence of reinforcement stages, beginning with …

Immune-Endocrine Links To Gregariousness In Wild House Mice, Patricia C. Lopes, Esther H. D. Carlitz, Morgan Kindel, Barbara König

Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research

Social interactions are critically important for survival and impact overall-health, but also impose costs on animals, such as exposure to contagious agents. The immune system can play a critical role in modulating social behavior when animals are sick, as has been demonstrated within the context of “sickness behaviors.” Can immune molecules affect or be affected by social interactions even when animals are not sick, therefore serving a role in mediating pathogen exposure? We tested whether markers of immune function in both the blood and the brain are associated with gregariousness, quantified as number of animals interacted with per day. To …

An Integration-To-Bound Model Of Decision-Making That Accounts For The Spectral Properties Of Neural Data, Ramón Guevara Erra, Marco Arbotto, Aaron Schurger

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

Integration-to-bound models are among the most widely used models of perceptual decision-making due to their simplicity and power in accounting for behavioral and neurophysiological data. They involve temporal integration over an input signal (“evidence”) plus Gaussian white noise. However, brain data shows that noise in the brain is long-term correlated, with a spectral density of the form 1/fα (with typically 1 < α < 2), also known as pink noise or ‘1/f’ noise. Surprisingly, the adequacy of the spectral properties of drift-diffusion models to electrophysiological data has received little attention in the literature. Here we propose a model of accumulation of evidence for decision-making that takes into consideration the spectral properties of brain signals. We develop a generalization of the leaky stochastic accumulator model using a Langevin equation whose non-linear noise term allows for varying levels of autocorrelation in the time course of the decision variable. We derive this equation directly from magnetoencephalographic data recorded while subjects performed a spontaneous movement initiation task. We then propose a nonlinear model of accumulation of evidence that accounts for the ‘1/f’ spectral properties of brain signals, and the observed variability in the power spectral properties of brain signals. Furthermore, our model outperforms the standard drift-diffusion model at approximating the empirical waiting time distribution.

Rationale, Design, And Baseline Characteristics Of Walkit Arizona: A Factorial Randomized Trial Testing Adaptive Goals And Financial Reinforcement To Increase Walking Across Higher And Lower Walkable Neighborhoods, Marc A. Adams, Jane Hurley, Christine Phillips, Michael Todd, Siddhartha Angadi, Vincent Berardi, Melbourne F. Hovell, Steven Hooker

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

Little change over the decades has been seen in adults meeting moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) guidelines. Numerous individual-level interventions to increase MVPA have been designed, mostly static interventions without consideration for neighborhood context. Recent technologies make adaptive interventions for MVPA feasible. Unlike static interventions, adaptive intervention components (e.g., goal setting) adjust frequently to an individual's performance. Such technologies also allow for more precise delivery of “smaller, sooner incentives” that may result in greater MVPA than “larger, later incentives”. Combined, these factors could enhance MVPA adoption. Additionally, a central tenet of ecological models is that MVPA is sensitive to neighborhood environment …

Measuring Neural Time Series Data In A Sensory Deprivation Tank, Jackson Gregory, Tian Lan, Uri Maoz, Amir Raz

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

We are interested in studying the neurological and physiological effects of the float pod, also known as REST therapy, or sensory deprivation tank. Float pods rely on the concept of depriving most senses (from sound and light to temperature and proprioception) in a pool filled with buoyant salt water at body temperature. While float pods are most commonly used in spa environments, we intend to look at the potential benefits of floating under the empirical lens. In this study, we aim to measure neural activity using electroencephalography (EEG). We intend to look at the different levels of relaxation and the …

Changing Healthcare Provider And Parent Behaviors In The Pediatric Post‐Anesthesia‐Care‐Unit To Reduce Child Pain: Nurse And Parent Training In Postoperative Stress (Np‐Tips), Brooke N. Jenkins, Michelle Fortier, Robert S. Stevenson, Mai Makhlouf, Paulina Lim, Remy Converse, Zeev N. Kain

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

Background

Children who undergo surgery experience significant pain in the post anesthesia care unit. Nurse and parent behaviors in the post anesthesia care unit directly impact child postoperative pain. Therefore, we have developed and evaluated (Phase 1) and then tested (Phase 2) the feasibility of a new intervention (Nurse and Parent Training in Postoperative Stress) to alter parent and nurse behaviors in a way consistent with reducing child postoperative pain.

Methods

In Phase 1, a multidisciplinary team of experts (physicians, nurses, and psychologists) developed an empirically‐based intervention which was then evaluated by experienced nurses (N = 8) and parents …

Delay Discount Rate Moderates A Physical Activity Intervention Testing Immediate Rewards, Christine B. Phillips, Jane C. Hurley, Siddhartha S. Angadi, Michael Todd, Vincent Berardi, Melbourne Hovell, Marc A. Adams

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

Financial incentives can increase physical activity (PA), but differences in the immediacy of reward delivery and individual differences in delay discount rates (i.e., higher discount values associated with less tolerance for delayed rewards) may explain differential responding. The current study tested whether delay discount rate moderated the relative effectiveness of immediate financial rewards on increasing daily PA. Inactive, overweight adults (ages 18–60, N = 96) were randomized to receive either smaller, immediate goal-contingent rewards or larger, delayed rewards for participation. Delay discount rates were derived for those who completed the Monetary Choice Questionnaire (N = 85). Linear mixed models tested …

Measuring Novel Antecedents Of Mental Illness: The Questionnaire Of Unpredictability In Childhood, Laura M. Glynn, Hal S. Stern, Mariann A. Howland, Victoria B. Risbrough, Dewleen G. Baker, Caroline M. Nievergelt, Tallie Z. Baram, Elysia P. Davis

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

Increasing evidence indicates that, in addition to poverty, maternal depression, and other well-established factors, unpredictability of maternal and environmental signals early in life influences trajectories of brain development, determining risk for subsequent mental illness. However, whereas most risk factors for later vulnerability to mental illness are readily measured using existing, clinically available tools, there are no similar measures for assessing early-life unpredictability. Here we validate the Questionnaire of Unpredictability in Childhood (QUIC) and examine its associations with mental health in the context of other indicators of childhood adversity (e.g., traumatic life events, socioeconomic status, and parenting quality). The QUIC was …

Prompts To Increase Physical Activity At Points-Of-Choice Between Stairs And Escalators: What About Escalator Climbers?, John Belletierre, Ben Nguyen, Sandy Liles, Vincent Berardi, Marc A. Adams, Paddy Dempsey, Yael Benporat, Jacqueline Kerr, Andrea Z. Lacroix, Melbourne Hovell

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

Since 1980, many studies have evaluated whether stair-use prompts increased physical activity by quantifying changes in stair use. To more completely evaluate changes in physical activity, this study addressed the often-overlooked assessment of climbing up escalators by evaluating the degree to which stair-use sign prompts increased active ascent—defined as stair use or escalator climbing. Over 5 months, at an airport stairs/escalator point of choice, we video-recorded passersby (N = 13,544) who ascended either stairs or escalators, on 10 days with signs and 10 days without signs. Ascenders using the stairs, standing on the escalator, and climbing the escalator were …

A Markov Approach For Increasing Precision In The Assessment Of Data-Intensive Behavioral Interventions, Vincent Berardi, Ricardo Carretero-González, John Belletierre, Marc A. Adams, Suzanne C. Hughes, Melbourne Hovell

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

Health interventions using real-time sensing technology are characterized by intensive longitudinal data, which has the potential to enable nuanced evaluations of individuals’ responses to treatment. Existing analytic tools were not developed to capitalize on this opportunity as they typically focus on first-order findings such as changes in the level and/or slope of outcome variables over different intervention phases. This paper introduces an exploratory, Markov-based empirical transition method that offers a more comprehensive assessment of behavioral responses when intensive longitudinal data are available. The procedure projects a univariate time-series into discrete states and empirically determines the probability of transitioning from one …

Psychological Well-Being And Restorative Biological Processes: Hdl-C In Older English Adults, Jackie Soo, Laura D. Kubzansky, Ying Chen, Emily S. Zevon, Julia K. Boehm

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

Rationale

Psychological well-being is associated with better cardiovascular health, but the underlying mechanisms are unclear.

Objective

This study investigates one possible mechanism by examining psychological well-being's prospective association with lipid levels, focusing on high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C).

Methods

Participants were 4757 healthy men and women ages ≥50 from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing with clinical data from three times, three to five years apart. Psychological well-being was assessed at baseline using the Control, Autonomy, Satisfaction, and Pleasure scale; HDL-C, triglycerides, and total cholesterol were assayed from blood samples. Descriptive statistics and linear mixed models were used to examine associations …