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Articles 1 - 11 of 11
Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences
Comparison Of The Effects Of Saporin-Igg Injections Into The Nucleus Basalis Magnocellularis And Medial Septal Area Of Male Rat As Assessed By The Morris Water Maze Task, Alexander R. V. Mccampbell '95
Comparison Of The Effects Of Saporin-Igg Injections Into The Nucleus Basalis Magnocellularis And Medial Septal Area Of Male Rat As Assessed By The Morris Water Maze Task, Alexander R. V. Mccampbell '95
Honors Projects
Alzheimer's disease currently afflicts approximately 4 million people in the United States, with 100,000 new cases being reported each year. As post mortem examination of AD patientsI brains has revealed a significant decrease in the number of cholinergic neurons, one approach we have taken is to look at the correlation between the depletion of certain cholinergic markers in animals and the resulting behavioral deficits. Two regions of specific interest are the medial septal area (MSA) and the nucleus basalis magnocellularis (NBM). These regions are important because they are the major source of cholinergic neurons in the brain, they are selectively …
Examining The Role Of Agitation And Aggression In Perceived Caregiver Burden, Anthony R. Peterson '95
Examining The Role Of Agitation And Aggression In Perceived Caregiver Burden, Anthony R. Peterson '95
Honors Projects
Recent research efforts in the area of dementia have revealed that the affected patients are not the only people that are impacted by this disorder. There are hidden victims that, more often than not, go unnoticed. These people are the caregivers, often family members, of a dementia patient. More and more attention is being focused on caregiver burden because it has been found that caring for a dementia patient can lead to medical and psychological problems in the caregiver. The purpose of this study was to determine if a positive correlation exists between the caregivers perceived burden and the patient's …
The Effects Of Circadian Entrainment On Operant Conditioning, Karen M. Lionello '95
The Effects Of Circadian Entrainment On Operant Conditioning, Karen M. Lionello '95
Honors Projects
The matching law has been a prevalent theory in behavior analysis for the past thirty years. This theory states that responding changes as a monotonic function of reinforcement. However, several studies have found bitonic functions. One reason for this discrepancy may be due to circadian entrainment. There is evidence that rats are sensitive to circadian rhythms and that rats are capable of entraining to two feeding times per day. Also, it may be that the biological makeup of rats consists of two separate rhythm oscillators. One involves food and the other involves light. The present experiments attempted to discover what …
Error Recognition In Calculus Problems: What Characterizes Expertise?, Alisha M. Crawley '95
Error Recognition In Calculus Problems: What Characterizes Expertise?, Alisha M. Crawley '95
Honors Projects
Previous research in the area of expert-novice comparisons of mathematical problem solving has focused on the differences in categorization of and performance on math problems. These studies have led to the conclusion that while solving or categorizing problems, experts focus on deep processing and novices focus on surface structure. Other research dealing with true/false multiplication equations has shown that adults (considered experts in multiplication) can reject false answers before processing the equation. This study attempts to extend these findings by looking at the differences between experts and novices in the recognition of errors in true/false calculus verification expressions. The participants …
Socialization Of Emotion: The Role Of Parental Discipline In Infant Anger Expression, Jennifer L. Cioni '95
Socialization Of Emotion: The Role Of Parental Discipline In Infant Anger Expression, Jennifer L. Cioni '95
Honors Projects
The current study sought to examine how infant negative affect changes with age and the factors that underlie that change (i.e., infant locomotor onset and emotion socialization). Participants included white, middle-class mothers ages 18 to 44, as well as their first-born infants at 6 months (all prelocomotor) and 8 months (half remained prelocomotor) of age. Videos of 20 mother-infant dyads taken at home were coded for maternal affect, infant affect, and prohibition scenes. Four, 2-way analyses of variance indicated that (1) the number of prohibitions increased with age for locomotor infants only, (2) the degree to which infant negative affect …
Using The Iowa Screening Battery For Mental Decline As A Predictor Of Functional Impairment, Laura L. Chapman '95
Using The Iowa Screening Battery For Mental Decline As A Predictor Of Functional Impairment, Laura L. Chapman '95
Honors Projects
Dementia is said to occur in at least 20% of the population aged 85 and older and is rising to almost epidemic proportions as the average age of the population in the United States continues to increase. Characteristically, dementia is manifested through memory impairment. These memory deficits along with other cognitive deficits render the individual at least somewhat disabled in social and occupational functioning. While there are many neuropsychological batteries which measure cognitive abilities and functional impairment, there has been no thorough consideration of how a cognitive screening battery might predict an individual's functional status. This study examined the Iowa …
A Possible Age-Related Neurological Mechanism In The Formation Of Problem-Solving Set, Catherine J. Blair '95
A Possible Age-Related Neurological Mechanism In The Formation Of Problem-Solving Set, Catherine J. Blair '95
Honors Projects
Problem-solving set is the ability to focus on one successful solution and to screen out other (non) successful solutions. One problem-solving set study by Ransopher and Thompson (1991) showed no main effect or marked difference of responses with age. However, these results are not surprising because the research design perhaps facilitated responses. Two outcomes were thought possible for this particular study. The inhibition-deficit view (Hasher and Zachs, 1988) suggests that older people may be less susceptible to the effects of problem-solving set because they would be less likely to be focused on just one solution set. Dempster (1992) suggests that …
Long-Term Effectiveness Of Combined Alprazolam And Cognitive-Behavioral Therapies In Panic Disorder, Steven M. Bond '95
Long-Term Effectiveness Of Combined Alprazolam And Cognitive-Behavioral Therapies In Panic Disorder, Steven M. Bond '95
Honors Projects
Benzodiazepines, particularly alprazolam, have been shown to be effective in the acute treatment of panic disorders. Difficult withdrawl and high relapse rates after successful discontinuation continue to be problems with this class of medication. Recent studies instituting cognitive-behavioral therapy as a treatment supplement to alprazolam taper have shown promising results out to one year follow-up. The present study investigated whether that combined treatment results in long-term improvement.
Predictors Of Relapse And Long-Term Recovery, Leann Westerhold '95
Predictors Of Relapse And Long-Term Recovery, Leann Westerhold '95
Honors Projects
Previous studies on panic disorfer (Bruce et al., 1995) have examined predictors of relapse on a short-term basis. This study investigated predictors of relapse and long-term recovery in panic disorder treated with alprazolam or alprazolam plus cognitive behavior therapy (CBT). Relapse was defined as return to medication or other treatment after discontinuation. Logistic regression analysis tested five variables derived from different conceptualizations of panic disorder etiology and treatment to determine if any predictors of relapse versus long-term recovery could be found. Only the change in Anxiety Sensitivity Index score from baseline to posttaper was found to be significant(p < 0.05, B= 0.22, df=1, R=0.25). this univariate model correctly classified 73 percent of patient outcomes at a two to four year followup. this finding suggests that a focus on cognitive change during treatment may help prevent relapse. Future research should include controlled studies to isolate the mechanism of cognitive change.
Visual Attention Differences Across The Lifespan: A Study Of Inhibition, Emily H. Cointin '95
Visual Attention Differences Across The Lifespan: A Study Of Inhibition, Emily H. Cointin '95
Honors Projects
In 1980, Treisman and Gelade proposed a two stage process of attention. According to the Feature Integration Theory, information is first processed automatically through feature extraction while integration of these features occurs later. Feature extraction is a parallel process and therefore automatic while feature integration is a serial process and thus requires attention. Because of the attentional nature of Treisman's theory, it has often been used as a paradigm for studies on attention and inhibition. The theory has also been used to highlight differences in cognitive abilities at various levels of development. In particular, it has been used to demonstrate …
Reinforcer Demand Elasticity Under Direct Competition Between Rats, Susan L. Reynolds '95
Reinforcer Demand Elasticity Under Direct Competition Between Rats, Susan L. Reynolds '95
Honors Projects
Economic theory predicts that cost is an inverse function of the quantity of a commodity. This has also been shown in studies of behavioral economics (Dougan, 1992). According to the law of supply and demand, competition between organisms should drive prices up more rapidly. Previous studies with rats have failed to find an effect of competition; however, the competition was indirect in those studies (Johns, unpublished thesis). In the present experiment, twelve female rats actively competed in pairs for reinforcers on each of four modified fixed interval (FI) schedules: FI 30 s, FI 60 s, FI 120 s, and FI …