Psychology Commons^™

The Creative Life Of A Genius: Nobel Laureate P. A. M. Dirac: A Monosyllabic Creative Genius, V. Krishna Kumar

Psychology Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

The Nature And Nurture Of Intuition, Thomas Q. Sibley

Forum Lectures

Are people just innately good at mathematics or not? My teaching experience suggests mathematical ability is not just fate: Students develop their mathematical abilities by doing mathematics. In particular we discuss geometric intuition, its connection with geometric reasoning and the possibility of developing them, using examples to get the listeners actively thinking about their own geometric thinking.

Detecting Deception Via Eyeblink Frequency Modulation, Brandon S. Perelman

Michigan Tech Publications, Part 1

To assess the efficacy of using eyeblink frequency modulation to detect deception about a third party, 32 participants were sent on a mission to deliver a package to an interviewer. 17 of the participants lied to the interviewer about the details of their mock mission and 15 responded truthfully. During the interview, eyeblink frequency data were collected via electromyography and recorded video. Liars displayed eye- blink frequency suppression while lying, while truth tellers exhibited an increase in eyeblink frequency during the mission relevant questioning period. The compen- satory flurry of eyeblinks following deception observed in previous studies was ab- sent …

Effects Of Handedness And Gender On The Surface Area Of The Human Corpus Callosum: A Preliminary Study Using Magnetic Resonance Imaging, James B. Pinkston

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Several studies have found differences in the human corpus callosum across gender and handedness (Aboitiz, Scheibel, Fisher, & Zaidel, 1992; Burke & Yeo, 1994; Cowell, eta!., 1993; de Lacoste-Utamsing & Holloway, 1982; Denenberg, eta!., 1991; Habib, eta!., 1991; Johnson & Bigler, eta!., 1994; Johnson & Farnworth, eta!., 1994; Laissy, et al .. 1993; Potter & Graves, 1988; Steinmetz, eta!., 1992; Witelson, 1989; Witelson, 1991; Witelson & Goldsmith, 1991). A myriad of others claim that these differences do not exist (Byne, eta!., 1988; Clarke, Kraftsik, VanDer Laos, & Innocenti, 1989; Hines, eta!., 1992; Kertesz, Polk, Howell, & Black, 1987; Laissy, et …

Evaluating The Effectiveness Of Child And Adolescent Group Psychotherapy: A Meta-Analytic Review, Corey D. Randall, Dr. Matthew J. Haag

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Effective treatment of children and adolescents in psychotherapy is crucial to alleviating the distress and suffering resulting from psychopathology (Kazdin, 1993). Dysfunctional behavior, if not appropriately addressed, can result in irreversible developmental outcomes. The importance of evaluating treatment to address childhood difficulties becomes even more vital in a managed health care system that stresses accountability and demands evidence of progress. It is for this reason that an examination of the current treatment approaches and techniques must be undertaken.

Memory And Aging, Carlos T. Jackson

Journal of Undergraduate Research

For many years now, the field of neuropsychology has been looking for connections between brain and behavior. We can now determine that the brain is responsible for most, if not all, of our physical, emotional and even cognitive functioning. It is indeed the “master organ.” IUs my desire to be able to further the work that has already been done in this field in an effort to finally be able to discover exactly how this miraculous organ works, specifically in terms of how it relates to cognitive functioning.

Investigating Habits: Strategies,Technologies And Models, Kyle S. Smith, Ann M. Graybiel

Dartmouth Scholarship

Understanding habits at a biological level requires a combination of behavioral observations and measures of ongoing neural activity. Theoretical frameworks as well as definitions of habitual behaviors emerging from classic behavioral research have been enriched by new approaches taking account of the identification of brain regions and circuits related to habitual behavior. Together, this combination of experimental and theoretical work has provided key insights into how brain circuits underlying action-learning and action-selection are organized, and how a balance between behavioral flexibility and fixity is achieved. New methods to monitor and manipulate neural activity in real time are allowing us to …

Inhibition Of Lordosis In The Male, Paul C. Butler, G. J. Block

Journal of Undergraduate Research

This study was designed to examine the effects of exogenous gonadal hormones on the inhibition of lordotic behavior in estradiol benzoate (EB) primed and non-primed male rats. Adult male rats were gonadectomized and given one of four treatments, blank (Bk), testosterone (T), progesterone (P), or testosterone plus progesterone (T + P). Animals were then given 5 pg EB for three days prior to testing for lordotic behavior.

Neuropsychology Lab Rotations, Scott Steffensen

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Our objective in 2004-2005 was to provide undergraduate students with a nurturing, inspiring, yet productive research environment in the Neuropsychology Lab on the 12th floor of the Kimball Tower.

A Computer-Based Estimation Of Cerebral Cortical Surface Area, Marc A. Steed

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The surface area of the cerebral cortex (Cc-sa) was first measured in 1864. Since that time various methods have been applied, always post mortem. This project is the first to estimate Cc-sa from Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRl) scans ante mortem.

Religiosity As A Moderating Factor Of Correspondence Bias, Cory Anderson, Erin G. Longaker

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Correspondence bias, also known as the fundamental attribution error, is the tendency for an observer to overestimate an actor’s personal responsibility for behavior and underestimate situational influences. In other words, a perceiver is generally biased to infer that behavior corresponds to an underlying personal disposition of an actor rather than the constraints of the environment. This phenomenon is a robust area of study in clinical and social psychology (Jones, 1990). However, some research has found there are moderating factors of correspondence bias. For example, D’Agostino and Fincher-Kiefer (1992) conducted a study investigating the relationship between cognitive style and the tendency …

Group And Gender Differences In Total Recall And Serial Position Effect For Pictorial, Textual, And Contextual Stimuli, Kirk M. Lunnen

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Understanding how different modes of informational presentation can affect memorability is of great importance from advertising to education and in other disciplines. In education, for example, it relates to important issues such as determining the most effective strategies for increasing students’ vocabularies. In advertising, it means the difference between product recognition (and consequent consumption) and product failure. The search for a method of presentation that can maximize this memorability has been the object of numerous researchers (Esser, Die, Seholm, & Pebley, 1979; Lippman & Shanahan, 1974; Bower, 1970; Paivio, 1969).

Developing A Normative Sample Of Hispanic Youth Using The Spanish Youth Outcome Questionnaire, Michelle Nuttall, Dr. Gary Burlingame

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The Youth Outcome Questionnaire (Y-OQ) was developed by a group of professors at Brigham Young University to offer professionals in psychology an outcome measure for children between the ages of 4 and 17. This measure was to be easy to administer, quick to fill out and score, and cost effective. The main attribute it had to contain was a sensitivity to change that would allow the clinician and others the ability to track progress and monitor change in a specific individual. The result of this endeavor was the Youth Outcome Questionnaire, a 64 item parent report measure that takes about …

Neurophysiological Substrates Of Cocaine Addiction, Dr. Scott Steffensen

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The main objective of this study was to characterize the role of GABA neurons in the ventral tegmental area in cocaine addiction. Research in my lab is dedicated to the elucidation of brain substrates underlying drug addiction. Elder Boyd K. Packer has stated, “It is my conviction, and my constant prayer, that there will come through research, through inspiration to scientists if need be, the power to conquer narcotic addiction through the same means which cause it.”(Packer 1989). This plea from Elder Packer is emblazoned on a poster at the entrance to my laboratory to remind us of …

Travelling Companions: The Healing Power Of Books, Jasmin Tahmaseb-Mcconatha

Psychology Faculty Publications

Reading is tantamount to taking a mental holiday. On cold winter days books can take us away on adventures, to warm beaches, to a better understanding of ourselves and our lives. They can link us to memories of the past and lead us to new beginnings. Reading is a great stress reducer, unfortunately 23% of Americans did not read a single book in 2013. Researchers have found that reading can be a wonderful source of stress release.

Trends In Unwanted Online Experiences And Sexting : Final Report, Kimberly J. Mitchell, Lisa M. Jones, David Finkelhor, Janis Wolak

Crimes Against Children Research Center

This bulletin summarizes findings from the Third Youth Internet Safety Survey (YISS‐3). Topics include youth reports of unwanted sexual solicitations, online harassment, unwanted exposure to sexual material, and “sexting.”

Preventing And Responding To Workplace Bullying: Best Practices Guidelines, Worksafe New Zealand

University of Nebraska Public Policy Center: Publications

BULLYING IS A WORKPLACE HAZARD

Workplace bullying is a significant hazard in New Zealand. It affects people physically and mentally, resulting in increased stress levels, decreased emotional well-being, reduced coping strategies and lower work performance.

Employers who don’t deal with it risk breaching the: Employment Relations Act 2000 (ERA), Health and Safety in Employment Act 1992 (HSE Act), Human Rights Act 1993 (HRA), Harassment Act 1997 (HA).

BULLYING IS BAD FOR BUSINESS

Its effects can reduce productivity and disrupt workplaces through: impaired performance, increased absence, low morale, more mistakes and accidents, loss of company reputation, resignations and difficulty recruiting, poor …

Development And Preliminary Evaluation Of A Telephone-Based Mindfulness Training Intervention For Survivors Of Critical Illness, Christopher E. Cox, Laura S. Porter, Pamela J. Buck, Mary Hoffa, Derek Jones, Brenda Walton, Catherine L. Hough, Jeffrey M. Greeson

College of Science & Mathematics Departmental Research

Rationale: Persistent symptoms of psychological distress represent an unmet need among intensive care unit (ICU) survivors.

Objectives: We aimed to develop and pilot test a simple telephone-based mindfulness training intervention to address this population’s unique needs.

Methods: Open trial involving survivors of medical and surgical critical illness and their informal caregivers, using a pretest–posttest design.

Measurements and Main Results: We developed a six-session, telephone-delivered, ICU survivor–specific mindfulness intervention based on past focus groups, the medical literature, and the precedent of the most effective components of existing mindfulness programs. A total of 11 survivors of mechanical ventilation were enrolled, together with …

Personality Affects Learning And Trade-Offs Between Private And Social Information In Guppies, Poecilia Reticulate, Larissa Trompf, Culum Brown

Sentience Collection

The acquisition of information such as the location and quality of food, mates or shelter is a key survival requirement for animals. Individuals can acquire information through personal experience (private information) or through observing and interacting with others (social information). Environmental spatial and temporal heterogeneity can mean that sometimes social information conflicts with private knowledge. We tested how personality affected the importance placed on public versus private information in wild female guppies when these two information sources came into conflict. We found that boldness and sociality affected decisions to use conflicting social and private information. Bolder females used social information …

Activation Of Mglur2/3 Receptors In The Ventro-Rostral Prefrontal Cortex Reverses Sensorimotor Gating Deficits Induced By Systemic Nmda Receptor Antagonists., Bridget Valsamis, Michael Chang, Marei Typlt, Susanne Schmid

Brain and Mind Institute Researchers' Publications

Prepulse inhibition (PPI) of acoustic startle is an operational measure of sensorimotor gating, which is disrupted in schizophrenia. NMDA receptor (NMDAR) antagonist induced PPI disruption has become an important pharmacological model for schizophrenia; however, knowledge of the underlying mechanism remains incomplete. This study examines the role of NMDAR in the caudal pontine reticular nucleus (PnC) and the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) in NMDARs antagonist induced PPI deficits, as well as the NMDA receptor subtypes involved. We administered the NMDA antagonist MK-801 locally into the caudal pontine reticular formation (PnC), where the PPI mediating pathway converges with the primary startle pathway, …

The Effect Of Sleep-Dependent Consolidation On Pattern Separation And Pattern Completion In Delayed Retrieval, Jesse Ray James

Theses and Dissertations

While people sleep, the brain replays the same neural firings that resulted from waking activities that day. This results in greater memory strength following a sleeping delay than a waking delay. The current project built upon this fact in a series of three experiments. Experiment 1. Although previous research has demonstrated a benefit of sleep to memory strength, the literature has not established the impact of sleep on memory specificity. Computational models of medial temporal lobe function posit that discrimination and generalization across similar memories are accomplished through processes known as pattern separation and pattern completion, respectively. To discover whether …

Direct And Relational Representation During Transitive List Linking In Pinyon Jays (Gymnorhinus Cyanocephalus), Cynthia Wei, Alan Kamil, Alan B. Bond

Alan Bond Publications

The authors used the list-linking procedure (Treichler & Van Tilburg, 1996) to explore the processes by which animals assemble cognitive structures from fragmentary and often contradictory data. Pinyon jays (Gymnorhinus cyanocephalus) were trained to a high level of accuracy on two implicit transitive lists. They were then given linkage training on the single pair that linked the two lists into a composite, 10-item hierarchy. Following linkage training, the birds were tested on nonadjacent probe pairs drawn both from within (B-D and 2–4) and between (D-1, E-2, B-2, C-3) each original list. Linkage training resulted in a significant transitory disruption in …

Supraspinal And Spinal Mechanisms Of Morphine-Induced Hyperalgesia, Caroline A. Arout

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Morphine is the most prominent pharmacological treatment for moderate to severe pain in both acute and chronic paradigms. However, morphine notoriously elicits a paradoxical state of increased pain sensitivity known as hyperalgesia that complicates its use in clinical application. Research over the past three decades has reported that morphine-induced hyperalgesia is dose- and sex-dependent, and likely involves the synchronous activity of several neural networks beyond the opioid system. Whereas systemic, supraspinal, and spinal administration of morphine all cause hyperalgesia that is differentially reversible by N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDAR) antagonists or melanocortin-1 receptor (MC1R) antagonists, it is unknown as to whether or …

Child Development Theory As A Mediator Of Novice Teachers' Ethnotheories To Increase Learning And Justice In The Classroom, Nancy Michele Cardwell

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Many urban public schools use teaching methods that isolate and silence children to compel compliance (Schwebel, 2004; Saltman & Gabbard, 2003; Baumrind, 1991). In these contexts, black and brown children are disciplined more often and harshly than white, sent through the court system 70% of the time (Alexander, 2012). Novice teachers, appearing expert without expertise, use unconscious personal theories or ethnotheories to compel compliance, projecting an illusion of expertise without understanding the consequences for children's development and achievement (Elliott, Stemler, Sternberg, Grigorenko & Hoffman, 2010; Skovholt, 2004). An advance in the field would be to learn how ethnotheories interact with …

Changing Gender: Gender Role, Class And The Experience Of Chinese Female Immigrants, Doris Cheung

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation analyzes gender role identity development in Chinese female immigrants from diverse work and education backgrounds. This study focuses on Chinese female immigrants, bakery salesladies and social workers, to addresses a gap in the existing literature, which has previously emphasized factory workers and students, on gender role identity development at the interface of social context and activity system dynamics. To understand further the Chinese female immigration experience, this research investigates how gender role identity is manifested across different social contexts and institutions. I administered questionnaires and conducted interviews with Chinese female immigrants residing in New York City. The sample …

Acting Wide Awake: Attention And The Ethics Of Emotion, Jacob Davis

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

In cases where two human cultures disagree over fundamental ethical values, metaethical questions about what could make one or the other position correct arise with great force. Philosophers committed to naturalistically plausible accounts of ethics have offered little hope of adjudicating such conflicts, leading some to embrace moral relativism. In my dissertation, I develop an empirically grounded response to moral relativism by turning away from debates over which action types are right and wrong and focusing instead on shared features of human emotional motivation. On my account, being motivated by ill-will is ethically bad (if it is), just because human …

Inter-Religious Relationships And Anxiety In The Regulation Of Automatic Inter-Religious Prejudice, Karla J. Felix

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Shared reality theory predicts and evidence suggests that inter-religious relationships are motivated to maintain or regulate interpersonal interactions with others. However, this motivation has been given little attention within the automatic attitude literature. This research is centered on the idea that automatic prejudice is moderated by two fundamental themes, shared reality and anxiety. These themes are reviewed to determine the degree to which participants socially tune to ingroup versus outgroup religious experimenters. In Experiment 1, automatic inter-religious attitudes toward Christian and Jewish experimenters were assessed via a subliminal prime procedure. Religious orientation (extrinsic, intrinsic) and regulation of inter-religious relationships were …

A Psychoanalytic Exploration Into The Memory And Aesthetics Of Everyday Life: Photographs, Recollections, And Encounters With Loss, Dimitrios Mellos

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The project at hand explores some of the psychological functions of photography as both an everyday and an artistic cultural practice from a psychoanalytic perspective. It is proposed that, contrary to commonsensical opinion, photographs are not accurate depositories of memory, but rather function as a functional equivalent of screen memories, thus channeling the subject's memory in ways that are objectively distorted and distorting, but psychologically meaningful and important; moreover, they are a special kind of screen memory in that they are often created pre-emptively and are physically instantiated.

Additionally, it is suggested that, by dint of their materiality, photographs achieve …

In And Out Of Uniform: The Transition Of Iraq And Afghanistan War Veterans Into Higher Education, Vienna Messina

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

IN AND OUT OF UNIFORM:

THE TRANSITION OF IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN WAR VETERANS INTO HIGHER EDUCATION

by

Vienna Messina

Advisor: Professor Colette Daiute

With the exit of US combat troops from Iraq in 2011 and the subsequent drawdown of forces in Afghanistan, much public attention became focused on the reintegration of veterans of these wars into all aspects of civilian life. Record numbers of returning veterans enrolled in higher education. Abramson (2012) reported that, since 2009, when the Post-9/11 GI Bill became effective, more than 860,000 Iraq and Afghanistan veterans had used its generous provisions for further education and projected …

"When I Heard About The March": Testimonies And Participatory Archiving In Peacebuilding, Carolina Muñoz Proto

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation studies the Memoscopio archive and its collection of testimonies about the 2009 World March for Peace and Nonviolence (the March). This collection came into existence during 2009 and 2010 through a participatory archiving project carried out by a team of peace advocates and researchers in collaboration with March participants. The March was a transnational and decentralized campaign that promoted peace, nonviolence, and justice through activities in 600 cities, social media, and a three-month march around the world. Through the case of Memoscopio and the March, this dissertation explores the personal and cultural meanings of transnational peace marchers in …