Psychology Commons^™

New Frontiers In Translational Research: Touchscreens, Open Science, And The Mouse Translational Research Accelerator Platform, Jacqueline A. Sullivan, Julie R. Dumont, Sara Memar, Miguel Skirzewski, Jinxia Wan, Maryam H. Mofrad, Hassam Zafar Ansari, Yulong Li, Lyle Muller, Vania F. Prado, Marco A.M. Prado, Lisa M. Saksida, Timothy J. Bussey

Brain and Mind Institute Researchers' Publications

© 2020 International Behavioural and Neural Genetics Society and John Wiley & Sons Ltd Many neurodegenerative and neuropsychiatric diseases and other brain disorders are accompanied by impairments in high-level cognitive functions including memory, attention, motivation, and decision-making. Despite several decades of extensive research, neuroscience is little closer to discovering new treatments. Key impediments include the absence of validated and robust cognitive assessment tools for facilitating translation from animal models to humans. In this review, we describe a state-of-the-art platform poised to overcome these impediments and improve the success of translational research, the Mouse Translational Research Accelerator Platform (MouseTRAP), which is …

Effects Of Mp2rage B1+ Sensitivity On Inter-Site T1 Reproducibility And Hippocampal Morphometry At 7t, Roy A.M. Haast, Jonathan C. Lau, Dimo Ivanov, Ravi S. Menon, Kâmil Uludağ, Ali R. Khan

Brain and Mind Institute Researchers' Publications

Most neuroanatomical studies are based on T -weighted MR images, whose intensity profiles are not solely determined by the tissue's longitudinal relaxation times (T ), but also affected by varying non-T contributions, hampering data reproducibility. In contrast, quantitative imaging using the MP2RAGE sequence, for example, allows direct characterization of the brain based on the tissue property of interest. Combined with 7 Tesla (7T) MRI, this offers unique opportunities to obtain robust high-resolution brain data characterized by a high reproducibility, sensitivity and specificity. However, specific MP2RAGE parameter choices – e.g., to emphasize intracortical myelin-dependent contrast variations – can substantially impact image …

Normative Analysis Of Individual Brain Differences Based On A Population Mri-Based Atlas Of Cynomolgus Macaques, Qiming Lv, Mingchao Yan, Xiangyu Shen, Jing Wu, Wenwen Yu, Shengyao Yan, Feng Yang, Kristina Zeljic, Yuequan Shi, Zuofu Zhou, Longbao Lv, Xintian Hu, Ravi Menon, Zheng Wang

Brain and Mind Institute Researchers' Publications

The developmental trajectory of the primate brain varies substantially with aging across subjects. However, this ubiquitous variability between individuals in brain structure is difficult to quantify and has thus essentially been ignored. Based on a large-scale structural magnetic resonance imaging dataset acquired from 162 cynomolgus macaques, we create a species-specific 3D template atlas of the macaque brain, and deploy normative modeling to characterize individual variations of cortical thickness (CT) and regional gray matter volume (GMV). We observed an overall decrease in total GMV and mean CT, and an increase in white matter volume from juvenile to early adult. Specifically, CT …

Symbols Are Special: An Fmri Adaptation Study Of Symbolic, Nonsymbolic, And Non-Numerical Magnitude Processing In The Human Brain, H Moriah Sokolowski, Zachary Hawes, Lien Peters, Daniel Ansari

Brain and Mind Institute Researchers' Publications

How are different formats of magnitudes represented in the human brain? We used functional magnetic resonance imaging adaptation to isolate representations of symbols, quantities, and physical size in 45 adults. Results indicate that the neural correlates supporting the passive processing of number symbols are largely dissociable from those supporting quantities and physical size, anatomically and representationally. Anatomically, passive processing of quantities and size correlate with activation in the right intraparietal sulcus, whereas symbolic number processing, compared with quantity processing, correlates with activation in the left inferior parietal lobule. Representationally, neural patterns of activation supporting symbols are dissimilar from neural activation …

Spinal Cord Compression Is Associated With Brain Plasticity In Degenerative Cervical Myelopathy., Alicia E Cronin, Sarah A Detombe, Camille A Duggal, Neil Duggal, Robert Bartha

Brain and Mind Institute Researchers' Publications

The impact of spinal cord compression severity on brain plasticity and prognostic determinates is not yet fully understood. We investigated the association between the severity of spinal cord compression in patients with degenerative cervical myelopathy, a progressive disease of the spine, and functional plasticity in the motor cortex and subcortical areas using functional magnetic resonance imaging. A 3.0 T MRI scanner was used to acquire functional images of the brain in 23 degenerative cervical myelopathy patients. Patients were instructed to perform a structured finger-tapping task to activate the motor cortex to assess the extent of cortical activation. T

High-Contrast, Moving Targets In An Emerging Target Paradigm Promote Fast Visuomotor Responses During Visually Guided Reaching, Rebecca A. Kozak, Brian D. Corneil

Brain and Mind Institute Researchers' Publications

Humans have a remarkable capacity to rapidly interact with the surrounding environment, often by transforming visual input into motor output on a moment-to-moment basis. But what visual features promote rapid reaching? High-contrast, fast-moving targets elicit strong responses in the superior colliculus (SC), a structure associated with express saccades and implicated in rapid electromyographic (EMG) responses on upper limb muscles. To test the influence of stimulus properties on rapid reaches, we had human subjects perform visually guided reaches to moving targets varied by speed (experiment 1) or speed and contrast (experiment 2) in an emerging target paradigm that has recently been …

Intelligibility Benefit For Familiar Voices Does Not Depend On Better Discrimination Of Fundamental Frequency Or Vocal Tract Length, Emma Holmes, Ingrid Johnsrude

Brain and Mind Institute Researchers' Publications

Speech is more intelligible when it is spoken by familiar than unfamiliar people. Two cues to voice identity are glottal pulse rate (GPR) and vocal tract length (VTL): perhaps these features are more accurately represented for familiar voices in a listener’s brain. If so, listeners should be able to discriminate smaller manipulations to perceptual correlates of these vocal parameters for familiar than unfamiliar voices. We recruited pairs of friends who had known each other for 0.5–22.5 years. We measured thresholds for discriminating pitch (correlate of GPR) and formant spacing (correlate of VTL; ‘VTL-timbre’) for voices that were familiar (friends) and …

Down Syndrome Caregivers’ Support Needs: A Mixed-Method Participatory Approach, Katie M. Hart, Nicole Neil

Education Publications

Background

The purpose of the study was to explore the support needs of caregivers of children with Down syndrome from their perspective using a mixed‐method participatory research approach.

Methods

Concept mapping methodology was used to obtain caregiver perspectives. Twenty‐one caregivers answered the question ‘Are parents of individuals with Down syndrome supported, why or why not?’ Caregivers were involved in the analysis of the data through concept mapping procedures.

Results

Sorted data were analysed with multidimensional scaling and cluster analysis. Participants generated eight thematic clusters representing the support needs of caregivers of children with Down syndrome. The themes included online and …

What Do We Know About Senior Citizens As Cybervictims? A Rapid Evidence Synthesis, Laura Huey, Lorna Ferguson

Sociology Publications

Internet-based victimization of senior citizens is an important potential threat of growing social, economic, and public policy interest. Given this, we sought to examine whether the existing research base could be used to formulate sound public policy in this area. To do so, we conducted a rapid evidence synthesis and assessment of the research literature from 2010-2020 surrounding three central organizing themes: cyber-related harms, responses and strategies, and prevention programs and solutions. Results reveal that there is an insufficient research base, lack of diverse research topics, and shortage of research beyond that of which is exploratory in nature. However, our …

Values And Personality Traits As Predictors Of Catholic Religiosity: Relations Among The Croatian Ethnic Minority In Vojvodina (Serbia), Rodger K. Bufford, Zlatko Šram

Faculty Publications - Doctor of Psychology (PsyD) Program

The main goal of this study was to investigate the dimensions of value orientations and personality traits that underly Catholic religiosity. The survey was carried out on a convenient adult sample of members of the Croatian ethnic minority across the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina in the Republic of Serbia (N = 189); 97% were members of the Roman Catholic Church. Four measures were included in the questionnaire: Religiosity, the Schwartz Value Scale, the Big Five Personality Inventory, and the Dark Triad of Personality. Multiple regression analyses were conducted to explore how value orientation and personality traits impact religiosity. Conservation (Traditional) …

An Integrative Study Of Service And Safety Climate And Performance: Do Climates Compete?, Jeffrey B. Paul

Selected Faculty Publications

Organizational scholars continue to expand our knowledge of the contextual forces influencing employee behavior in organizations. A notable stream in this research agenda includes organizational climate studies that describe the social processes guiding employee perceptions of their environment. These shared perceptions formulate climate constructs that have demonstrated through theorizing and empirical findings relationships with attitudinal, behavioral, and performance outcomes across multiple levels of analysis. Contemporary climate studies have focused on facet-specific climates, such as a service climate or safety climate, and have linked facet climates with the same facet related performance (e. g. safety climate predicts increased safety performance). Given …

The Efficacy Of A Novel Facebook-Based Psychosocial Intervention For Adults With Chronic Pain: A Randomized Clinical Trial, Bethany Danielle Pester

Wayne State University Dissertations

Social networking-based groups such as Facebook groups have become increasingly popular among people with chronic conditions, and the affordances of such groups make them a promising platform for chronic disease intervention. Yet, there have been few controlled tests of the effects of social networking-based groups. Our team developed a Facebook-based intervention that focuses on enhancing social support by connecting adults with peers who also have chronic pain. Using a randomized controlled clinical trial, we aimed to understand the efficacy of this intervention and to explore whether a professional-led support group leads to greater effects than a support group alone. The …

A Solution For Breaking The Impasse Of Burnout Measurement, Renzo Bianchi, Irvin Sam Schonfeld

Publications and Research

In view of the profound problems affecting burnout’s conceptualization and measurement and because there is now robust evidence that burnout is a depressive condition, we recommend that occupational health specialists shift their focus from burnout to depression. A measure of job-related depressive symptoms, the Occupational Depression Inventory (ODI), has recently been developed. Advantageously, the ODI resolves many of the persistent problems linked to burnout while being consistent with burnout researchers’ original aim of assessing a work-attributed form of distress. The ODI includes a diagnostic algorithm that allows investigators to estimate the prevalence of depressive disorders that individuals specifically ascribe to …

Shu Altop News Issue #2, Spring, Dr. Susan L. Davis, Rn & Richard J. Henley College Of Nursing

News, Magazines and Reports

Updates from the Davis & Henley College of Nursing Sacred Heart University Alternatives to Opioids for Pain Grant.

Alternatives to Opioids for Pain (ALTOP) is a HRSA funded project to help combat the opioid epidemic in Connecticut.

Effects Of Human-Animal Interactions On Affect And Cognition, Elise L. Thayer, Jeffrey R. Stevens

Jeffrey Stevens Publications

Human-animal interaction has clear positive effects on people’s affect and stress. But less is known about how animal interactions influence cognition. We draw parallels between animal interactions and exposure to natural environments, a research area that shows clear improvements in cognitive performance. The aim of this study is to investigate whether interacting with animals similarly enhances cognitive performance, specifically executive functioning. To test this, we conducted two experiments in which we had participants self-report their affect and complete a series of cognitive tasks (long-term memory, attentional control, and working memory) before and after either a brief interaction with a dog …

Dog And Owner Characteristics Predict Training Success, Jeffrey R. Stevens, London M. Wolff, Megan Bosworth, Jill Morstad

Jeffrey Stevens Publications

Teaching owners how to train their dogs is an important part of maintaining the health and safety of dogs and people. Yet we do not know what behavioral characteristics of dogs and their owners are relevant to dog training or if owner cognitive abilities play a role in training success. The aim of this study is to determine which characteristics of both dogs and owners predict success in completing the American Kennel Club Canine Good Citizen training program. Before the first session of a dog training course, owners completed surveys evaluating the behavior and cognition of their dog and themselves. …

Attribute-Based Choice, Francine W. Goh, Jeffrey R. Stevens

Jeffrey Stevens Publications

Alternative-based approaches to decision making generate overall values for each option in a choice set by processing information within options before comparing options to arrive at a decision. By contrast, attribute-based approaches compare attributes (such as monetary cost and time delay to receipt of a reward) across options and use these attribute comparisons to make a decision. Because they compare attributes, they may not use all available information to make a choice, which categorizes many of them as heuristics. Choice data have suggested that attribute-based models can better predict choice compared to alternative-based models in some situations (e.g., when there …

Are Capuchin Monkeys (Sapajus Spp.) Sensitive To Lost Opportunities? The Role Of Opportunity Costs In Intertemporal Choice, Elsa Addessi, Valeria Tierno, Valentina Focaroli, Federica Rossi, Serena Gastaldi, Francesca De Petrillo, Fabio Paglieri, Jeffrey R. Stevens

Jeffrey Stevens Publications

Principles of economics predict that the costs associated with obtaining rewards can influence choice. When individuals face choices between a smaller, immediate option and a larger, later option, they often experience opportunity costs associated with waiting for delayed rewards because they must forego the opportunity to make other choices. We evaluated how reducing opportunity costs affects delay tolerance in capuchin monkeys. After choosing the larger option, in the High cost condition, subjects had to wait for the delay to expire, whereas in the Low cost different and Low cost same conditions, they could perform a new choice during the delay. …

Bold Signal Variability Patterns In Neural Correlates Of Reflection And Brooding Components Of Rumination, Katie Leutzinger, Carissa Philippi

Undergraduate Research Symposium

Researchers have established that rumination is a debilitating symptom that positively correlates with symptoms of depression. Rumination involves self-focused attention, often negative, as a means of coping with a depressed mood or sadness. The Ruminative Responses Scale (RRS) is a tool used to measure rumination severity that includes two subsets of rumination: brooding and reflection. Brooding rumination is related to passive and judgmental thoughts about one’s circumstances and is therefore associated with higher levels of past and current depression. Although brooding is thought to be a maladaptive response to feelings of depression, past studies suggest that the reflection subtype may …

The Relationship Between Resilience, Stress & Ptsd, Hadeal Al-Hamdani Ms., Adam Runyan Mr, Carissa Philippi Mrs.

Undergraduate Research Symposium

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is characterized by intrusive thoughts or memories of the traumatic event that hinder daily life activities of individuals with a PTSD diagnosis. Stress exposure has further been shown to exacerbate PTSD symptoms. Given that resilience has been shown to buffer levels of stress, the current study investigated whether resilience may moderate the relationship between stress and PTSD symptoms. Eighty-one participants over the age of 18 were recruited from the University of Missouri-Saint Louis and St. Louis community. Participants completed 3 self-report measures of resilience, exposure to stressful life events (e.g., Have you ever been in a …

Effects Of Chronic Stress On Infant Memory, Theresa A. Moore, Hannah B. White

Undergraduate Research Symposium

Chronically elevated baseline cortisol levels may be associated with memory impairment in infants. Studies have shown that acute elevated stress levels are linked to better overall cognitive performance and enhanced short-term memory, however, chronically elevated stress levels seem to have quite the opposite effect. Although infant data concerning chronic stress and memory is lacking, clinical research studies that have been conducted on adults suggest that chronically elevated cortisol levels may be associated with a plethora of cognitive deficits, including poorer episodic and spatial memory, disrupted learning ability, and difficulty with forming long-term memories. This study analyzed secondary data to examine …

Sense Of Belonging Increases Performance Expectations Among Women In Stem Fields, Anne Brown, Ariana Gaydon

Undergraduate Research Symposium

This research examines threatening educational environments for women STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) majors. Previous research found that underrepresented groups receive subtle and overt messages that they do not belong in science and academia which leads to lower science identity, lower grades, and switching to a non-STEM major (Ong et al. 2011; Robnett 2016; Rainey et al., 2018). This study used survey data from students (N = 213) from a western university. The results indicate a 2-way interaction between sense of belonging (or the acceptance an individual feels regarding a specific group or environment) and science identity (how …

The Effect Of Barriers To Treatments, And The Attitudes And Beliefs Toward Medication Assisted Treatment (Mat) On The Readiness To Change Within Young Adults Engaging In Regular Alcohol And Opioid Use., Kylie Thorwardson, Ryan Carpenter, Miriam Mead

Undergraduate Research Symposium

People who use substances vary in terms of the problems they experience and the degree to which they feel change is needed. Among those who are interested in making changes, many have qualms and questions about doing so, despite the potential positive benefits of reducing use. Young adults who use substances are especially unlikely to receive substance-focused treatment. It is unclear to what extent this is due to limited access to treatment, a lack of desire to change, beliefs that existing treatments are unlikely to be beneficial, or a combination of factors. This study will examine the associations of perceived …

Childhood Trauma And Ptsd Symptoms: Disentangling The Roles Of Emotion Regulation And Distress Tolerance, Jenna E. Russo, Deepali M. Dhruve, Arazais D. Oliveros

CAS Publications

Background: Research documents that individuals with a history of childhood trauma experience greater emotion regulation difficulties (ED), as well as lower distress tolerance (DT), two constructs that independent lines of research implicate as transdiagnostic factors in post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). To help elucidate how such mechanisms may influence the etiology, maintenance, and treatment of PTSD, the current study investigates the distinct mediating roles of ED and DT and explores which accounts for more unique variance.

Methods: Participants (N = 385, aged 18-48) with a childhood trauma history provided self-ratings of cumulative trauma exposure, and endorsed current ED, DT, and …

Stress, Resilience, And Impulsivity, Kendra Clark, Adam Runyan, Carissa Philippi

Undergraduate Research Symposium

Stress is a phenomenon that everyone will experience. Stress that is unmanageable can become chronic, which is linked to various negative psychological effects (Le Fevre, Matheny, & Kolt, 2003). Although stress research often focuses on the negative long-term effects, there are times where individuals develop a trait known as resilience. Resilient individuals eventually learn how to buffer the negative effects of stress (Cicchetti, 2010), and researchers have begun investigating the positive effects of resilience on stress (Cicchetti, 2010; Kermott, Johnson, Sood, R., Jenkins, & Sood, A., 2019). Currently, few studies have been conducted to identify any additional traits that may …

Elevating Nebraska’S Early Childhood Workforce: Report And Recommendations Of The Nebraska Early Childhood Workforce Commission. April 2021 One-Year Update, Buffet Early Childhood Institute

Buffet Early Childhood Institute Reports and Publications

On Jan. 30, 2020, the Nebraska Early Childhood Workforce Commission released its report and recommendations, Elevating Nebraska’s Early Childhood Workforce. With a strong commitment to collaborative action, commission members vowed that the report would not just sit on the shelf—and they have been true to their word. Even the COVID-19 pandemic could not prevent commission members and the organizations they represent from engaging with partners in diverse communities across the state to pursue the report’s vision, goals, and recommendations.

In fact, the pandemic’s dramatic impact on the early childhood workforce and the children and families they serve has only served …

Exploring Potential Determinants Of Sexual Victimization Disparities Among Young Sexual Minoritized People: A Mixed-Method Study, Corey E. Flanders, Nicole Vankim, Raeann E. Anderson, Lesley A. Tarasoff

Psychology Faculty Publications

Young sexual minoritized people report elevated rates of sexual violence in comparison with their heterosexual peers. This health disparity is largest among lesbian and bisexual people, and in particular bisexual women. We know little about what drives this health disparity, which is critically necessary information for developing effective sexual violence interventions. Recently, sexual stigma has been identified as an important factor related to sexual victimization among sexual minoritized people. The current article details a concurrent mixed-method study investigating what factors contribute to young lesbian and bisexual people’s vulnerability for experiencing sexual violence, and in particular the similarities and differences between …

School Psychologists As Leaders In Professional Practice: An Examination Of Leadership Roles And Perceived Support, Jodi Lachance

Education (PhD) Dissertations

The professional role of a school psychologist leader is a topic of interest for those in the field. Since 1940, state or national associations have outlined recommendations and guidelines for school psychology leadership roles. School psychology leadership aligns with the NASP training and practice model and is critical in promoting best practice. However, we know very little about school psychology leadership in professional practice, and the school psychology leadership literature is relatively void of research. The purpose of this study was to investigate the current status of school psychology leadership in professional practice, identify fundamental components (NASP competencies) perceived to …

Configural Face Processing: How Face Coverings Impact Social Judgements In The Covid-19 Era, Linsey D. Culkins

Student Academic Conference

The behavioral immune system has been implicated in both adaptive and maladaptive social judgements and behaviors affecting a social environment (Murray & Schaller 2016). As norms change in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, how will covering the nose and mouth—with face coverings as a preventative measure to limit COVID-19 community spread—impact social environments? The study seeks to investigate whether face coverings influence affect, social comfort, and judgments of trust. Undergraduate college students were shown images of target faces with and without face coverings covering the eyes, the nose and mouth, or both. Results suggest that observing a surgical mask which …

The Psychological And Technological Intersectionality In Game Design And Development, Nicholas Saladino

Undergraduate Honors College Theses 2016-

Over the past number of decades, video games and game design have been evolving and pushing technology forward. This is quite obvious when comparing the original Pong (1972) to God of War (2018). Pong is a simple recreation of table tennis, on the other hand, God of War is a large-scale action-adventure game with highly realistic graphics. What brings these two games together is that they are both meant for a player to enjoy. At the time of each game’s creation, the developers were utilizing the available technology to its fullest. While technology has been advancing, the psychology and philosophy …