Experimental Analysis of Behavior Commons^™

Behavioral Economic Demand: Investigation Of Sex Differences In Four Core Genotype Model Of Oral Oxycodone Self-Administration, Michelle Elsmore, David Jentsch, Joshua Peck, Anushree Karkhanis

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Opioid misuse has been identified to be related to problematic release of dopamine in the brain that is otherwise satiated by other alternative rewards. As mediated by patterns of positive and negative reinforcement, prolonged opioid use may transition into misuse and development of opioid use disorder. In human populations, men and women differ in their acquisition of drug use and escalation to drug misuse. Women quickly surpass their male counterparts in their transition from use to misuse in what is coined the telescoping effect. In this four core genotype model of oral oxycodone self administration, males were hypothesized to consume …

The Relation Of Therapist Behaviors To Treatment Engagement And Outcomes In Pcit, Kristine Gese Ba

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Parent Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT) has proven to be a very effective treatment for child behavioral problems, however, PCIT does not benefit all families equally, presumably at least partly because therapists may not be equally effective in coaching their clients. Although researchers have proposed several dimensions of therapist coaching behaviors that are considered desirable, few of these have been empirically examined in relation to family engagement or child outcomes. Data from two clinical trials examining the effectiveness of culturally modified versions of PCIT (GANA and PersIn), were used to investigate which of several therapist coaching behaviors (brevity, positivity, consistency, accuracy, …

The Role Of Dopamine In Decision Making Processes In Drosophila Melanogaster, Michelle C. Bowers

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Understanding the neural processes that mediate decision making is a relatively new field of investigation in the scientific community. With the ultimate goal of understanding how humans decide between one path and another, simpler models such as Drosophila Melanogaster, the common fruit fly, are often utilized as a way of determining the neural circuits involved in these decision-making processes. One of the most important decisions flies make is the decision of where to lay their eggs (oviposit). Choosing the proper substrate upon which to lay eggs is a crucial decision that can ultimately impact their fecundity. This paper investigates the …

Impact Of The Csi Effect And Authority Bias On Juror Decisions, Meredith Scruggs

Undergraduate Honors Theses

The recent increase in number of crime drama television shows raises the issue that these fictional portrayals may impact real proceedings in the justice system. This phenomenon has become known as the CSI effect. This includes the concept of authority bias, by which laypeople place higher value on information provided by those that they perceive to be in positions of authority. 289 college students completed a survey comparing their likelihood to match an unknown fingerprint to a suspect’s, after actors portraying evidence technicians either confirm the match or provide no conclusion. Results showed no significant interaction between the confirmation condition …

Childhood Development: How The Fine And Performing Arts Enhance Neurological, Social, And Academic Traits, Katherine Rowe

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Abstract

Childhood development has always been a major topic when studying psychology and biology. This makes sense because the brain develops from the time a child is conceived to the time that child has reached around the age of twenty-seven. Doctors, psychologists, and sociologists look at numerous things when studying childhood development. However, how common is it for researchers to study how the fine and performing arts affect childhood development? Sociologists tend to be extremely open and mindful of all aspects of things such as culture, sexuality, religion, and even age. By taking a sociological standpoint when studying the arts …

Use Of Vertical Enclosure Space And Species-Typical Locomotion By A Rehabilitating Spider Monkey (Ateles Fusciceps), Jake Funkhouser

Undergraduate Honors Theses

With wild spider monkey populations in decline, investigations contributing to captive welfare, and successful rehabilitation and reintroduction knowledge is increasingly pressing. Quantifying and analyzing the appropriateness of naturalistic enclosure designs to foster species-typical behaviors is an effective way to address both of these needs. This study investigates enclosure space use, vertical space preference, substrate use, positional/postural modes, and interactions with human caregivers of a wild-caught, pet-trade rehabilitant Columbian black spider monkey (Ateles fusciceps rufiventris, N = 1). Video data collected daily from August to October 2015 via focal animal sampling (from 08:00 to 10:00) at Alouatta Sanctuary, Panama …

The Mental Number Line In Domestic Chicks, Samantha Noyek

Undergraduate Honors Theses

The estimation of number by humans shows evidence for a mental number line in which magnitude increases from left to right. Rugani, Vallortigara, Priftis, and Regolin (2015) recently reported a similar mental number line in domestic chicks. This is an unexpected result given the role of language and culture in the human mental number line. Animals do not possess language or arithmetic concepts like the mental number line. Because the results reported by Rugani et al. (2015) seem improbable from this perspective, my study sought to determine whether the observations of Rugani et al. (2015) occur reliably. I tested for …

Does Nicotine Alter What Is Learned About Non-Drug Incentives?, Tarra L. Baker

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Nicotine is one of the most addictive drugs known to man, yet it has limited reinforcing effects in humans and non-human animals when it is not self-administered in tobacco products. One hypothesis for these paradoxical effects of nicotine is that the effects of the drug in the brain alter acquisition of incentive learning. The hypothesis for this study is that nicotine will increase the value of cues paired with a reward. To test this hypothesis, 26 Sprague Dawley Male rats were randomly assigned to one of three groups Pre-NIC (the critical experimental group), Post-NIC and SAL. Each group received a …

The Interaction Between Spatial Working And Reference Memory In Rats On A Radial Maze, Nicole Ann Guitar

Undergraduate Honors Theses

The present study investigated the interaction between working and reference spatial memory in an effort to develop an animal model of this interaction. Twelve male Long-Evans rats were tested on an eight-arm radial maze in a two-phase procedure. In the study phase, a rat was allowed to enter four randomly selected arms for a food reward placed at the end of each arm. The test phase allowed the rat access to all eight arms, but only the previously unentered arms contained food. Two of the correct test arms were defined as reference memory arms because they were always correct. The …