2009 Abstracts:
Emery Feighery, 2009
The Effect of Allopregnanolone on Cognitive Flexibility in a Rat Model of Schizophrenia
Abstract
Schizophrenia is a debilitating disorder characterized by cognitive impairments, psychosis, and mood disorders. Of these symptoms, the most common, most detrimental to social survival, and most difficult to treat are the cognitive impairments. One cognitive ability that is particularly impaired in schizophrenia is cognitive flexibility, or set-shifting ability, which refers to ones’ ability to change behavioral strategies in response to changes in goals or environmental conditions. Neurosteroids, steroidal compounds which are synthesized within the brain and act at the level of the synapse, are considered to be a promising new therapeutic approach in the treatment of cognitive deficits associated with schizophrenia. We used male Sprague-Dawley rats to study whether the neurosteroid allopregnanolone (ALLO), can block impairments in cognitive flexibility induced by the NMDA receptor antagonist MK-801. Before a set-shift task, rats were given bilateral microinjections of MK-801 into the medial prefrontal cortices, alone or in combination with one of two concentrations of ALLO (0.25 and 0.50µg/hemisphere). ALLO alone did not significantly affect cognitive flexibility in these animals. MK-801 also did not significantly affect cognitive flexibility, but trends were approaching significance. Simultaneous administration of MK-801 and ALLO (0.50µg/hemisphere) produced set-shifting ability indistinguishable from control animals, indicating a reversal of those differences produced by the MK-801.
Jennifer Kurland, 2009
An Eye-Tracking Study of Attentional Biases in Posttraumatic Stress Disorder
Abstract
This study looked at attentional biases in motor vehicle accident (MVA) survivors with and without Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) by examining avoidant and hypervigilant tendencies in attention using an eye tracking device. Participants viewed a series of 20 slides for 10 seconds each. Slides were either War slides or Motor Vehicle Accident (MVA) slides and each slide contained two photographs, side by side. One photograph was negatively valenced (e.g. a photograph of a child throwing a piece of rubble in a war zone or wrecked car) and the other photograph was neutral (e.g. a child throwing a ball or a car in a showroom). The eye tracking device recorded pupil fixations and dwell time, as an indication of attention, as well as pupil size, as an indication of arousal. Results showed preferential attention directed towards negative MVA photographs for all MVA participants as well as larger pupil size while viewing both types of negative images. Significant positive correlations were also found between the Hypervigilance Scale and the amount of time spent looking at negative war pictures. The results support the notion that trauma survivors in general attend more to stimuli that are related to their trauma while those who exhibit hypervigilant tendencies show a more generalized attentional bias towards negative material. Understanding the attentional biases and patterns of physiological arousal demonstrated in this study will contribute to the understanding of the way individuals with PTSD perceive their environment.
Cordelia Ross, 2009
PTSD and Semantic Expectancy: An N400 Study
Abstract
The present study examines attentional biases to and semantic expectancy of trauma-relevant information in PTSD using the N400 event-related potential (ERP) component. The N400, an indicator of semantic expectancy, was examined using a modified sentence task that included expected, unexpected, and trauma-relevant endings. Given their attentional biases, people with PTSD should expect trauma-relevant endings to ambiguous sentence stems. Because expectancy is indicated by smaller N400s, it was hypothesized that individuals with PTSD would produce smaller N400s to trauma words than those without PTSD. Fifty-eight individuals participated in this study, of which 23 had PTSD. As hypothesized, results indicate that compared to those without PTSD, individuals with PTSD exhibited smaller N400 amplitudes to trauma-relevant sentence endings relative to expected sentence endings. These findings suggest that individuals with PTSD, regardless of trauma experience, have semantic expectancies of combat-related trauma-relevant words. This study provides neurophysiological evidence consistent with theoretical models and clinical reports that the psychopathology of PTSD is associated with attentional biases towards threatening or trauma-relevant information.
Ari Silverman, 2009
From First Base Around to Home: Relationship Outcomes as a Function of Hookup Intimacy Levels and Personality Dimensions
Abstract
This study divided hookups into 3 intimacy levels: low (not involving genitals), moderate (genital stimulation) and high (intercourse) and investigated relationship outcomes, psychosocial motivations, regret and guilt, and impact of adult romantic attachment, impulsive sensation seeking, and controlled orientation. A convenient sample of 174 (87 males, 87 females) college students completed an online survey, revealing that hookups generally did not impact relationship outcomes, except for those seeking romantic relationships. Impulsive sensation seeking and anxiety in females were positively associated with number of hookups. Impulsive sensation seeking, avoidant attachment, and controlled orientation were all positively associated with the extent of intimacy individuals were likely to have engaged in within a hookup. Implications of these findings and future directions are discussed.
Catherine Timmins, 2009
Still Connected?: A Longitudinal Analysis of Emerging Adult-Parent Communication and Relationships After College
Abstract
As cell phone and email become more accessible, communication between parents and emerging adults becomes easier and more frequent. Previous research examined the influence of communication between college students and their parents on parent-child relationships. In the current study, we looked at communication after students graduate from college. We conducted a longitudinal analysis of the changes in communication during college compared to after graduation, aspects of the parent-child relationship including companionship, mutuality, control, and conflict, parental behavior regulation and graduates’ perceptions of adulthood. Participants were 169 graduates from a small residential college in New England and a large research university in the Midwest who participated in a communication study two years ago and who completed our online survey in December. Results indicated that emerging adults who have recently graduated from college communicate with their parents significantly more than they did in college. High frequencies of total communication and student initiated communication were correlated with positive scores on a global measure of relationship, and high levels of companionship. Parental behavior regulation was correlated with frequency of communication, control, and conflict. Overall graduates were satisfied with their amount of communication with their parents and reported positive relationships with their parents.
Julia Tomasko, 2009
Comparing Strategies to Reduce the Social Misinformation Effect
Abstract
This experiment compared strategies for reducing memory errors that occur when people are exposed to misinformation from another person. Misinformation has been shown in previous research to harm people’s memory such that they believe that things that were suggested to them were actually experienced, particularly when the misinformation has a social source. In this experiment, participants viewed different versions of photos containing both high and low expectancy items and provided each other with misinformation before taking an individual memory test. One-third of the participants were warned that their partner may have mentioned items that were not present, one-third received more specific metamnemonic instructions that have reduced the misinformation effect in other contexts, and the final third served as a control group. Results indicated that the misinformation effect occurred in all groups, and that it was reduced in the metamnemonic but not warning group. Rates of accurate memories were similar in all groups, though participants in the metamnemonic group were better able to distinguish between studied and unstudied items. Results are discussed in terms of the relative efficacies of metamnemonic instructions and warnings, as well as the applicability of these findings to eyewitness memory situations.
Margaret Whitaker, 2009
Mother-Child Reading of Emotion-Themed Picture Books: Age Differences and Associations with Emotion Understanding
Abstract
This study examined age differences in mother-child book reading and determined whether these habits were associated with a child’s emotion knowledge. Nineteen children and their mothers read an emotion-themed picture book. Children’s emotion knowledge was assessed through vignettes requiring the child to identify basic emotional responses. Mothers controlled extra-textual conversations about emotions. In addition, dyads with a younger child engaged in more emotional discussions than older child dyads. Mother-child discussions were related to the child’s emotional understanding. Specifically, maternal emotion-related questions and child emotion-related assertions and responses were positively associated with children’s knowledge about emotions. Since emotion knowledge has positive future implications, the results of this study could influence how mothers read and discuss emotions with their children.
2008 Abstracts:
Alex DeLisi, 2008
Changes in Understanding and Acceptance of Evolution in College Students: A Two-Year Study
Abstract
The failure of a vast number of Americans to accept basic premises of evolution, an accepted scientific theory, suggests inadequate training in scientific literacy and epistemic understanding. This has sparked two phases of research on beliefs about evolution. The first study examined students’ understanding of the scientific theory of evolution as well as factors that facilitate the acceptance of it. In the spring of 2006 (Time 1), 333 college students were surveyed through a Web-based questionnaire on factors relating to their understanding and acceptance of evolution. A second wave of the study was conducted in the spring of 2008 (Time 2) that investigated the processes of understanding and acceptance change of evolution in 122 students from the original sample. Between Times 1 and 2, students increased in both their understanding and acceptance of evolution and our results lend support for a relation between these constructs. Additionally, a number of factors were found that promote increases in understanding or increases in acceptance of evolution across the two years. Only one factor, an increase in the emotional salience of evolution between Times 1 and 2, was shown to be associated with both an increase in understanding and acceptance of evolution. These studies will help future science education researchers craft conceptual models of how individuals come to understand and accept evolutionary theory. In turn, these conceptual models will be adopted by science educators to create an educated populace that recognizes evolutionary theory based on an understanding of the nature of science.
Jessie Evangelista, 2008
The Effects of Socioeconomic Status on Teacher-Student Relationship Quality
Abstract
This study investigated the relation between children’s socioeconomic status (SES) and relationship quality in teacher-student relationships. Specifically, it was hypothesized that students of lower SES would experience lower-quality relationships than students of higher SES, and that SES would moderate specific relations among children’s expectancies and perceptions of their teachers and relationship quality due in part to the implications of SES for teachers’ and students’ expectancies of each other. Eighty-one students in 4th-6th grades and their sixteen teachers reported on teacher-student relationship quality at three time points over the course of a year. Results suggest that students receiving free or reduced lunch (i.e. lower SES) perceive less support from their teachers, have worse relationship quality, less warmth, and more conflict in their relationship with their teachers than students not receiving free or reduced lunch (i.e. higher SES). In contrast, teachers reported no such differences. Findings regarding SES as a moderator were suggestive but not statistically significant. Possible explanations are discussed and related to basic and applied issues, particularly in the context of the No Child Left Behind Act.
Katie Fisher, 2008
Describing Heterosexually-Identified Young Adults with Same-Sex Inclinations
Abstract
The aim of this study was to further describe heterosexually-identified young adults who experience same-sex orientated attractions or engage in same-sex sexual behaviors. In pursuit of this goal, 504 heterosexually-identified young adults, ranging in age from 18 to 24 (191 males and 313 females) were separated into two groups (consistent, inconsistent) based on whether reported sexual attractions and behaviors were consistent with their heterosexual identities. Participants in the inconsistent group were more comfortable engaging in casual sex without love and more frequently sought higher levels of sexual excitement and novel sexual experiences. Furthermore, they reported more favorable attitudes toward homosexuality yet attached a great deal of shame and negativity to their own same-sex attractions, perhaps explained in the finding that these participants also reported greater fears of negative evaluation. Lastly, the study offered preliminary findings suggesting that the same-sex behavior of heterosexually-identified males involves alcohol less frequently and is more explicit than the same-same behavior of females.
Amelia Goff, 2008
Parent-Child Shared Book Reading: Differences in Discrete Emotion Discussions
Abstract
Current research has focused attention on the importance of parents engaging in spontaneous talk centered on emotion with their children as an essential step in encouraging emotional competency. Boyle (2006) hypothesized that engaging in reading emotion explicit books could potentially serve as an equally rich environment for parents to encourage their child’s emotional development. This study sought to extend this finding by exploring the nature of the emotion laden extra-textual dialogue during these interactions, based on which specific emotions were discussed, as well as the gendered make-up of the dyad. It was hypothesized that elements of emotion discussions, for example, including proportion of specific emotion talk, word use, and attributions of emotion, experiences would differ when addressed by mothers and fathers with sons and daughters. Some hypotheses were supported with findings for differences based on emotion type, child gender as well as parent gender. Contrary to expectations, differences in the ways parents approached the task based on the sex of the child were less consistent with predicted conformity to gender-appropriate roles. This may indicate that emotion-explicit books are an affective vehicle to neutralize stereotyped teaching of emotional understanding.
Mercedes Huff, 2008
The Role of Insular Cortex in Cognitive Flexibility
Abstract
Cognitive flexibility, or the ability to shift attention away from a previously relevant rule to another that has recently become relevant, is central to healthy functioning in both humans and non-human animals. Previous results have demonstrated a double dissociation in brain regions responsible for distinct types of cognitive flexibility, such that the dorsolateral PFC (or the mPFC in rats) mediates ED set-shifting, while the OFC mediates RL. However, there has been no previous examination of the role of insular cortex in these types of cognitive flexibility, despite its strong anatomical and functional connections to these regions. It was hypothesized that inactivation of the insula would disrupt performance in both tasks of cognitive flexibility. To examine this hypothesis, rats underwent surgery to implant guide cannulas directed at the insula. Subsequently, microinjections of the GABAA agonist muscimol (1nmol/hemisphere or 5nmol/hemisphere) were used to temporarily inactivate the insula before being tested on either an ED set-shift or RL task. A control group underwent the same procedures, but vehicle was used in the place of muscimol during the injection. In the ED set-shift task, vehicle animals demonstrated the highest levels of perseveration, while those animals in the 5nmol/hemisphere group did not successfully utilize the Set 1 rule during Set 2. Treatment did not have any apparent effects in the RL task. Thus, preliminary evidence suggests that the insula mediates aspects of cognitive flexibility, specifically as measured by an ED set-shift task.
Libby Marks, 2008
Examining semantic expectancy in trauma survivors using the N400
Abstract
The present study investigated semantic expectancies in trauma survivors, as determined by using event-related potentials to examine N400 amplitudes. Thirty-three participants (19 male, 14 female) completed a sentence viewing task, in which sentence endings were expected, unexpected, or trauma-relevant. Trauma-relevant words were associated with military experience. EEG data were recorded throughout the task. While results did not reveal any significant findings in N400 amplitudes with respect to military experience, significant results were found with respect to PTSD diagnosis. Participants with PTSD diagnoses show attenuated N400 amplitudes to trauma-relevant sentence endings compared to participants without PTSD diagnoses. Findings indicate that PTSD symptoms influenced individuals’ expectancies of trauma-relevant stimuli, while military experience did not. The novel methodology used in the present study succeeds in confirming past research that has established attentional biases that accompany PTSD. However, because no previous studies have specifically examined electrophysiological manifestations of attentional biases using the N400 ERP component, this study needs to be replicated. Future research should also limit trauma types included in the study, as well as control for the possibility of a negative valence effect.
Elise Tarbi, 2008
Does the way you PAY ATTENTION influence your spatial abilities?
Abstract
This study investigated whether sex differences in spatial attention could explain sex differences in spatial ability as measured through a visuospatial task of line judgment. Participants in this study were 61 right-handed (30 males, 31 females) undergraduate students. The tasks administered were the paper-and-pencil Judgment of Line Angle and Position task (JLAP-15), the Uniform Field of View task (UFOV), the Campus Building Perspective task (CBP), and the Dabbs map task. It was predicted that males would perform better than females on the JLAP, UFOV, and CBP, as well as referencing more geometric properties of space on the Dabbs map task (i.e. cardinal directions and distance references). Additionally, it was expected that high performance on the JLAP would correlate with high UFOV and CBP performance, as well as more geometric references on the Dabbs map task, as these tasks were intended to measure different aspects of spatial attention. While a robust sex difference on the JLAP was not evident, the expected sex differences were found on the UFOV, CBP, and Dabbs map task. Thus, this study suggests that males and females do indeed attend to space differently. Furthermore, while this sex difference in attention did not correlate with JLAP performance as expected, the relationships among the three spatial attention tasks suggest that the way males and females attend to space influences the way they orient themselves and as a result, how they engage with space.
Caitlin Taylor, 2008
Adults’ Perceptions of a Child’s Recall: What Matters?
Abstract
Adults often discredit a child eyewitness's statements due to negative perceptions about children's cognitive abilities based on a child's age (eg. Newcombe & Bransgrove, 2007; Lamb, Sternberg, & Esplin, 1994; Leippe & Romanczyk, 1987; Ceci & Bruck, 1993) or sex (eg. Quas et al., 2002; Goodman et al.,2002). The present study sought to expand upon the prior research by investigating what factors may be related to the likelihood a child will be believed. More specifically, the study sought to examine the extent to which perceptions of credibility are based on the child age, gender, and verbal ability. In addition, the study assessed the extent to which the participant's gender, experience with children, and general perceptions of child victims affect ratings of credibility. One hundred and sixty Middlebury College students participated in the study and watched videos of children being interviewed about an event they had experienced at school. The participants were asked to rate the children’s credibility. Results indicated that child age significantly affected ratings of credibility. Younger children were rated as significantly less credible than older children. Additionally, participant and child gender interacted such that female participants rated female children as being more credible. Other factors, such as the attractiveness of the child’s personality and adults’ attitudes of child victims predicted credibility ratings. The implications of these results as well as possibilities for future research are discussed.
2007 Abstracts:
Laura Batterink, 2007
N400 ERP Response as a Measurement of Semantic Expectancy in Trauma Survivors
Abstract
Semantic biases in trauma survivors were assessed using the N400 ERP response as a measurement of expectancy. Eighteen trauma survivors were recruited from the community. Subjects were interviewed and their post-traumatic stress disorder diagnosis was determined by a clinical psychologist. Ambiguous sentences that could be sensibly completed with a military or non-military ending were presented to subjects one word at a time. The sentences ended with expected, unexpected, or military words. Subjects’ EEG was continuously recorded throughout the task. Subjects with PTSD were found to have a reduced N400 response across all three conditions compared to subjects with no PTSD. The PTSD group also trended toward an inverted N400 pattern than normally seen in a healthy population. War veterans with PTSD showed a nearly significant reduction in N400 amplitude to the trauma condition relative to the unexpected condition. These findings provide more evidence for general cognitive deficiencies associated with PTSD, such as attentional problems, rather than differences in semantic expectancy in this population. However, there is some evidence to suggest that information-processing biases may also play a role in these differences. Future research should repeat this experimental design with a larger and less variable subject pool to substantiate these initial findings.
Katherine Belon, 2007
How Much Do People Worry? Everyday Worry, Gender, and Perceptions of Worry in the Parent-Child Relationship
Abstract
Worrying is a normative phenomenon, but most research has overlooked everyday worrying to focus on pathological worrying. Previous research implicates gender and parenting as important factors to consider. This study examines possible gender differences in everyday worrying and the relationship between students’ and their parents’ worrying. Participants included 188 college students and 65 of their parents who participated in an online survey. Measures included the Worry Domains Questionnaire, the Penn State Worry Questionnaire, other assessments of worrying, questions about students’ perceptions regarding the parent-child relationship and parental rearing style, and measures of gender attitudes and orientation. Results indicated that worrying is indeed a gendered experience. Across multiple measures, female students and parents reported more worry than males. Students also perceived their mothers as worrying more than fathers. Students who perceived their parents as high worriers reported higher levels of worrying themselves, indicating an intergenerational transmission of worrying. Interestingly, however, students’ perceptions of how much their parents worry were generally inaccurate. Furthermore, students that perceived their relationships with their parents in positive ways as measured by questions and measures regarding the parent-child relationship tended to report less worry, while negative perceptions were associated with more student worry. Finally, parents were more accurate in predicting how much their children worry, especially mothers. These results highlight the gendered nature of worry experiences and the importance of the parent-child relationship.
Molly Rose Bowman, 2007
Symptomological Predictors of P300 Characteristics in Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
Abstract
Despite a marked increase in the amount of neurobiological research on Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), studies of attention-related psychopathological characteristics other than a clinical diagnosis of PTSD have resulted in mixed findings. Based on Kimble et al’s (2001) finding that dissociation predicts P300 peak amplitude and latencies above and beyond depressive profiles and PTSD status in combat veterans, our study assessed the predictiveness of those same psychometric variables on P300 characteristics in 3-Tone (frequent, target and novel) and 4-Tone (frequent, target, novel and distractor) auditory tasks. While many studies of PTSD engage populations of combat veterans recruited from treatment centers, we recruited both combat and non-combat trauma victims. Regression analyses indicated that depression significantly predicted attenuated novelty P300 amplitudes, while dissociation showed no significant relationship. One explanation for these findings is related to biological research showing that hippocampal atrophy (found in depressed individuals) is related to attenuated novelty P300 amplitudes. Another possibility is that because continuous scores on PTSD symptom scales, depression scales, and dissociation scales are highly correlated, our findings may indicate that P300 amplitude and latency is not dependent on any one predictor, but is a reflection of general psychopathology associated with PTSD.
Alex Citrin, 2007
Children’s Memory Project:
The Effect of Time Segmentation Training On Children’s Recall
Abstract
This study examined the effects of training children to use time segmentation, organizing an event sequential order, as a memory mnemonic to recall a target event. Fifty-two children (56% male) ages 3-6 years old were recruited from local day care centers and elementary schools in Middlebury and Brandon, Vermont. Children attended an educational presentation on tarantula spiders and were interviewed 8 weeks later using the NICHD interview protocol paired with either a training or standard rapport segment. In both conditions quality rapport was established however in the training condition children were introduced to, taught, and given the opportunity to practice using the memory mnemonic of time segmentation. It was hypothesized that training in this technique would aid recall during the interview and that for children in the training condition there would be a carry-over effect of this mnemonic. Transcripts from the interviews were coded for three types of time segmentation statements (prompted, elaboration, and spontaneous) and recalled facts based on a checklist. The number of time segmentation statements made by the child was analyzed using a 2 (Segment: rapport, interview) x 3 (Response Type: prompted, elaboration, spontaneous) within subject and a 2 (Interview Type: training, standard) between subjects repeated measures ANOVA. Post-hoc t-tests were used to pull apart these interactions and correlation analyses were conducted to asses the association between time segmentation statements and recall. A carry-over effect was found for the number of time segmentation statements used from the rapport to interview segment in the training condition, however, there was no association found between time segmentation statements and recall.
Rachel Fong, 2007
Neurochemical Mechanisms of Glucose-induced Cognitive Enhancement: Interaction between Glucose and Dopamine Receptor Subtypes
Abstract
Extensive research has found that glucose enhances memory in healthy young adults as well as in elderly people. Rodent studies have also shown that administration of glucose, via intraseptal, intrahippocampal and systemic injections, facilitates learning and attenuates age-related cognitive deficits. A potential mechanism by which glucose may enhance memory is through interaction with the mesolimbic dopaminergic system. The mesolimbic dopamine system has long been suggested to mediate the brain reward pathway, which can induce learning and approach behavior. Moreover, recent theories also propose that dopamine may act as a marker for salient environmental stimuli and underlie motivated behavior. We hypothesized that different dopamine receptors would mediate the glucose-induced cognitive enhancement since ATP-sensitive potassium channels have been found to link glucose metabolism and neuronal excitability, which in turn modulates dopamine release. Spontaneous alternation was used to assess male Sprague-Dawley rats’ spatial working memory after systemic administrations of glucose and selective D1 antagonist, SCH 23390, or D2 antagonist, eticlopride. Glucose was found to improve alternation performance compared to control rats. SCH 23390 and eticlopride blocked the glucose facilitation to a similar extent when injected with glucose, but they did not alter the subjects’ alternation scores when injected with saline. No significant treatment-dependent difference was observed in the total numbers of arm entries or the temporal pattern of arm entries between all groups, indicating that the selected doses of dopamine antagonists did not produce motor or motivational deficits; the drug effects were likely to be cognitive.
Nancy Fullman, 2007
Parents on Speed Dial: The Psychological Implications of Frequent Student-Parent Communication in Emerging Adulthood
Abstract
Past research has indicated that frequent student-parent communication is related to increased levels of parental dependency and regulation for first year college students attending a small liberal arts college. In an effort to expand these findings, the present study involved surveying students at a large research university across all four years in order to examine the frequency of student-parent communication, developmental outcomes, and quality of relationship with parents. We found that students average communicating with their parents almost twice a day (m = 13.22) and that this differed little by year in school, parents initiated more communication than students, and females reported initiating as well as receiving more contact than males. High levels of communication were related to increased parental dependency and heightened parent regulation of academics and behaviors. Although frequent student-parent communication was associated with good relationship quality (e.g., companionship), more parental control and conflict were related to frequent contact.
Laura Kwoh, 2007
It Comes With the Territory: Exploring Parental Worries of Mothers and Fathers of Kindergarten-Aged Children
Abstract
This study examined the parental worries expressed by mothers and fathers of kindergarten-aged children and possible factors that influence their worrying. Parents were interviewed about their childrearing beliefs and experiences, including their parenting worries; both their verbal and metacommunicative responses were analyzed. Results indicated that mothers worry more than fathers and were more likely to frame their responses to characterize themselves as “extreme worriers.” Content analyses indicated that both mothers and fathers appear to worry about a variety of issues including their child’s safety, peer influences, health and their abilities to parent their children. Quantitative and qualitative evidence converged to suggest that worrying is an affective experience that is more salient to mothers than fathers, although many fathers anticipated worrying more in the future when their child is older. Contrary to expectations, maternal employment status, child gender, and child birth order did not affect the amount of worries expressed by mothers and fathers. Instead, parent gender emerged as most important in line with the common cultural conception that worrying is a part of parenting that may be perceived as more salient to the mothering role.
Lok Man (Charlene) Lam, 2007
The Role of Hope in Coping with Collegiate Stress
Abstract
The present study examined the role of hope in coping with two types of collegiate stress in college students. One hundred twenty-one undergraduate students completed an online survey which assessed their level of hope in the academic and social domain, appraisals of these stressors, coping responses for each stressor, as well as symptoms of anxiety/depression. Results indicated that students appraised the two types of stress differently and responded to each stressor with a variety of coping strategies. More specifically, secondary control coping mediated the association between stress and symptoms of anxiety/depression in the academic domain, and that hope agency served as a significant moderation in this association. For students with higher levels of hope agency, both primary control and secondary control coping significantly reduced the association between stress and adjustment. Neither hope nor coping played a mediating or moderating role in this association in the social domain. The importance of including hope in understanding the stress and adjustment is highlighted in this study and implications of these findings are discussed.
Chak Fu (Jeff) Lam, 2007
Feeling Competent About your Work: An Examination of Self-Determination Theory in the Workplace
Abstract
Although studies of Self-Determination Theory have investigated important concepts such as basic need satisfactions in the workplace, relatively little is known about the way work environments and employees’ personality may jointly influence the internalization of extrinsic motivation. The current study addresses the gap in the literature by examining the interactive effects of a personality variable (general causality orientation) and an environmental variable (basic need satisfaction) on job-related outcomes (job satisfaction and organizational commitment), and the way in which such effects are mediated by the level of employees’ self-determined work motivation. Results indicated that employees low on autonomous orientation exhibited a greater level of the internalization of extrinsic motivation when their need for competence was satisfied, compared to when it was not satisfied. Internalization of work values, in turn, predicted positive job satisfaction and organizational commitment. Practical implications are discussed.
Heather Viani, 2007
The Effect of Question Phrasing and Associative Memory on Children’s Recall
Abstract
The aim of interviewing is to gather a complete and accurate account of the target event as possible. Interviewers can control the phrasing (open ended or closed ended), syntax (simple or complex) and timing (immediate or held) of questions to aid children’s recall. Additionally, the interviewer, through paraphrasing, may alter the social environment in which the child answers the question. These four factors, along with verbal intelligence and age, were examined to determine how they affect the quantity and quality of children’s responses. In the current study, children, ages 3 to 8 years, were interviewed after a six week retention interval on a staged target event. The target event consisted of a spider informational presentation, a craft and a physical activity. Interviews were transcribed and coded for question phrasing, syntax, probe type and the dependant variables of accuracy and completeness. Children’s verbal intelligence and age were also assessed to examine the role individual differences play in the quantity and quality of information gathered through interviewing. Invitations and directives elicited better quality information, measured by proportion accuracy and the proportion of new information, than forced choice questions. In examining the syntactic form of the question, it was found that children responded to simple questions with a larger quantity and better quality of information than complex questions. Paraphrasing did not either directly or indirectly increase the quantity and quality of the interview. While held probes elicited a larger quantity of information, immediate probes elicited more accurate responses by children than held probes.
Ben Wiechman, 2007
Assessing the Durability of the Undermining Effect: The Impact of Extrinsic Rewards on College Students' Intrinsic Motivation
Abstract
While much research by Self-Determination theorists has investigated the impact of extrinsic rewards on the intrinsic motivation of children, not much research has examined the undermining effect in older populations. In addition, one criticism raised by opposing theoretical perspectives is that, because of their short-term design, many studies rooted in self-determination theory do not provide a complete picture of the undermining effect as they fail to look at the impact of rewards on intrinsic motivation over time. Thus, this study assessed the durability of the undermining effect in 61 undergraduate college students by having all participants engage in a “hidden Nina” activity and rewarding some and not others for doing it. Participants’ intrinsic motivation was then assessed through self-report and free choice measures. Neither dependent variable evidenced the undermining effect, although unpredicted effects of gender were found. Results are discussed in terms of their theoretical implications and directions for future research