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Title: Activity-Dependent Regulation of Calcium and Ribosomes in the Chick Cochlear Nucleus.
Creator: Call, Cody, Department of Psychology
Abstract/Description: Cochlea removal results in the death of 20-30% of neurons in nucleus magnocellularis (NM), a cochlear nucleus of the chick auditory system involved in the precise time-coding of acoustic signals. Within 1 hr of deafferentation, intracellular calcium concentration ([Ca2+]i) rises by up to 400% while the integrity of ribosomes begins to decline—two potentially cytotoxic events. Glutamatergic axons of the auditory nerve have been shown to maintain NM neuron health by activating group I and II...
Show moreCochlea removal results in the death of 20-30% of neurons in nucleus magnocellularis (NM), a cochlear nucleus of the chick auditory system involved in the precise time-coding of acoustic signals. Within 1 hr of deafferentation, intracellular calcium concentration ([Ca2+]i) rises by up to 400% while the integrity of ribosomes begins to decline—two potentially cytotoxic events. Glutamatergic axons of the auditory nerve have been shown to maintain NM neuron health by activating group I and II metabotropic glutamate receptors (mGluRs), maintaining normal [Ca2+]i and ribosomal integrity. This study aimed to determine how [Ca2+]i and ribosomal integrity are maintained by auditory nerve stimulation by selectively blocking group I mGluRs with AIDA and group II mGluRs with LY 341495 during unilateral auditory nerve stimulation. The abundance of Ca2+ in NM neurons was quantified using in vitro fura-2 ratiometric calcium imaging, while ribosomal integrity was assayed in a subset of the same tissue slices using Y10B immunolabeling (Y10B-ir). It was expected that AIDA and LY 341495 would increase [Ca2+]i and these increases would occur in parallel with an elimination in stimulation-induced differences in Y10B-ir between stimulated and unstimulated neurons of a slice. AIDA caused large increases in [Ca2+]i and eliminated differences in Y10B-ir between sides. Surprisingly, LY 341495 failed to cause reliable increases in [Ca2+]i compared to stimulated controls, but still eliminated differences in Y10B-ir between sides. These results suggest dissociation in how calcium and ribosomes are regulated in NM neurons.
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Date Issued: 2015
Identifier: FSU_migr_uhm-0509
Format: Thesis

Title: The Acute Effects of Ketamine on Social Interaction after Chronic Defeat.
Creator: Torres, Pedro, Department of Psychology
Abstract/Description: Depression is a debilitating disorder with established prevalence and detrimental impact on the economy. Ketamine is a fast acting and long lasting treatment for depression, including treatment resistant patients. The mechanism(s) behind ketamine's effects is unknown. Thus, this study assessed the effects of acute ketamine treatment on a new chronic stress paradigm using C57BL/6J and CD1 aggressor adult male mice. The C57BL/6J mice were assigned to three groups: emotional stress (ES),...
Show moreDepression is a debilitating disorder with established prevalence and detrimental impact on the economy. Ketamine is a fast acting and long lasting treatment for depression, including treatment resistant patients. The mechanism(s) behind ketamine's effects is unknown. Thus, this study assessed the effects of acute ketamine treatment on a new chronic stress paradigm using C57BL/6J and CD1 aggressor adult male mice. The C57BL/6J mice were assigned to three groups: emotional stress (ES), physical stress (PS), and control (CON) conditions. The mice in the PS condition received social defeats, while the ES mice witnessed the defeats, for 10 consecutive days, 10 minutes each day. Twenty-four hours after the last stress session, the mice were injected with either saline or ketamine (0.20 mg/kg) one hour before a social interactions test was conducted to assess whether ketamine could rescue deficits in interaction elicited by chronic stress. Mice in the PS condition showed significantly reduced interaction time when the target was present, whereas the ES-exposed mice displayed only similar trend, regardless of drug treatment. Time spent in corners varied as a function of stress exposure but not drug treatment, with the ES- and PS-exposed mice spending significantly more time in the corners when the target was present. With the exception of the ketamine-treated controls, mice receiving saline displayed reduced interaction times when compared to a group of non-injected controls regardless of stress condition. These finding suggest that ketamine was unable to alleviate the stress-induced deficits in social interaction, however, acute ketamine may be beneficial in alleviating the effects of acute stress.
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Date Issued: 2013
Identifier: FSU_migr_uhm-0172
Format: Thesis

Title: Acute Stress and Self-Control: The Effect of Threat and Challenge Appraisals of Acute Stress on Subsequent Acts of Self-Regulation.
Creator: Ramsay, Brandon, Department of Psychology
Date Issued: 2013
Identifier: FSU_migr_undergradresearch-0027
Format: Citation

Title: Archaeal Paradigms: How Chromatin Structure and Gene Regulation Can Elucidate the Origin of the Domains.
Creator: Steiner, Bradley, Department of Psychology
Abstract/Description: In order to increase our understanding of the relationship between domains we must move beyond traditional phylogenetic approaches and attempt to group species and domains in new and different ways. This paper is an analysis of various efforts to do just that and further posits the potential value of new advances in genetics and chromatin biology towards that purpose. With the advent of high resolution temporal nucleosome mapping techniques developed by the Dennis Laboratory at the Florida...
Show moreIn order to increase our understanding of the relationship between domains we must move beyond traditional phylogenetic approaches and attempt to group species and domains in new and different ways. This paper is an analysis of various efforts to do just that and further posits the potential value of new advances in genetics and chromatin biology towards that purpose. With the advent of high resolution temporal nucleosome mapping techniques developed by the Dennis Laboratory at the Florida State University we now have new tools at our disposal to assay the relationships between species and to potentially help elucidate the origin of the domains.
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Date Issued: 2014
Identifier: FSU_migr_uhm-0419
Format: Thesis

Title: Are you infected with the social contagion?.
Creator: Rottenberg, Sophie, Department of Psychology
Abstract/Description: Social contagion concerns are people's elevated apprehensions that having interactions with a stigmatized outgroup like lesbians and gay men, will result in being misclassified as a member of this outgroup. This concern typically results in anxiety about interacting with the outgroup, as well as public derogation of gay men and lesbians. We hypothesized that those who view videos where people are expressing non-prejudice views will decrease their contagion concern. At Florida State University...
Show moreSocial contagion concerns are people's elevated apprehensions that having interactions with a stigmatized outgroup like lesbians and gay men, will result in being misclassified as a member of this outgroup. This concern typically results in anxiety about interacting with the outgroup, as well as public derogation of gay men and lesbians. We hypothesized that those who view videos where people are expressing non-prejudice views will decrease their contagion concern. At Florida State University we conducted experiments to determine if our question could be answered conclusively. Participants entered the lab and were first asked to fill out a personality survey to assess their baseline contagion concern. They were given a set of videos to watch, in these videos were scripted monologues from different FSU students about their support for gay marriage, or they viewed videos supporting or opposing lowering the drinking age (which was the experimental control). After they viewed the short clips they were instructed to fill out a questionnaire which measured the participant's level of contagion concern. Our hypothesis was confirmed by our findings which indicated that those who viewed the videos containing the nondiscriminatory views supporting gay marriage exhibited a lower level of contagion concern. These results support the claim that decreasing the perceptions of others' prejudice can decrease individual contagion concern.
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Date Issued: 2015
Identifier: FSU_migr_undergradsymposium2015-0020
Format: Citation

Title: The Association Between Depression and Family, Romantic, and Peer Support in Adults.
Creator: Jones, Alyssa, Department of Psychology
Abstract/Description: Low levels of social support in relationships are an important indicator of the risk of the development of depression in adulthood. This study investigated how family, friends, and romantic relationships affected the prevalence of depressive symptoms. This study tested the hypothesis that family relationships would not have significant effect on depression when the effect of romantic relationships and friendships are controlled. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses of responses from...
Show moreLow levels of social support in relationships are an important indicator of the risk of the development of depression in adulthood. This study investigated how family, friends, and romantic relationships affected the prevalence of depressive symptoms. This study tested the hypothesis that family relationships would not have significant effect on depression when the effect of romantic relationships and friendships are controlled. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses of responses from participants from the Transition Wave II questionnaire revealed that lower support from family relationships and romantic relationships was significantly associated with higher depression scores, while support from friendships was not. When controlling for support from friendships and relationships, romantic relationships had the strongest effect. This suggests that in adulthood, one's romantic relationships are more indicative of depression than friendships or family relationships.
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Date Issued: 2013
Identifier: FSU_migr_uhm-0268
Format: Thesis

Title: The Association Between Prenatal Depression and Mental Health Treatment Among Birth Outcomes.
Creator: McBride, Nicole, Department of Psychology
Abstract/Description: Women are more susceptible to depression than men and depression around the childbearing years has shown to have deleterious birth outcomes. This study investigated the associations between depression and mental health treatment among particular birth outcomes. Participants included a total of 611 pregnant women, from two separate obstetrics clinics in the southeast, who completed the PHQ-9, a depression screening measure. Birth outcome information was gathered via medical record search and...
Show moreWomen are more susceptible to depression than men and depression around the childbearing years has shown to have deleterious birth outcomes. This study investigated the associations between depression and mental health treatment among particular birth outcomes. Participants included a total of 611 pregnant women, from two separate obstetrics clinics in the southeast, who completed the PHQ-9, a depression screening measure. Birth outcome information was gathered via medical record search and completed on all subjects. About 12% of women scored above the cutoff for elevated depression. Significant differences between education, race, and income were found among most birth outcomes. No significant association was found between depression, mental health treatment, and birth outcomes, but those who had adverse birth outcomes rated higher in terms of severity on particular depressive symptoms of the PHQ-9. Though the possible effectiveness of mental health treatment was not observed based on this cross-sectional study, future research should aim at understanding the role treatment has during pregnancy to treat depression and its relationship to relative birth outcomes.
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Date Issued: 2013
Identifier: FSU_migr_uhm-0272
Format: Thesis

Title: Behavioral Assessment of Finger-Counting on SNARC.
Creator: Gonzalez, Nicole A., Kowalsky, Amanda L., Kaschak, Michael P., Department of Psychology
Abstract/Description: Individuals tend to exhibit implicit, cognitive associations between numbers and space. Small numbers become associated with the left side of their bodies and large numbers with the right side of their bodies. This "spatial-numerical association of response codes" (SNARC) provides evidence that individuals tend to sort their spatial orientations along a mental number line. Since most cultures promote the use of finger-counting as a universal means for learning to work with numbers, it is...
Show moreIndividuals tend to exhibit implicit, cognitive associations between numbers and space. Small numbers become associated with the left side of their bodies and large numbers with the right side of their bodies. This "spatial-numerical association of response codes" (SNARC) provides evidence that individuals tend to sort their spatial orientations along a mental number line. Since most cultures promote the use of finger-counting as a universal means for learning to work with numbers, it is believed that the directionality of finger-counting (from left to right or right to left) affects the way we link numbers and space in adulthood. To assess finger-directionality, past studies have utilized self-report questionnaires; however, recent findings have suggested a new measure that classifies finger-directionality by observing natural finger-counting habits and circumvents the biases associated with self-report. In the current study with a sample of ninety-four college students, when using self-report to categorize counting habits, we found a statistically significant difference between groups; right-starters displayed the SNARC effect while left-starters did not. However, when using observed behaviors to categorize counting habits, we did not find a statistically significant difference between left and right starters. These findings suggest that finger-counting hands do not predict the SNARC effect, which is consistent with the flexibility of the effect itself.
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Date Issued: 2015
Identifier: FSU_migr_uhm-0581
Format: Thesis

Title: Behavioral Reactivity to Social Defeat Stress after Nicotine Exposure during Adolescence in C57/BL6 Male Mice.
Creator: Duperrouzel, Jacqueline, Department of Psychology
Abstract/Description: Nicotine use during adolescence is associated with the development of many debilitating pathologies in adulthood such as anxiety and depression. Adolescence is a time of many social pressures and biological changes occurring within the brain and body. Therefore, studying the effects of nicotine exposure during adolescence on stress and subsequent sensitivity to nicotine itself is of great interest. To examine these questions I designed experiments to assess both short (i.e., 24 hours after...
Show moreNicotine use during adolescence is associated with the development of many debilitating pathologies in adulthood such as anxiety and depression. Adolescence is a time of many social pressures and biological changes occurring within the brain and body. Therefore, studying the effects of nicotine exposure during adolescence on stress and subsequent sensitivity to nicotine itself is of great interest. To examine these questions I designed experiments to assess both short (i.e., 24 hours after treatment) and long-term (i.e., four weeks after treatment) behavioral consequences of nicotine (0.32 mg/kg) exposure during adolescence (i.e., postnatal days 35-49) in C57/BL6 male mice by exposing them to social-defeat stress, social interaction, and subsequent preference for nicotine. Nicotine-treated mice in the short-term condition displayed avoidant behaviors and a preference for the lowest concentration of nicotine (5 mg/l). Interestingly, the nicotine-treated mice in the long-term condition displayed enhanced social avoidance as well, with a similar preference for the low concentration of nicotine. These results indicate that exposure to nicotine during adolescence influences social interaction behavior and increases preference for nicotine, findings that last into adulthood. Future studies using different stressors and a complete nicotine dose-response may reveal further insight into how nicotine affects this age group and its long-lasting consequences. The work presented here increases our understanding of the effects of nicotine exposure during adolescents and the later effects, which may develop over time.
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Date Issued: 2013
Identifier: FSU_migr_uhm-0194
Format: Thesis

Title: Belongingness and Suicidal Ideation Among Hispanic/Latino Individuals.
Creator: Acosta, Laura, Department of Psychology
Abstract/Description: The interpersonal theory of suicide states that thwarted belongingness, a perception of social isolation and lack of social connectedness, is an important factor related to the experience of suicidal ideation. A strong familial connection, characteristic of Hispanic/Latino culture, is associated with lower levels of thwarted belongingness. In this study, thwarted belongingness and ethnicity were used to predict lifetime levels of suicidal ideation among Hispanic/Latino and non-Hispanic white...
Show moreThe interpersonal theory of suicide states that thwarted belongingness, a perception of social isolation and lack of social connectedness, is an important factor related to the experience of suicidal ideation. A strong familial connection, characteristic of Hispanic/Latino culture, is associated with lower levels of thwarted belongingness. In this study, thwarted belongingness and ethnicity were used to predict lifetime levels of suicidal ideation among Hispanic/Latino and non-Hispanic white undergraduate college students. Based on previous research and their typically high value placed on family, Hispanics were predicted to experience lower levels of suicidal ideation and thwarted belongingness. Thwarted belongingness as well as Hispanic ethnicity were hypothesized to significantly predict suicidal ideation. Additionally, Hispanic status was hypothesized to moderate the role of thwarted belongingness such that Hispanics who reported high levels of thwarted belongingness would experience the highest levels of suicidal ideation. Undergraduate college students, of whom 22% were Hispanic/Latino and 78% were non-Hispanic white (N = 170), completed self-reported measures. Thwarted belongingness, but not ethnicity, significantly predicted intensity of lifetime suicidal ideation. Hispanic/Latino status did not have an effect on suicidal ideation and was not a moderator of the effect of thwarted belongingness. These findings highlight thwarted belongingness as a key factor for assessing suicidal ideation in college students.
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Date Issued: 2015
Identifier: FSU_migr_uhm-0489
Format: Thesis

Title: Biopsychosocial Prenatal Predictors of Postpartum Depression.
Creator: Uhl, Aubree A., Department of Psychology
Abstract/Description: Postpartum depression affects up to 15% of women, is highly disabling, but under-addressed in obstetrics settings. The objectives of this study were to examine the characteristics of women seeking obstetrical services in a health system serving primarily Medicaid patients, and to examine biopsychosocial predictors of postpartum depression (PPD) that may be routinely assessed during obstetrical visits. Specific variables examined included a previous history of depression, maternal behavioral...
Show morePostpartum depression affects up to 15% of women, is highly disabling, but under-addressed in obstetrics settings. The objectives of this study were to examine the characteristics of women seeking obstetrical services in a health system serving primarily Medicaid patients, and to examine biopsychosocial predictors of postpartum depression (PPD) that may be routinely assessed during obstetrical visits. Specific variables examined included a previous history of depression, maternal behavioral and health factors, and pregnancy complications. Multivariate analyses showed that prepartum depression, white race, and street drug use were significantly associated with postpartum depression. These findings can be used to help obstetricians target women with these risk factors and get them help before the onset of postpartum depression.
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Date Issued: 2015
Identifier: FSU_migr_uhm-0448
Format: Thesis

Title: Borderline Symptoms and Attention to Emotional Stimuli.
Creator: Romero, Marco, Macatee, Richard, Jesse, Cougle, Department of Psychology
Date Issued: 2014
Identifier: FSU_migr_uhm-0388
Format: Thesis

Title: Cognitive and Behavioral Effects of Adolescent Exposure to Nicotine.
Creator: Rhoden, Rachel, Department of Psychology
Date Issued: 2013
Identifier: FSU_migr_uhm-0224
Format: Thesis

Title: Coordinated Gambling Feedback Processing Indexed by Feedback Negativity and Reward Positivity ERP Components, and Pupil Dilation.
Creator: Mulligan, Elizabeth, Department of Psychology
Abstract/Description: Pupil dilation (PD) has recently been reported as an index of activity in the locus coeruleus (LC), which is known to be integral to orienting processes, where adaptive gain theory and the LC-P3 hypothesis have been important to understanding the role of this activity in motivation (Nieuwenhuis et al., 2005; Nieuwenhuis et al., 2011). Separately, recent work in the study of gambling feedback has identified separable feedback negativity (FN) and reward positivity (RP) event-related potential ...
Show morePupil dilation (PD) has recently been reported as an index of activity in the locus coeruleus (LC), which is known to be integral to orienting processes, where adaptive gain theory and the LC-P3 hypothesis have been important to understanding the role of this activity in motivation (Nieuwenhuis et al., 2005; Nieuwenhuis et al., 2011). Separately, recent work in the study of gambling feedback has identified separable feedback negativity (FN) and reward positivity (RP) event-related potential (ERP) components that are sensitive to loss and gain outcomes, respectively (Bernat et al., 2011). While these two lines of research have advanced a considerable amount separately, the area investigating a possible relationship between LC functioning and higher cortical areas has been underdeveloped. In the current study, thirty-two participants completed a common gambling task while electrocortical signals and pupil diameter were measured to assess coordinated responding among cortical salience and control processes, and orienting processes. Results indicated that gain feedback produced significantly greater PD than loss, consistent with the view that LC phasic activation is driven by motivationally significant stimuli that signal cognitive reward (Nieuwenhuis et al., 2005). Also consistent with this view, ERP results revealed the RP component to most strongly predict PD, with RP activity in gains being a much stronger predictor of PD than RP in losses. Interestingly, RP activity during gains had a significant positive correlation with PD, while RP activity during losses had an equally significant negative correlation with PD. This means that more PD creates more of a disparity in RP activity between gains and losses, which supports the view that task engagement is a characteristic of exploitation, which is a mode of LC functioning (Aston-Jones & Cohen, 2005). These relationships show support for adaptive gain theory and the LC-P3 hypothesis, and suggest the possibility that cognitive reward and higher-level cortical areas may gate or modulate the orienting response according to task utility.
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Date Issued: 2013
Identifier: FSU_migr_uhm-0178
Format: Thesis

Title: Coping with Rejection: Does Rejection Affect the Motivation to Seek Power?.
Creator: Satkunas, Ashley, Department of Psychology
Abstract/Description: Social exclusion can threaten a person's need to belong, need for control, and need to feel that one's life has meaning. The current research investigated how rejected people reintegrate themselves into new social groups. In this experiment, rejected (and non-rejected control) participants were given the opportunity to join an ostensibly new experiment in which they would complete a group activity with two other participants. I then measured their motivation to attain a powerful or...
Show moreSocial exclusion can threaten a person's need to belong, need for control, and need to feel that one's life has meaning. The current research investigated how rejected people reintegrate themselves into new social groups. In this experiment, rejected (and non-rejected control) participants were given the opportunity to join an ostensibly new experiment in which they would complete a group activity with two other participants. I then measured their motivation to attain a powerful or subordinate position within the group. While pursuing a position of power in a new group may allow rejected people to restore control and meaning, subordinate positions in a new group may be better suited to restore belonging. The results were consistent with the latter possibility. That is, rejected participants preferred a subordinate position more than non-rejected participants, especially if the subordinate position allowed a high level of involvement in the group activity. These results suggest that rejected people interacting with a new group prefer roles in which they can contribute to the group goal without taking responsibility for group outcomes.
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Date Issued: 2012
Identifier: FSU_migr_uhm-0142
Format: Thesis

Title: A Cross-Cultural Look at a Meaningful Life and a Happy Life.
Creator: Batista, Rafael, Department of Psychology
Abstract/Description: There are many characteristics of a good life including a sense of meaning and happiness. A historical introduction presented here illustrates this dual conceptualization as existing since ancient times. Recent work by Baumeister, Vohs, Aaker, and Garbinsky (2013) revealed key differences between a meaningful life and a happy life. Meaningfulness, for example, was associated with integrating past, present, and future thinking, whereas happiness was primarily present-oriented. While...
Show moreThere are many characteristics of a good life including a sense of meaning and happiness. A historical introduction presented here illustrates this dual conceptualization as existing since ancient times. Recent work by Baumeister, Vohs, Aaker, and Garbinsky (2013) revealed key differences between a meaningful life and a happy life. Meaningfulness, for example, was associated with integrating past, present, and future thinking, whereas happiness was primarily present-oriented. While meaningfulness and happiness have each been studied independently across cultures, a cross-cultural comparison of the two has yet to be published. Baumeister (1991) suggests purpose, values, efficacy, and self-worth are universal needs for meaningfulness. Surveying students from Turkey (n = 124) and the United States (n = 231) we replicate previous findings and present empirical data supporting universal needs for meaningfulness while arguing for the inclusion of a fifth universal need: belongingness.
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Date Issued: 2014
Identifier: FSU_migr_uhm-0412
Format: Set of related objects

Title: Developing Multivariate Neurophysiological Phenotypes for Predicting Psychopathology.
Creator: Bachman, Matthew, Department of Psychology
Abstract/Description: Externalizing, a factor related to a deficit in impulse control, has been widely associated with reductions in the amplitude of the P300 event-related potential (ERP) component. Recently, time-frequency (TF) signal processing approaches have been able to index separable components underlying P300 activity, and provide incremental prediction for externalizing above traditional time-domain approaches to measuring P300 (Gilmore et al., 2010). Next, shared variance from time-domain measures of...
Show moreExternalizing, a factor related to a deficit in impulse control, has been widely associated with reductions in the amplitude of the P300 event-related potential (ERP) component. Recently, time-frequency (TF) signal processing approaches have been able to index separable components underlying P300 activity, and provide incremental prediction for externalizing above traditional time-domain approaches to measuring P300 (Gilmore et al., 2010). Next, shared variance from time-domain measures of P300 from different tasks and the error-related negativity demonstrated incremental prediction for externalizing above single tasks (Nelson et al., 2010), consistent with the idea of a multivariate phenotype (Iacono, Carson, & Malone, 2000). The current study integrates these approaches by using TF analysis to extract multiple overlapping TF components from each task, and then apply factor analysis across the components from all the tasks to derive latent task-based brain activations. TF amplitude (TF-AMP) and inter-trial phase synchrony (TF-ITPS) measures were assessed. Results of the factor analysis suggested a two-factor solution, which corresponded to the well-known theta (3-7 Hz) and delta (0-3 Hz) frequency ranges in both measures. Solutions with a higher number of components were assessed as well, providing greater time and frequency detail to the solutions. Finally, the TF-AMP and TF-ITPS measures were assessed with regard to externalizing, and did evidence incremental prediction above traditional time-domain measures.
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Date Issued: 2013
Identifier: FSU_migr_uhm-0196
Format: Thesis

Title: Do Individual Differences in Eye Movement Scanning Predict Simulator Sickness?.
Creator: Barajas, Kimberly, Department of Psychology
Abstract/Description: Simulator sickness is a common occurrence when humans navigate virtual environments; some proportion of the population will experience nausea, disorientation, headache, and a number of other negative symptoms during and after an interaction with a flight simulator, driving simulators, or first-person video game. While there are a number of theories behind the causes of simulator sickness, including theories related to posture stability and body movement, there are still no accepted...
Show moreSimulator sickness is a common occurrence when humans navigate virtual environments; some proportion of the population will experience nausea, disorientation, headache, and a number of other negative symptoms during and after an interaction with a flight simulator, driving simulators, or first-person video game. While there are a number of theories behind the causes of simulator sickness, including theories related to posture stability and body movement, there are still no accepted explanations for why some people are more susceptible to sickness compared to others. Some theories suggest that eye and head movements, age, gender, and simulator scenario properties (e.g., number of turns) may have an effect on simulator sickness. We took advantage of already collected eye movement, simulator sickness, and demographic data and explored possible correlations between simulator sickness and a variety of factors, such as the ones that were mentioned above. Of particular interest was whether eye tracking data might predict sickness severity. Results indicated that gender was significantly related to simulator sickness (females reporting greater sickness), and there was a trend for a relationship between age and simulator sickness, with increased age being specifically related to general discomfort and symptoms of vertigo. Contrary to predictions, eye scanning parameters were not significantly related to simulated sickness. Study limitations and future directions are discussed.
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Date Issued: 2014
Identifier: FSU_migr_uhm-0292
Format: Thesis

Title: Does Social Anxiety Moderate the Effects of Rejection on the Ability to Detect Real Smiles Following Rejection?.
Creator: Villegas, Mariana, Department of Psychology
Abstract/Description: Social rejection can have detrimental effects on people's physical and psychological well-being. Most individuals respond to rejection by increasing their efforts to re-affiliate with others and become sensitive to cues of social acceptance (such as Duchenne smiles). However, socially anxious individuals tend to see new social targets as sources of future exclusion and tend to withdraw from others after rejection. The current research tested the hypothesis that unlike their less socially...
Show moreSocial rejection can have detrimental effects on people's physical and psychological well-being. Most individuals respond to rejection by increasing their efforts to re-affiliate with others and become sensitive to cues of social acceptance (such as Duchenne smiles). However, socially anxious individuals tend to see new social targets as sources of future exclusion and tend to withdraw from others after rejection. The current research tested the hypothesis that unlike their less socially anxious counterparts, people high in social anxiety would not become sensitive to cues of social affiliation following rejection. Findings showed that following rejection participants low in social anxiety demonstrated an ability to discriminate between genuine (Duchenne) and non-genuine smiles, whereas participants high in social anxiety did not demonstrate this ability. Further analyses suggested that high levels of social anxiety were associated with a biased tendency to categorize smiles as non-genuine.
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Date Issued: 2013
Identifier: FSU_migr_uhm-0195
Format: Thesis

Title: Does the Association Between "Fat-Talk" and Disordered Eating Depend on Age and Gender: An Examination in Women and Men from their 20's to their 50's.
Creator: Tzoneva, Mirela, Department of Psychology
Abstract/Description: Peers have a significant influence on an individual's behaviors and cognitions, especially when it comes to weight and eating. Recently, a phenomenon known as 'fat-talk,' which describes the everyday negative commentary about weight and shape often undertaken by girls and women, has surfaced as a significant element of friendship interaction. Fat-talk has been linked to body dissatisfaction, depression, and disordered eating in adolescent females and could contribute to why adolescent girls...
Show morePeers have a significant influence on an individual's behaviors and cognitions, especially when it comes to weight and eating. Recently, a phenomenon known as 'fat-talk,' which describes the everyday negative commentary about weight and shape often undertaken by girls and women, has surfaced as a significant element of friendship interaction. Fat-talk has been linked to body dissatisfaction, depression, and disordered eating in adolescent females and could contribute to why adolescent girls are at a particularly high risk for eating disorders. No study, however, has examined the association between exposure to fat-talk and disordered eating in a large sample of men and women covering a broad age range. The current study tests the hypothesis that gender and age-related differences in exposure to fat-talk or the influence of fat-talk on disordered eating could contribute to demographic differences in who is at risk for eating pathology. This study examined the association between fat-talk and disordered eating to replicate prior findings. In addition, fat-talk was compared in women (n=1,693) and men (n=817) from their 20's to their 50's to determine if peer behaviors differed across groups. The study also examined whether the strength of the associations between fat-talk and disordered eating varied by age and gender. Exposure to fat-talk was significantly associated with increased disordered eating for both women and men. However, women were exposed to more fat-talk in their friendship interactions, especially in their 20s. In addition, associations between fat-talk and disordered eating were stronger in women compared to men. These findings underscore a need for intervention programs that target fat-talk in college-age women. In addition, given that fat-talk was associated with increased disordered eating in older women and men, widespread efforts to reduce weight stigma should be pursued.
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Date Issued: 2014
Identifier: FSU_migr_uhm-0443
Format: Thesis

Title: Driven to Distraction?: the Effect of Red Light Running Camera Flashes on Attention and Eye Movement Control.
Creator: Sall, Robert, Department of Psychology
Abstract/Description: Visually sparse and abstract laboratory paradigms are often used to study visual attention and attention capture. Do the factors found to influence the allocation of attention in these studies also predict distraction in more complex real-world scenes? We explored this question using an attention capture paradigm modeled after driving a driving scene. Anecdotally, the flash that accompanies Red Light Running Cameras (RLRC) has been reported to be distracting. An Inhibition of Return (IOR)...
Show moreVisually sparse and abstract laboratory paradigms are often used to study visual attention and attention capture. Do the factors found to influence the allocation of attention in these studies also predict distraction in more complex real-world scenes? We explored this question using an attention capture paradigm modeled after driving a driving scene. Anecdotally, the flash that accompanies Red Light Running Cameras (RLRC) has been reported to be distracting. An Inhibition of Return (IOR) paradigm was used to test if RLRC flashes in simulated driving scenes capture attention. After attention is allocated to an area, IOR discourages future attention shifts to that same area, thus IOR serves as a reliable marker of spatial attention. In two experiments, participants were slower to respond to the brake lamps of a vehicle when a RLRC flash occurred nearby, and were also slower at initiating eye movements to brake lamp signals (IOR effects). Results suggest that attention can be misdirected as a result of RLRC flashes and demonstrate that findings from simple laboratory paradigms can predict the allocation of attention in complex settings that are more familiar to observers. Despite clear evidence for the capture of attention, additional study is necessary to better understand the effect RLRC flashes may have on driving performance.
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Date Issued: 2013
Identifier: FSU_migr_uhm-0169
Format: Thesis

Title: The Effect of Physical and Emotional Stress on Nicotine Consumption in Male Mice.
Creator: Sattler, Carley, Department of Psychology
Abstract/Description: This experiment was designed to examine the impact of chronic stress exposure on nicotine consumption. Adolescent (postnatal days, PD 38-75) male mice underwent 10 days of social defeat, were treated with one month (long-term) of forced nicotine consumption (160 mg/l), and their reactivity to various behavioral paradigms (social interaction test (SIT), elevated plus maze (EPM), and forced swim test (FST)) was assessed. Findings indicate that chronic nicotine exposure following social defeat...
Show moreThis experiment was designed to examine the impact of chronic stress exposure on nicotine consumption. Adolescent (postnatal days, PD 38-75) male mice underwent 10 days of social defeat, were treated with one month (long-term) of forced nicotine consumption (160 mg/l), and their reactivity to various behavioral paradigms (social interaction test (SIT), elevated plus maze (EPM), and forced swim test (FST)) was assessed. Findings indicate that chronic nicotine exposure following social defeat may effectively buffer against some anxiety- and depression-like symptoms later in life.
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Date Issued: 2014
Identifier: FSU_migr_uhm-0345
Format: Thesis

Title: The Effect of Shyness and Geographical Distance from Home on Loneliness in College Freshmen.
Creator: La Rosa, Nikki L., Department of Psychology
Abstract/Description: Entering college, the majority of freshmen experience some sort of feelings of loneliness during the beginning of the transition to a new environment. Loneliness can lead students to have a multitude of negative effects, including poorer physical health and depression. This study examined whether shyness and geographical distance from college students' permanent residence would be associated with feelings of loneliness. Participants were 93 freshmen at a large southeastern university. Results...
Show moreEntering college, the majority of freshmen experience some sort of feelings of loneliness during the beginning of the transition to a new environment. Loneliness can lead students to have a multitude of negative effects, including poorer physical health and depression. This study examined whether shyness and geographical distance from college students' permanent residence would be associated with feelings of loneliness. Participants were 93 freshmen at a large southeastern university. Results indicated that shyness was associated with the feelings of loneliness, while distance was not. Contrary to predictions, the interaction of these two variables was not a significant predictor of loneliness. Implications of the findings for enhancing freshman adjustment are discussed.
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Date Issued: 2015
Identifier: FSU_migr_uhm-0562
Format: Thesis

Title: The Effect of Threat and Challenge Appraisals of Acute Stress on Subsequent Acts of Self-control.
Creator: Ramsey, Brandon, Department of Psychology
Abstract/Description: Past research has shown that stress has negative implications for self-control performance. The current research was designed to test circumstances under which acute stress may improve self-control performance. Research on acute stress describes two different appraisals of a stressor--challenge and threat. These appraisals types differ in perceived resource availability and perception of how demanding the task is. They also differ in their associated physiological responses. A challenge...
Show morePast research has shown that stress has negative implications for self-control performance. The current research was designed to test circumstances under which acute stress may improve self-control performance. Research on acute stress describes two different appraisals of a stressor--challenge and threat. These appraisals types differ in perceived resource availability and perception of how demanding the task is. They also differ in their associated physiological responses. A challenge appraisal leads to increased glucose release that continues for some time after the task, whereas the threat appraisal activates an extra stress axis that dampens the glucose response leading to lower glucose availability. Because of the difference in glucose release, I predicted that a threat appraisal of an acute stressor may impair self-control functioning relative to a no-stress control group, whereas a challenge appraisal of an acute stressor may improve self-control functioning relative to a no-stress control group. Participants completed a stressful speech task in which interviewers gave varied evaluative feedback to evoke a threat appraisal or challenge appraisal. Participants in a control condition completed the speech alone without evaluative feedback. Self-control performance was measured using a Stroop task. Contrary to predictions, participants in the threat condition who reported low life stress performed better on a self-control task than participants in the control condition. Participants in the challenge condition did not perform better on a self-control task regardless of perceived life stress. These findings suggest life stress may moderate the relationship between stress appraisal and subsequent self-control performance.
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Date Issued: 2014
Identifier: FSU_migr_uhm-0347
Format: Thesis

Title: The Effects of Paternal Deprivation on the Social and Anxiety-like Behavior in Male and Female Prairie Voles.
Creator: Phelan, Shana, Department of Psychology
Abstract/Description: Varies studies done on humans and animal models alike show the importance of healthy social relationships. Parental care (especially bi-parental care) is shown to be an important factor for the proper development and overall outcome of an individual. In this study, the prairie vole will be used to examine the effects of paternal deprivation on the social and anxiety-like behaviors of the F1 generation. Four behavioral tests were conducted to determine the effects of father deprivation on...
Show moreVaries studies done on humans and animal models alike show the importance of healthy social relationships. Parental care (especially bi-parental care) is shown to be an important factor for the proper development and overall outcome of an individual. In this study, the prairie vole will be used to examine the effects of paternal deprivation on the social and anxiety-like behaviors of the F1 generation. Four behavioral tests were conducted to determine the effects of father deprivation on parental behaviors, anxiety-like behaviors, social affiliation, and social recognition.
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Date Issued: 2015
Identifier: FSU_migr_uhm-0486
Format: Thesis

Title: The Effects Of Skin Tone & Hairstyle On African-American Females Perceived Attractiveness Ratings.
Creator: Philyaw, Adira-Danique, Department of Psychology
Abstract/Description: Skin tone variation within the African-American race can be a source of discomfort both mentally and physically for light-skinned and dark-skinned African-Americans usually weighing heavier on how African-American women are perceived in terms of attractiveness (Harvey et. al, 2005; Lester, 2000; Maddox & Gray 2002). These variations are also at the core of the skin tone bias which is defined by Maddox and Gray (2002) as being the "tendency to perceive or behave toward members of a racial ...
Show moreSkin tone variation within the African-American race can be a source of discomfort both mentally and physically for light-skinned and dark-skinned African-Americans usually weighing heavier on how African-American women are perceived in terms of attractiveness (Harvey et. al, 2005; Lester, 2000; Maddox & Gray 2002). These variations are also at the core of the skin tone bias which is defined by Maddox and Gray (2002) as being the "tendency to perceive or behave toward members of a racial [group] based on the lightness or darkness of their skin tone" (p.250). In addition to this, African-American women choice of hairstyle be it natural (i.e., afro, braids, etc.) or processed (perms, relaxer, etc.) plays an important role in the perceived level of attractiveness in African-American women. The study presented in this paper seeks to look at the effect of the skin tone bias and styles of hair on four target models' (i.e., include a light-skinned model with natural hair, the same light-skinned model with processed hair, a dark-skinned model with natural hairs, and the same dark-skinned model with processed hair) perceived level of attractiveness. Attractiveness ratings were taken from sixty-four participants using a Likert Scale of 1 to 7 (1=least attractive and 7=most attractive). The data presented within this paper found that there was a significant main effect for hair as well as skin-tone. Also, it was found that African-American participants were just as likely to show an in-group bias toward the darker-skinned target model with processed hair as the Caucasian participants were.
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Date Issued: 2012
Identifier: FSU_migr_uhm-0114
Format: Thesis

Title: The Effects of Stress on the HPA-Axis of Adolescent Mice.
Creator: Weinstein, Leah, Department of Psychology
Abstract/Description: Mood disorders have become the most prevalent mental health disorder affecting US adults today. Exposure to emotional or physical stress can increase the likelihood of developing a mood disorder and thus is detrimental to the population. The hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA)-Axis functions in the stress response and is suggested to be involved in the manifestation of mood disorders. However, the mechanism(s) underlying the stress response are not completely understood therefore preclinical...
Show moreMood disorders have become the most prevalent mental health disorder affecting US adults today. Exposure to emotional or physical stress can increase the likelihood of developing a mood disorder and thus is detrimental to the population. The hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA)-Axis functions in the stress response and is suggested to be involved in the manifestation of mood disorders. However, the mechanism(s) underlying the stress response are not completely understood therefore preclinical studies are indispensable. Here, I exposed male adolescent (postnatal day [PD] 30-40) C57/BJ mice to bouts of physical or emotional stress for ten consecutive days, and assessed HPA-Axis functioning by analyzing plasma corticosterone (CORT) levels at various time points after stress exposure. Mice exposed to physical and emotional stress displayed elevated plasma CORT levels 24 and 48 hours after stress exposure. The changes in HPA function were accompanied by behavioral deficits (i.e., increased anxiety-related behavior and social avoidance/withdrawal) 1 month after stress exposure. These results suggest unique involvement of the HPA-Axis in the manifestation of mood-related disorders, however complete mechanisms are not fully understood and continued research in this area is necessary.
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Date Issued: 2013
Identifier: FSU_migr_uhm-0186
Format: Thesis

Title: Ego Depletion and Changes in the Premenstrual Phase: Impaired Self-Control as a Common Source.
Creator: Maranges, Heather, Department of Psychology
Abstract/Description: What accounts for the stark changes in emotion, cognition, and behavior in women during the premenstrual phase of the menstrual cycle? I hypothesize that, in addition to the effects of hormones, a lack of self-control may account for these changes. The metabolically expensive activity of the premenstrual phase diverts energy from metabolically expensive self-regulatory processes, making the use of self-control more difficult. In this article, I experimentally test this hypothesis with the...
Show moreWhat accounts for the stark changes in emotion, cognition, and behavior in women during the premenstrual phase of the menstrual cycle? I hypothesize that, in addition to the effects of hormones, a lack of self-control may account for these changes. The metabolically expensive activity of the premenstrual phase diverts energy from metabolically expensive self-regulatory processes, making the use of self-control more difficult. In this article, I experimentally test this hypothesis with the dual-task paradigm common to self-control research. That is, participants perform one task that requires and depletes self-control—the Stroop task—followed by another task that requires self-control—a dependent measure. I randomly assigned 34 undergraduate women to either a control or ego depletion condition and to participate either during the premenstrual or postmenstrual phase of their menstrual cycles. I measured total affect, critical thinking, and aggression. Results, while preliminary, are consistent with the hypothesis that self-control depletion is not only linked to emotional, cognitive, and behavioral changes in the premenstrual phase, but also exaggerates these changes. I offer an explanation for my findings and conclude with a discussion of future work and implications.
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Date Issued: 2014
Identifier: FSU_migr_uhm-0391
Format: Thesis

Title: Emotional Regulation and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder.
Creator: Durmaz, Daphne, Department of Psychology
Abstract/Description: Emotion regulation difficulties have been implicated in the development and maintenance of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Yet further research is necessary in order to fully understand the relationship between different facets of emotional regulation and PTSD. The current study examines three major aspects of emotion regulation: emotional reactivity, tolerance of emotions and emotional persistence. Eighty-seven trauma exposed participants completed measures of depression, anxiety, and...
Show moreEmotion regulation difficulties have been implicated in the development and maintenance of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Yet further research is necessary in order to fully understand the relationship between different facets of emotional regulation and PTSD. The current study examines three major aspects of emotion regulation: emotional reactivity, tolerance of emotions and emotional persistence. Eighty-seven trauma exposed participants completed measures of depression, anxiety, and PTSD symptoms. Next, participants completed mood induction tasks designed to elicit feelings of fear (watching a fearful video) and guilt (writing about a past behavior that made them feel guilty). Immediately following these tasks, participants reported their peak level of emotion (fear or guilt) during the task and completed a brief measure to assess their tolerance of that emotion. After six minutes, they completed another measure of fear or guilt in order to assess persistence of emotions. A series of regression analyses were conducted predicting emotional reactivity, tolerance of emotions, and emotional persistence from PTSD symptoms, while controlling for depression and anxiety. Results suggest that greater PTSD symptoms, specifically avoidance symptoms, are uniquely associated with persistent fear and lower tolerance of fear following mood induction. PTSD symptoms were unrelated to intensity of emotional reaction for either mood induction. PTSD symptoms were also unrelated in response to the guilt induction.
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Date Issued: 2013
Identifier: FSU_migr_uhm-0218
Format: Thesis

Title: Examination of relationships between incompleteness and perfectionism: A multi-method approach.
Creator: Dane, Brittney, Fitch, Kristin, Cougle, Jesse, Department of Psychology
Abstract/Description: Research has identified clinical perfectionism to be a risk factor for a variety of forms of psychopathology. It is a personality construct characterized by high personal standards, negative self-evaluations, and preference for subjective states of perfection. Research has shown that there is a unique relationship between perfectionism and feelings of incompleteness, one of the two dimensions that underlie overt symptoms subtypes of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Uncomfortable...
Show moreResearch has identified clinical perfectionism to be a risk factor for a variety of forms of psychopathology. It is a personality construct characterized by high personal standards, negative self-evaluations, and preference for subjective states of perfection. Research has shown that there is a unique relationship between perfectionism and feelings of incompleteness, one of the two dimensions that underlie overt symptoms subtypes of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Uncomfortable sensations of things being not "just right" drive OCD symptoms in the incompleteness dimension. The current studies aimed to further evaluate the relationships between perfectionism and incompleteness. Study 1 utilized a small sample of participants with elevated feelings of incompleteness, while Study 2 utilized a large, unselected student sample. Self-report measures and in vivo assessments of visual and tactile incompleteness were completed in both studies, and task-related perfectionism in response to arranging clutter was additionally evaluated in Study 1. We hypothesized that dispositional and task-related perfectionism would be related to both self-report and behavioral assessments of incompleteness. In both studies, dispositional perfectionism was significantly correlated with feelings of incompleteness. In Study 1, dispositional perfectionism was related to tactile urge to straighten stimuli, as was dispositional incompleteness with the dispositional perfectionism subdomains "doubts about actions" and "personal standards." In Study 2, dispositional perfectionism was related to visual and tactile discomfort, as well as urge to straighten the visual and tactile stimuli; dispositional incompleteness was correlated with dispositional perfectionism. Clinical implications of the relationship between perfectionism and incompleteness are discussed.
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Date Issued: 2013
Identifier: FSU_migr_uhm-0255
Format: Thesis

Title: Exploring the Robustness of Feature Based Reward Priming.
Creator: Andringa, Ronald, Department of Psychology
Abstract/Description: Many studies support the view that visual attention is captured by salient or unique objects, whether we intend to pay attention to these objects or not. While it has been proposed that capture is automatic and driven purely by properties of the physical stimulus, recent research has suggested that previous experience also contributes to the degree to which an object captures attention. Hickey, Chelazzi and Theeuwes (2010a, 2010b, 2011) find that after a successful search for an object...
Show moreMany studies support the view that visual attention is captured by salient or unique objects, whether we intend to pay attention to these objects or not. While it has been proposed that capture is automatic and driven purely by properties of the physical stimulus, recent research has suggested that previous experience also contributes to the degree to which an object captures attention. Hickey, Chelazzi and Theeuwes (2010a, 2010b, 2011) find that after a successful search for an object followed by a high reward, distraction by a unique but irrelevant item is reduced during the next search episode. However, when a feature associated with the target of search after a high reward becomes associated with an irrelevant distractor, capture is increased. Hickey and colleagues propose this reward modulation of attentional selection as a way we can generally learn what to pay attention to and what to ignore over time. The aim of this thesis is to further explore the time course of these reward effects to observe whether they grow over time, and whether they are robust to intervening tasks, which should be true if they represent a useful mechanism through which we learn how to allocate our attention. Surprisingly, unlike previous studies, we found that high reward did not prime the color of the search target, but instead primed its spatial location. Possible reasons for this divergent finding are discussed.
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Date Issued: 2013
Identifier: FSU_migr_uhm-0201
Format: Thesis

Title: Exploring the Robustness of Feature-Based Reward Priming.
Creator: Andringa, Ronald, Department of Psychology
Date Issued: 2013
Identifier: FSU_migr_undergradresearch-0017
Format: Citation

Title: Facebook Use and Disordered Eating in College Women.
Creator: Mabe, Annalise, Department of Psychology
Abstract/Description: Disordered eating is a serious problem affecting college women today. As technology advances and social networking sites become more heavily used, it is important to study the effects that sites like Facebook may have on college women's disordered eating attitudes and behaviors. This study aimed to analyze the relationship between Facebook use and disordered eating levels in college women through a correlational design and aimed to evaluate the momentary effects of Facebook use through an...
Show moreDisordered eating is a serious problem affecting college women today. As technology advances and social networking sites become more heavily used, it is important to study the effects that sites like Facebook may have on college women's disordered eating attitudes and behaviors. This study aimed to analyze the relationship between Facebook use and disordered eating levels in college women through a correlational design and aimed to evaluate the momentary effects of Facebook use through an experimental design. This study hypothesized that higher Facebook use is positively correlated with higher levels of disordered eating and that social comparison, self-objectification and high self-monitoring account for these associations. To examine the correlation between Facebook use and disordered eating levels, this study collected data from a mass screening of participants in the psychology subject pool. To test whether use of Facebook causes momentary changes in mood, body image, and disordered eating urges, participants from the psychology subject pool were recruited for an experiment in which they were randomly assigned to either use Facebook or Wikipedia for 20 minutes and completed self-report assessments regarding current eating concerns, weight concerns, and mood before and after internet use. Results showed a positive and significant relationship between Facebook use and disordered eating and evidence that Facebook use contributes to maintenance of weight/shape preoccupation and anxiety. Results revealed a significant correlation between disordered eating, body comparison, trait anxiety and Facebook score. Future longitudinal research should examine Facebook use as a possible risk factor in the development of body image concerns and disordered eating.
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Date Issued: 2013
Identifier: FSU_migr_uhm-0219
Format: Thesis

Title: Factors of Attraction and Relationship Satisfaction: The Love-is-Blind Bias and Perceived Risk of Infidelity.
Creator: Shults, Jeanie, Department of Psychology
Abstract/Description: Attraction and relationship satisfaction have been topics of increased investigation over the past several decades (Yela & Sangrador, 2001; Buss & Schmitt, 1993; Hall & Taylor, 1976). The love-is-blind bias hypothesizes that individuals within fulfilling relationships exhibit the phenomenon of rating their partner's attractiveness higher than self-ratings of their own attractiveness, a product of positive partner illusions (Swami & Furnham, 2008; Gagné, & Lydon, 2004). Using the Relationship...
Show moreAttraction and relationship satisfaction have been topics of increased investigation over the past several decades (Yela & Sangrador, 2001; Buss & Schmitt, 1993; Hall & Taylor, 1976). The love-is-blind bias hypothesizes that individuals within fulfilling relationships exhibit the phenomenon of rating their partner's attractiveness higher than self-ratings of their own attractiveness, a product of positive partner illusions (Swami & Furnham, 2008; Gagné, & Lydon, 2004). Using the Relationship Assessment Scale (RAS) and novel measures for attraction and perceived infidelity, this study applied the love-is-blind hypothesis against relationship satisfaction and perceived risk of infidelity. The creation of two new subscales for measuring the love-is-blind bias, self-perceived love-is-blind bias (SPB) and externally-perceived love-is-blind bias (EPB) were instrumental in computations. Significant positive interactions between both scales of the love-is-blind bias and both attraction, and relationship satisfaction were found. Perceived risk of infidelity was negatively related to all positive scales. The findings suggest a system of interactions among the love-is-blind bias, perceived risk of infidelity, relationship satisfaction, and overall partner attraction. Preliminary analysis suggests perceived past infidelity may also predict lessened relationship satisfaction in current relationships.
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Date Issued: 2013
Identifier: FSU_migr_uhm-0205
Format: Thesis

Title: Feeling the Future: Induced Disgust Affects Predictions of Future Experiences.
Creator: Kristal, Alexander C., Department of Psychology
Abstract/Description: People's ability to predict their future hedonic states is important for guiding behavior; yet, previous work has shown that prospection can be biased by present physiological states. In two experiments we test whether emotional experiences can similarly bias prospection. Study 1 tests the effects of disgust on people's predicted enjoyment of food, money, and social activities. Study 2 replicates and extends our findings by testing whether present experiences of sadness similarly bias people...
Show morePeople's ability to predict their future hedonic states is important for guiding behavior; yet, previous work has shown that prospection can be biased by present physiological states. In two experiments we test whether emotional experiences can similarly bias prospection. Study 1 tests the effects of disgust on people's predicted enjoyment of food, money, and social activities. Study 2 replicates and extends our findings by testing whether present experiences of sadness similarly bias people's predictions about the future. Results show that present experiences of disgust reduced the predicted future preference for food consumption, but not money or social experiences. These data show that when people form predictions about the future they reference their present feelings, but only when those feelings are relevant to the prediction at hand.
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Date Issued: 2015
Identifier: FSU_migr_uhm-0475
Format: Thesis

Title: Forward And Backward Chaining In Preschool Children.
Creator: Castillo, Gerardo, Department of Psychology
Abstract/Description: This study compared forward versus backward chaining in preschool children with a simple shoe-tying task, the task consisted of eight steps and it was performed by ten preschoolers from a Tallahassee preschool. The task which emitted fewer trials/errors to criterion was determined to be the superior chaining method. Results suggest that backwards chaining is the ideal chaining method for preschoolers when learning how to tie a shoe. Future research should be aimed at generalizing this...
Show moreThis study compared forward versus backward chaining in preschool children with a simple shoe-tying task, the task consisted of eight steps and it was performed by ten preschoolers from a Tallahassee preschool. The task which emitted fewer trials/errors to criterion was determined to be the superior chaining method. Results suggest that backwards chaining is the ideal chaining method for preschoolers when learning how to tie a shoe. Future research should be aimed at generalizing this procedure to a shoe they are wearing, and determine if the children show the same preference for this procedure on other self care tasks.
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Date Issued: 2013
Identifier: FSU_migr_uhm-0415
Format: Thesis

Title: Gaming Preferences of Aging Generations.
Creator: Blocker, Kenneth, Department of Psychology
Abstract/Description: Evidence collected over the past decade suggests that action video game training can improve a variety of perceptual and cognitive abilities including those that decline most with age. Unfortunately, previous work has found that older adults dislike these types of games, and intervention compliance is poor for these game interventions. The focus of the current project was to better understand the types of games older adults are willing to play, why they prefer these games, and to be able to...
Show moreEvidence collected over the past decade suggests that action video game training can improve a variety of perceptual and cognitive abilities including those that decline most with age. Unfortunately, previous work has found that older adults dislike these types of games, and intervention compliance is poor for these game interventions. The focus of the current project was to better understand the types of games older adults are willing to play, why they prefer these games, and to be able to predict game preference based on variables such as gender, age, technology experience, and personality. Thus, action-oriented games might be modified and developed using this information to maximize compliance and produce large cognitive benefits. A survey approach was taken which adapted a game preference survey previously administered to college-aged students and administered this survey to an older adult population, in addition to a number of measures involving background and health information, technology experience, video game interest, and tabletop game preferences. Gender and personality factors were predictive of game preference, with females preferring games involving exploration, individuals high in agreeableness preferring more social games, and those high in emotional stability preferring less violent games. Within the older adult sample, a relationship was also found between increasing age and the desire for fantasy and violence-related features. Results have implications for designing individualized games to maximize intervention adherence based on individual differences.
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Date Issued: 2013
Identifier: FSU_migr_uhm-0166
Format: Thesis

Title: Heart Rate Reactivity and Disinhibitory Proneness During an Affective Picture Viewing Task.
Creator: Shelton, Lindsey, Department of Psychology
Abstract/Description: Abnormalities in autonomic reactivity to aversive stimuli (e.g., heart rate deceleration) have been demonstrated in individuals with various forms of externalizing spectrum disorders (Raine, Venables & Williams, 1995). Differential components of heart rate reactivity (HR) were hypothesized to reflect orienting responses and engagement in a defensive (fight or flight) motivational state. The Externalizing Spectrum Model (Krueger et al., 2002; Krueger & Markon, 2005) posits clinical problems...
Show moreAbnormalities in autonomic reactivity to aversive stimuli (e.g., heart rate deceleration) have been demonstrated in individuals with various forms of externalizing spectrum disorders (Raine, Venables & Williams, 1995). Differential components of heart rate reactivity (HR) were hypothesized to reflect orienting responses and engagement in a defensive (fight or flight) motivational state. The Externalizing Spectrum Model (Krueger et al., 2002; Krueger & Markon, 2005) posits clinical problems involving excessive substance use and antisocial behavior are specific manifestations of a general propensity towards deficient impulse control (disinhibitory proneness). The current study expands upon previous research by evaluating the association between disinhibitory proneness (operationalized through scores on the Externalizing Spectrum Inventory; Krueger, Markon, Patrick, Benning, & Kramer, 2007) and cardiac reactivity in a community sample of twins (N=508). Findings provide support for reduced cardiac reactivity in individuals scoring highly on disinhibitory proneness.
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Date Issued: 2014
Identifier: FSU_migr_uhm-0380
Format: Thesis

Title: Identifying the Effects of Personality Type on Stress.
Creator: Carroll, Brooke, Department of Psychology
Abstract/Description: In this study, the influence of personality traits and stress was examined. Fifty-six undergraduate students at the Florida State University Panama City campus participated. In the beginning of the experiment, participants were required to complete the Big Five Personality Test and the State Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI). Following this, participants were randomly assigned one of two conditions (low stress, high stress). In the low stress condition, participants completed simple subtraction...
Show moreIn this study, the influence of personality traits and stress was examined. Fifty-six undergraduate students at the Florida State University Panama City campus participated. In the beginning of the experiment, participants were required to complete the Big Five Personality Test and the State Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI). Following this, participants were randomly assigned one of two conditions (low stress, high stress). In the low stress condition, participants completed simple subtraction problems, whereas in the high stress condition participants completed complex long-division problems. Calculators and electronic calculating devices were not permitted. After participants completed the math problems they filled out an alternative version of the STAI. It was hypothesized that individuals who scored high on the trait, neuroticism, would produce higher scores of anxiety on the STAI following the experimental manipulation than would participants who scored low or not at all on the trait. It was found that participants high in neuroticism, produced greater trait anxiety scores, regardless of the experimental manipulation, suggesting that even minor stressful events initiate anxiety in individuals high on this trait.
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Date Issued: 2014
Identifier: FSU_migr_uhm-0327
Format: Thesis

Title: Individual Variation in Taste Phenotype Predicts Susceptibility to Weight Gain on a Highly Palatable Diet.
Creator: Polischuck, Leanne, Department of Psychology
Date Issued: 2013
Identifier: FSU_migr_undergradresearch-0018
Format: Citation

Title: The Influence of Age and Depression on Episodic Memory Functioning in Adulthood.
Creator: Fitzgibbons, Joanna, Department of Psychology
Abstract/Description: Previous research suggests that depression in old age results in deficits in both encoding and retrieval in episodic memory tasks. There is also a general understanding that memory function declines with age, with older adults being the most affected. The focus of this data analysis is to examine a possible interaction between age and depression on episodic memory performance. A multiple regression approach was used to analyze previous data from CREATE I which includes a sample size of 1,204...
Show morePrevious research suggests that depression in old age results in deficits in both encoding and retrieval in episodic memory tasks. There is also a general understanding that memory function declines with age, with older adults being the most affected. The focus of this data analysis is to examine a possible interaction between age and depression on episodic memory performance. A multiple regression approach was used to analyze previous data from CREATE I which includes a sample size of 1,204 participants between the ages of 18-91. Age and depressive affect had significant negative effects on episodic memory performance, and these two factors interacted, showing that depressive affect had little impact at young ages but increasingly affected those at older ages. Results suggest that interventions to reduce depressive affect in older populations may also contribute to improved episodic memory performance.
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Date Issued: 2013
Identifier: FSU_migr_uhm-0281
Format: Thesis

Title: The Influence of Functional Health Limitations and Fluid Intelligence on Technology Use Through the Adult Lifespan.
Creator: Gibson, Melissa N., Department of Psychology
Abstract/Description: The percentage of seniors in the western world that use computers and mobile devices has increased dramatically in the last decades, however this number is still considerably lower than that of younger adults. To further explain this relationship, this paper has explored the impact of the factors of functional health limitations and fluid intelligence on technology use and age. To do this, this paper used previous data collected by the Center for Research and Education on Aging and Technology...
Show moreThe percentage of seniors in the western world that use computers and mobile devices has increased dramatically in the last decades, however this number is still considerably lower than that of younger adults. To further explain this relationship, this paper has explored the impact of the factors of functional health limitations and fluid intelligence on technology use and age. To do this, this paper used previous data collected by the Center for Research and Education on Aging and Technology Enhancement (CREATE) consisting of a sample of 1,204 adults over the age of 18. The participants completed a battery including self-rated health, technology experience, and measures of cognitive abilities, along with other measures that were not discussed in this paper. This study was conducted using data from the CREATE I data set and analyzed variables of age, fluid intelligence, functional health limitations, and technology use. The findings in this study show a significant positive interaction between age and functional health limitations on technology use, suggesting that technology use is impacted more among younger adults with functional health limitations than older adults with functional health limitations.
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Date Issued: 2015
Identifier: FSU_migr_uhm-0463
Format: Thesis

Title: Influence of Parenthood on Perceptions of Warmth and Competence.
Creator: Del Carlo, Maria, Department of Psychology
Abstract/Description: The effects of gender and parenthood on perceptions of warmth and competence were investigated in this study. When women become working mothers, their perceptions of warmth increase, but at the cost of reduced perceived competence, whereas men who become fathers gain perceived warmth, in addition to perceived competence (Cuddy, Fiske, & Glick, 2004). In this study, participates read a short description of a candidate for a server position for a restaurant and then viewed one of four pictures ...
Show moreThe effects of gender and parenthood on perceptions of warmth and competence were investigated in this study. When women become working mothers, their perceptions of warmth increase, but at the cost of reduced perceived competence, whereas men who become fathers gain perceived warmth, in addition to perceived competence (Cuddy, Fiske, & Glick, 2004). In this study, participates read a short description of a candidate for a server position for a restaurant and then viewed one of four pictures (a female shown alone, a female holding a baby, a male shown alone, a male shown holding a baby). Following this, participants rated the candidate on several traits related to warmth (warm, sincere, etc.) and competence (skillful, capable, etc.). It was hypothesized that the male holding the baby would be perceived as higher in warmth compared to the same man shown without the baby, but that his competence would be rated high regardless of the picture. It was also hypothesized that the female holding the child would be rated higher in warmth compared to the same woman shown alone. Finally, it was also expected that participants would rate the woman with the baby lower in perceived competence, compared to the woman alone. The results were mixed. The male target with the child was perceived as warmer compared to the same male shown alone and his competence ratings didn't change. This finding supported one of the hypotheses of the study. However, there were no differences observed the in female target's perceived warmth or competence in either of the picture manipulations.
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Date Issued: 2013
Identifier: FSU_migr_uhm-0279
Format: Thesis

Title: The Integratibility of Words and Their Referents into Embodied Representations.
Creator: Prestwood, Virginia, Department of Psychology
Abstract/Description: Embodied theories of language comprehension suggest that sentence comprehension involves a perceptual simulation of the objects, agents, and event described within the sentence using the same perception and action systems we use when we interact with the world. Past research shows that within experiments, the integratibility between the perceptual stimuli and cognitive representation influences reaction time to sensibility questions. This experiment was designed to investigate the question of...
Show moreEmbodied theories of language comprehension suggest that sentence comprehension involves a perceptual simulation of the objects, agents, and event described within the sentence using the same perception and action systems we use when we interact with the world. Past research shows that within experiments, the integratibility between the perceptual stimuli and cognitive representation influences reaction time to sensibility questions. This experiment was designed to investigate the question of whether embodied cognitive representations contain visual, semantic, and phonological properties and if some of these properties contribute to integratibility more than others. Participants listened to sentences describing the transfer of an object either towards or away from their body. They were then shown two pictures of an object that was either a visual, semantic or phonological competitor to the object described in the sentence. The two pictures of the competitor created an illusion of motion that either matched or mismatched the direction of motion described in the sentence. After viewing the two pictures, participants were asked a question to which their reaction time was recorded. A compatibility effect was said to have occurred if the reaction times for the match condition were faster than the mismatch condition.
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Date Issued: 2013
Identifier: FSU_migr_uhm-0206
Format: Thesis

Title: Juvenile Sex Offender Subgroups: Differences in Personality and Sexual Recidivism.
Creator: Heighes, Caitlin, Department of Psychology
Date Issued: 2014
Identifier: FSU_migr_uhm-0420
Format: Thesis

Title: Juvenile sexual offenders: relationship between sexual abuse and sexual offending.
Creator: Rimel, Hillary, Department of Psychology
Abstract/Description: Sexual abuse, as well as physical abuse, can lead to many negative outcomes for adolescents and adults. One possible and serious outcome of sexual abuse is later sexual offending. However, the nature of the relationship between abuse and later offending is unclear. This study aims to better understand the possible relationship between sexual abuse, physical abuse, and later sexual offending. A significant relationship was found between sexual abuse and sexual offense severity. Significant...
Show moreSexual abuse, as well as physical abuse, can lead to many negative outcomes for adolescents and adults. One possible and serious outcome of sexual abuse is later sexual offending. However, the nature of the relationship between abuse and later offending is unclear. This study aims to better understand the possible relationship between sexual abuse, physical abuse, and later sexual offending. A significant relationship was found between sexual abuse and sexual offense severity. Significant differences were also found between sexually abused and non-sexually abused JSOs regarding specific sexual offending behaviors (abusing a victim seven years or younger, abusing a male, abusing multiple victims) and a significant relationship was found between sexual abuse and sexual offending. Physical abuse was not related to sexual offense severity in this study, which may be due to limitations in the scale of sexual offense severity used. Further research in this area is necessary to enhance interventions and other treatments for sexually abused youth and juvenile sexual offenders in order to prevent future sexual offending behaviors.
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Date Issued: 2014
Identifier: FSU_migr_uhm-0387
Format: Thesis

Title: Knowledge of Increased Risks Involved in Delaying Childbearing.
Creator: Propst, Lauren, Department of Psychology
Abstract/Description: There is a growing trend in the United States for men and women to delay childbearing until later in life, even though there are increased risks that are associated with delaying childbearing, including increasing rates of infertility and increasing pregnancy and childbirth complications. The purpose of this study was to determine the overall knowledge level of the increased risks involved in delaying childbearing, specifically relating to age-related fertility decline and age-related...
Show moreThere is a growing trend in the United States for men and women to delay childbearing until later in life, even though there are increased risks that are associated with delaying childbearing, including increasing rates of infertility and increasing pregnancy and childbirth complications. The purpose of this study was to determine the overall knowledge level of the increased risks involved in delaying childbearing, specifically relating to age-related fertility decline and age-related pregnancy and childbirth complications, and also to determine what factors are associated with differences in knowledge level about these risks in order to target populations with lower knowledge level for public health interventions in the future. Two samples were studied, including an undergraduate student sample from Florida State University (FSU) and a general population sample from Mechanical Turk. It was found that both samples had generally low knowledge levels about the increased risks involved in delaying childbearing, and there was an association found between higher level of education completed already and higher knowledge level. No conclusive association was found between age, gender, or having biological children and knowledge level. Future research should be done in this area to expand these results in order to be able to target specific populations for public health interventions.
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Date Issued: 2013
Identifier: FSU_migr_uhm-0256
Format: Thesis

Title: Massed vs Spaced Presentation in Cumulative Structural Priming.
Creator: Chia, Katherine, Department of Psychology
Abstract/Description: Structural priming is often proposed to be the result of implicit learning in the language processing system. This study was an attempt to reveal explicit memory contributions to structural priming. Participants were asked to complete a series of sentence stems, some of which (targets) allowed for the production of either a double object (DO) construction or a prepositional object (PO) construction, and some of which (primes) only allowed for the production of either a DO or PO, but not both....
Show moreStructural priming is often proposed to be the result of implicit learning in the language processing system. This study was an attempt to reveal explicit memory contributions to structural priming. Participants were asked to complete a series of sentence stems, some of which (targets) allowed for the production of either a double object (DO) construction or a prepositional object (PO) construction, and some of which (primes) only allowed for the production of either a DO or PO, but not both. We manipulated whether the primes were presented with several filler items between them, or presented in succession with no fillers in between. It was predicted that massed priming of double object (DO) and prepositional object (PO) would produce more explicit awareness of the constructions, therefore boosting the priming effect. The results show that massed priming did not greatly affect the cumulative priming effects. Although the findings were not significant, there was a trend in the desired direction, thus leaving the possibility of follow-up studies that more explicitly assess participant awareness.
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Date Issued: 2015
Identifier: FSU_migr_uhm-0577
Format: Thesis

Title: Mate Value as a Predictor of Relationship-Specific Attachment.
Creator: Newberg, Amy, Department of Psychology
Abstract/Description: Attachment style refers to the manner in which people form close social relationships with others. In addition to one's global attachment style, people also possess relationship-specific attachment styles. However, the factors within a relationship that can shape relationship-specific attachment have been relatively unexplored. The current work seeks to examine one such factor—mate value—that is, a person's overall level of desirability as a romantic partner. Whereas people who have a low...
Show moreAttachment style refers to the manner in which people form close social relationships with others. In addition to one's global attachment style, people also possess relationship-specific attachment styles. However, the factors within a relationship that can shape relationship-specific attachment have been relatively unexplored. The current work seeks to examine one such factor—mate value—that is, a person's overall level of desirability as a romantic partner. Whereas people who have a low mate value may be particularly anxious in their relationships because they are aware that their partner may have more desirable alternatives, people with high mate value may be particularly avoidant in their relationships because they may have access to many relationship alternatives of their own. In the current work, romantically involved participants received false feedback about their mate value (high mate value, low mate value, or no feedback) and then completed a measure of relationship-specific attachment. I hypothesized that a high mate value would lead to relatively more relationship-specific avoidance and low mate value would lead to relatively more relationship-specific anxiety. I also examined the subsidiary hypothesis that effects of mate value would be moderated by trait-level attachment, such that one's general tendency to be avoidant or anxious would be exacerbated by high or low mate value feedback, respectively. Results did not support my hypotheses. I found no main effect of condition or interaction with trait-level anxiety on relationship-specific anxiety. I also found no main effects of condition on relationship-specific avoidance. However, results revealed that among individuals high in trait avoidance, high mate value feedback (compared to controls) led to less relationship-specific avoidance. Potential interpretations of my results are discussed.
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Date Issued: 2013
Identifier: FSU_migr_uhm-0273
Format: Thesis

Title: Medication Adherence In Patients With Epilepsy.
Creator: Salvaggio, Bianca, Department of Psychology
Abstract/Description: Increasing medication adherence in patients with epilepsy is important because, if taken properly, antiepileptic medication can reduce seizure frequency, and thus, improve quality of life and reduce hospital and emergency room visits. The goal of this study was to examine if non-professionals (undergraduates) can improve medication adherence among persons with epilepsy by implementing simple, but time-intensive interventions. Participants were eleven patients with epilepsy at a neurological...
Show moreIncreasing medication adherence in patients with epilepsy is important because, if taken properly, antiepileptic medication can reduce seizure frequency, and thus, improve quality of life and reduce hospital and emergency room visits. The goal of this study was to examine if non-professionals (undergraduates) can improve medication adherence among persons with epilepsy by implementing simple, but time-intensive interventions. Participants were eleven patients with epilepsy at a neurological clinic in Tallahassee that were referred by their neurologist based on his perception that their adherence was low and that they were favorable toward research. Study design was quasi-experimental in which each participant served as his or her own control. The first phase used a self-report diary in which baseline data was collected for at least one month to establish initial levels of adherence. Interventions included customized picture reminders, Didits (inexpensive device attached to side of medication container for keeping track of medication taking), and weekly phone calls that provided support and encouragement for taking one's medication. This study demonstrated that time-intensive interventions can be implemented by non-professionals, which can make interventions more widely available. Structured interviews suggested that the interventions were generally viewed positively by participants. However, due to difficulties with the self-report diary as the primary measure of adherence, we were not able to determine if the interventions actually improved participants' adherence. Future research should employ more objective measures of adherence, such as the Medication Event Monitoring System (MEMS) (See Paschal, Hawley, St. Romain, & Ablah, 2008 for review of measures).
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Date Issued: 2012
Identifier: FSU_migr_uhm-0146
Format: Thesis

Undergraduate Honors Theses (67)	+ -
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