View All Items

Title: Visual discrimination by C57BL/6J mice in water maze tasks: does size really matter?.
Creator: Buerger, Eric D., Charles E. Schmidt College of Science, Department of Psychology
Abstract/Description: When interpreting how an animal "learns" discrimination tasks, strain capabilities must be considered, and it should be shown that they comprehend the task in a manner consistent with the given interpretation. A novel visual-discrimination (VD) task for relative-size-relations was used to examine visual cue use in C57BL/6J mice, which are shown to have biologically good vision and neurologically intact memory for VD tasks. Results suggest C57BL/6J strain may not be fully capable of relative...
Show moreWhen interpreting how an animal "learns" discrimination tasks, strain capabilities must be considered, and it should be shown that they comprehend the task in a manner consistent with the given interpretation. A novel visual-discrimination (VD) task for relative-size-relations was used to examine visual cue use in C57BL/6J mice, which are shown to have biologically good vision and neurologically intact memory for VD tasks. Results suggest C57BL/6J strain may not be fully capable of relative cue-size associations or even object recognition-based on a water maze VD task. This is in contrast to previous studies suggesting this mice strain is quite strong in visual skills and on VD tasks. Additionally, cue size and/or cue-pairings do appear to influence specific directional preferences or stereotyped behaviors as trainings continued, and these strategies shifted during novel probes. Future studies should assess how mice discriminate between objects and test rat's capabilities on this task.
Show less
Date Issued: 2008
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/165670
Subject Headings: Visual discrimination, Form perception, Animal behavior, Simulation methods, Animals, Adaptation, Simulation methods
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: Choosing and using tools: type of prior experience and task difficulty influence preschoolers' choices and actions.
Creator: Gardiner, Amy K., Charles E. Schmidt College of Science, Department of Psychology
Abstract/Description: Two and 3 year-old children's understanding of tool affordances was investigated by measuring their tool choice decisions and tool use behaviors. Children attempted six toy retrieval tasks of three different levels of structural complexity. Children were assigned to one of four conditions in which exposure to task materials varied according to the way in which the information was presented: no experience / no observation, experience only, observation only, and experience and observation....
Show moreTwo and 3 year-old children's understanding of tool affordances was investigated by measuring their tool choice decisions and tool use behaviors. Children attempted six toy retrieval tasks of three different levels of structural complexity. Children were assigned to one of four conditions in which exposure to task materials varied according to the way in which the information was presented: no experience / no observation, experience only, observation only, and experience and observation. Three year- olds consistently made more correct choices and used more working tools successfully than 2-year-olds. Tool choice was affected primarily by task difficulty and age. Tool use was influenced by task difficulty, order of task difficulty, age, and condition. The observation condition was most beneficial to children, while experience was least helpful, particularly for tasks at the hard level of difficulty.
Show less
Date Issued: 2008
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/165940
Subject Headings: Learning, Psychology of, Developmental psychology, Educational tests and measurements, Constructivism (Education)
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: Dispositionally speaking, what you see is what you get.
Creator: Shuhi, Robert P., Charles E. Schmidt College of Science, Department of Psychology
Abstract/Description: Many studies have been devoted to investigating the process by which individuals make dispositional attributions about the people that they encounter. Typically, individuals are more likely to seek future interactions with target individuals if those target individuals have a positive or rewarding disposition. Interactions with target individuals possessing negative or punishing dispositions reduce the likelihood that target individual will be selected for future interactions. An initial...
Show moreMany studies have been devoted to investigating the process by which individuals make dispositional attributions about the people that they encounter. Typically, individuals are more likely to seek future interactions with target individuals if those target individuals have a positive or rewarding disposition. Interactions with target individuals possessing negative or punishing dispositions reduce the likelihood that target individual will be selected for future interactions. An initial false positive trait ascription will be self-correcting with future interactions. An initial false negative trait label will likely remain stable if future interactions are not forced. The importance of quick accurate disposition identification carries important evolutionary implications as well as normal-life implications. Results from an experiment support the ability of subjects to accurately identify the true trait of target individuals with limited dispositional information.
Show less
Date Issued: 2008
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/165945
Subject Headings: Attribution (Social psychology), Interpersonal communication, Philosophy, Social interaction, Social perception
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: No bones about it (or are there?): evaluating markedness constraints on structural representations of the phonology skeleton.
Creator: Causey, Kayla B., Charles E. Schmidt College of Science, Department of Psychology
Abstract/Description: Linguistic research suggests that speakers represent syllable structure by a CV-frame. CVC syllables are more frequent than VCC ones. Further, the presence of VCC syllables in a language asymmetrically implies the presence of CVC syllables. These typological facts may reflect grammatical constraints. Alternatively, people's preferences may be due solely to their sensitivity to the statistical properties of sound combinations in their language. I demonstrate that participants in an auditory...
Show moreLinguistic research suggests that speakers represent syllable structure by a CV-frame. CVC syllables are more frequent than VCC ones. Further, the presence of VCC syllables in a language asymmetrically implies the presence of CVC syllables. These typological facts may reflect grammatical constraints. Alternatively, people's preferences may be due solely to their sensitivity to the statistical properties of sound combinations in their language. I demonstrate that participants in an auditory lexical decision task reject VCC nonwords faster than CVC nonwords, suggesting that the marked VCC syllables are dispreferred relative to CVC syllables. In a second experiment, I show that people are also sensitive to the distribution of these frames in the experiment. Findings indicate that syllable structure is represented at the phonological level, that individuals have preferences for certain syllables, and that these preferences can not be accounted for by the statistical properties of the stimuli.
Show less
Date Issued: 2008
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/166449
Subject Headings: Grammar, Comparative and general, Phonology, Phonetics, Computational linguistics, Universals (Linguistics), Learning, Psychology of
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: Discounting the role of causal attributions in the ANOVA model of attribution.
Creator: Hakala, Kori A., Charles E. Schmidt College of Science, Department of Psychology
Abstract/Description: For years attribution research has been dominated by the ANOVA model of behavior which proposes that people construct their dispositional attributions of others by carefully comparing and weighing all situational information using mental computations similar to the processes used by researchers to analyze data. A preliminary experiment successfully determined that participants were able to distinguish differences in variability assessed across persons (high vs. low consensus) and across...
Show moreFor years attribution research has been dominated by the ANOVA model of behavior which proposes that people construct their dispositional attributions of others by carefully comparing and weighing all situational information using mental computations similar to the processes used by researchers to analyze data. A preliminary experiment successfully determined that participants were able to distinguish differences in variability assessed across persons (high vs. low consensus) and across situations (high vs. low distinctiveness). Also, it was clear that the subjects could evaluate varying levels of situational constraint. A primary experiment administered to participants immediately following the preliminary study determined that participants grossly under-utilized those same variables when making dispositional attributions. Results gave evidence against the use of traditional ANOVA models and support for the use of the Behavior Averaging Principle of Attribution.
Show less
Date Issued: 2008
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/166450
Subject Headings: Social sciences, Statistical methods, Analysis of variance, Data processing, Mathematical statistics, Attribution (Social psychology)
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: System justification requires psychological proximity.
Creator: Martens, Nicholas J., Charles E. Schmidt College of Science, Department of Psychology
Abstract/Description: System justification theorists have proposed that people will defend one's circumstances, even if they inflict psychological and material costs. This tendency has been found to extend even to outcomes that have not yet been decided, but are perceived as being likely; however, this research has only examined outcomes that will be decided on in the near future. According to Construal Level Theory (CLT), distant future events are represented primarily according to their essential features, while...
Show moreSystem justification theorists have proposed that people will defend one's circumstances, even if they inflict psychological and material costs. This tendency has been found to extend even to outcomes that have not yet been decided, but are perceived as being likely; however, this research has only examined outcomes that will be decided on in the near future. According to Construal Level Theory (CLT), distant future events are represented primarily according to their essential features, while thoughts about temporally near events are more concrete and contextual. We hypothesized that system justification results from the motivational impact of low-level thinking, and so would be expected to occur for near-future, but not distant-future, outcomes. Consistent with our hypothesis, our Main Study found evidence of system justification only when outcomes were to be decided in the near future. Distant future outcomes, in contrast, were viewed as being more undesirable as they became increasingly likely.
Show less
Date Issued: 2008
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/186299
Subject Headings: Motivation (Psychology), Social service, Psychological aspects, Resilience (Personality trait), Affect (Psychology), Study and teaching
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: The influence of motion type on memory of simple events.
Creator: Berger, Johanna D., Charles E. Schmidt College of Science, Department of Psychology
Abstract/Description: This experiment investigated an individual's memory of specific motion events, unique actor, intrinsic motion, and extrinsic motion combination. Intrinsic motions involve the movement of an individual's body parts in a specific manner to move around, while extrinsic motions specify a path in reference to an external object. Participants viewed video clips, each depicting an actor performing a unique extrinsic and intrinsic motion combination. One week later, they viewed a different series of...
Show moreThis experiment investigated an individual's memory of specific motion events, unique actor, intrinsic motion, and extrinsic motion combination. Intrinsic motions involve the movement of an individual's body parts in a specific manner to move around, while extrinsic motions specify a path in reference to an external object. Participants viewed video clips, each depicting an actor performing a unique extrinsic and intrinsic motion combination. One week later, they viewed a different series of retrieval video clips consisting of old (identical to encoding), extrinsic conjunction (extrinsic motion previously performed by different actor), intrinsic conjunction (intrinsic motion previously performed by different actor), and new (novel extrinsic or intrinsic motion) video clips. Participants responded "yes" to viewing the old video clips the most often, followed by conjunction video clips, and then new video clips. Furthermore, there were a greater number of "yes" event memory recognition responses for extrinsic conjunction items than intrinsic conjunction items.
Show less
Date Issued: 2009
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/186673
Subject Headings: Recollection (Psychology), Context effects (Psychology), Memory, Research, Human information processing, Research, Transference (Psychology), Motion segmentation
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: Dimensions of sexist beliefs and psychosocial adjustment in childhood.
Creator: Bidmead, Sarah, Charles E. Schmidt College of Science, Department of Psychology
Abstract/Description: The levels of 3 dimensions of sexism and 13 measures of psychosocial adjustment were assessed in 236 children in grades 4 through 8. The adjustment measures were factor analyzed to produce 5 adjustment factors. Analysis revealed that one of the factors, peer-reported prosocial tendencies, was moderately and negatively correlated with two of three measures of sexism. This effect was more pronounced for girls than for boys. Another factor, body self-esteem, was negatively correlated with one of...
Show moreThe levels of 3 dimensions of sexism and 13 measures of psychosocial adjustment were assessed in 236 children in grades 4 through 8. The adjustment measures were factor analyzed to produce 5 adjustment factors. Analysis revealed that one of the factors, peer-reported prosocial tendencies, was moderately and negatively correlated with two of three measures of sexism. This effect was more pronounced for girls than for boys. Another factor, body self-esteem, was negatively correlated with one of the measures of sexism for girls. The findings are congruent with the view that traditionally sexist ideology may detrimentally impact children's psychosocial adjustment.
Show less
Date Issued: 2009
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/186674
Subject Headings: Adjustment (Psychology) in children, Sex differences (Psychology), Sex role in chldren, Body image, Social aspects
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: Gender identity and gender stereotypes as interacting influences on children's adjustment.
Creator: Franz, Stephanie., Charles E. Schmidt College of Science, Department of Psychology
Abstract/Description: One of the hypotheses put forth by the Gender Self-Socialization Model (GSSM) is the stereotype emulation hypothesis. This hypothesis states that one role of gender identity is to motivate children to follow gender stereotypes that they have internalized. The GSSM also states that each of the constructs of gender identity, gender stereotypes, and gender typing is product of the cognitive interplay between the other two. Egan and Perry (2001) conceptualized gender identity as multidimensional,...
Show moreOne of the hypotheses put forth by the Gender Self-Socialization Model (GSSM) is the stereotype emulation hypothesis. This hypothesis states that one role of gender identity is to motivate children to follow gender stereotypes that they have internalized. The GSSM also states that each of the constructs of gender identity, gender stereotypes, and gender typing is product of the cognitive interplay between the other two. Egan and Perry (2001) conceptualized gender identity as multidimensional, and one of these dimensions is felt pressure against other gender behavior. This study found that there was an interaction between one aspect of gender identity (felt pressure) and gender stereotypes, supporting the stereotype emulation hypothesis. This study also found that the interaction between felt pressure and sexism was more powerful in predicting adjustment in children than looking only at the main effect of felt pressure.
Show less
Date Issued: 2009
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/186690
Subject Headings: Stereotype (Psychology), Gender identity, Identity (Psychology) in children, Social interaction in children, Adjustment (Psychology) in children, Resilience (Personality trait) in children
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: Understanding narcissism and self-esteem in children: proposing a new conceptualization of narcissism.
Creator: Evans, Rachel., Charles E. Schmidt College of Science, Department of Psychology
Abstract/Description: This study examined the empirical relationship between narcissism and self-esteem in an attempt to evaluate competing conceptualizations of narcissism. Participants were 236 children (mean age 11.3 years) in the fourth through eighth grades. Counter to earlier conceptions, which characterized narcissism as very high self-esteem, narcissism and self-esteem were slightly negatively correlated. Also, narcissism predicted several adjustment variables, including aggression. None of these...
Show moreThis study examined the empirical relationship between narcissism and self-esteem in an attempt to evaluate competing conceptualizations of narcissism. Participants were 236 children (mean age 11.3 years) in the fourth through eighth grades. Counter to earlier conceptions, which characterized narcissism as very high self-esteem, narcissism and self-esteem were slightly negatively correlated. Also, narcissism predicted several adjustment variables, including aggression. None of these relationships was mediated by self-esteem. Lastly, self-esteem moderated the relationship between narcissism and aggression in boys. Taken together, these lines of evidence point to a new conceptualization of narcissism, modeled after self-discrepancy theory, in which narcissism is conceptualized as grandiosity in the ideal self. Implications of this proposal and directions for future research are discussed.
Show less
Date Issued: 2009
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/186767
Subject Headings: Self-esteem in children, Narcissism, Philosophy, Identity (Psychology), Affect (Psychology), Self (Philosophy), Borderline personality disorders in children
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: Heading in the right direction: the behavior and brain mechanisms of directional navigation.
Creator: Williams, Sidney Beth., Charles E. Schmidt College of Science, Department of Psychology
Abstract/Description: The mechanisms that rodents employ to navigate through their environment have been greatly studied. Cognitive mapping theory suggests that animals use distal cues in the environment to navigate to a goal location (place navigation). However, others have found that animals navigate in a particular direction to find a goal (directional navigation). The rodent brain contains head direction cells (HD cells) that discharge according to the head direction of the animal. Navigation by heading...
Show moreThe mechanisms that rodents employ to navigate through their environment have been greatly studied. Cognitive mapping theory suggests that animals use distal cues in the environment to navigate to a goal location (place navigation). However, others have found that animals navigate in a particular direction to find a goal (directional navigation). The rodent brain contains head direction cells (HD cells) that discharge according to the head direction of the animal. Navigation by heading direction is disrupted by lesions of the anterodorsal thalamic nuclei (ADN), many of which are HD cells. Aim 1 tested whether male C57BL/6J mice exhibit direction or place navigation in the Morris water maze. Aim 2 tested the effects of temporary inactivation of the ADN on directional navigation. Together, these data indicate that C57BL/6J mice also exhibit preference for directional navigation and suggest that the ADN may be crucial for this form of spatial navigation.
Show less
Date Issued: 2009
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/186774
Subject Headings: Mice as laboratory animals, Animal navigation, Spatial behavior in animals, Cognition in animals
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: The effect of spatial attention on pupil dynamics.
Creator: Daniels, Lori B., Charles E. Schmidt College of Science, Department of Psychology
Abstract/Description: Although it is well known that the pupil responds dynamically to changes in ambient light levels, the results from this dissertation show for the first time that the pupil also responds dynamically to changes in spatially distributed attention. Using a variety of orientating tasks, subjects alternated between focusing attention on a central stimulus and spreading attention over a larger area. Fourier analysis of the fluctuating pupil diameter indicated that: 1) pupil diameter changed at the...
Show moreAlthough it is well known that the pupil responds dynamically to changes in ambient light levels, the results from this dissertation show for the first time that the pupil also responds dynamically to changes in spatially distributed attention. Using a variety of orientating tasks, subjects alternated between focusing attention on a central stimulus and spreading attention over a larger area. Fourier analysis of the fluctuating pupil diameter indicated that: 1) pupil diameter changed at the rate of attention variation, dilating with broadly spread attention and contracting with narrowly focused attention, and 2) pupillary differences required changes in attentional spread; there were no differences in pupil diameter between sustained broad and sustained spread attention. Given that broadly spread attention increases the relative activation of large receptive fields and narrowly focused attention increases the relative activation of small receptive fields (Balz & Hock, 1997), the results of this study indicate that these attentional effects on receptive field activation can be mediated by changes in pupil diameter. That is, under broad attention, the corresponding pupillary dilation observed would increase spherical aberration, blurring the image thereby reducing high spatial frequency information and decreasing the activation of relatively small cortical receptive fields compared to relatively large receptive fields. This increased perception of low spatial frequencies would be beneficial in cases where attention is spread over a large area. Alternatively, under narrow attention the resulting pupillary constriction reduces spherical aberration sharpening the image and preserving high spatial frequency information resulting in a relatively increased response of small receptive fields.
Show less
Date Issued: 2010
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/1870692
Subject Headings: Visual perception, Eye, Physiology, Optics, Adaptive, Visual pathways
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: Age-related changes in executive function and the influence of processing speed.
Creator: Jurado Noboa, Maria Beatriz., Charles E. Schmidt College of Science, Department of Psychology
Abstract/Description: Healthy aging has been associated with declines in executive functioning (EF) but it remains unclear how different subprocesses of EF are affected by age and by other possibly mediating variables. The principal aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of age and processing speed on three executive functions: set-shifting, planning, and attentional control. Four age groups (20-29 years, 60-69 years, 70-79 years, and 80-89 years) were compared on the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test ...
Show moreHealthy aging has been associated with declines in executive functioning (EF) but it remains unclear how different subprocesses of EF are affected by age and by other possibly mediating variables. The principal aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of age and processing speed on three executive functions: set-shifting, planning, and attentional control. Four age groups (20-29 years, 60-69 years, 70-79 years, and 80-89 years) were compared on the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST), the DKEFS Tower Test, the Conner's Continuous Performance Test, and a Letter comparison test of processing speed. Results suggested that increased age was associated with decreased performance on most of the studied executive measures, but not all EF are equally affected by age. A slowdown in processing speed mediates some, but not all, decrements in executive performance. The results are interpreted in light of recent neuroimaging data on age-related changes in brain functioning.
Show less
Date Issued: 2009
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/187213
Subject Headings: Aging, Psychological aspects, Cognitive psychology, Memory disorders in old age, Ability, Influence of age on, Context effects (Psychology), Cognition, Age factors
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: Women's rape avoidance: an evolutionary psychological perspective.
Creator: McKibbin, William F., Charles E. Schmidt College of Science, Department of Psychology
Abstract/Description: Women have recurrently faced the adaptive problem of rape over evolutionary history. Little research has investigated the potential evolved psychological mechanisms for rape avoidance that women may possess. Here I review evolutionary perspectives on rape avoidance. I follow this review with the results of two studies conducted to design a measure of women's rape avoidance, known as the Rape Avoidance Inventory (RAI). Study 1A included 99 women who self-reported acts they do or might do...
Show moreWomen have recurrently faced the adaptive problem of rape over evolutionary history. Little research has investigated the potential evolved psychological mechanisms for rape avoidance that women may possess. Here I review evolutionary perspectives on rape avoidance. I follow this review with the results of two studies conducted to design a measure of women's rape avoidance, known as the Rape Avoidance Inventory (RAI). Study 1A included 99 women who self-reported acts they do or might do specifically to avoid being raped. Study 1B included 144 women who filled out a preliminary inventory of rape avoidance behaviors. I used their responses to construct the RAI. In Study 3, I develop and test a number of hypotheses derived from evolutionary psychological theory, using data derived from the sample of women in Study 1B. I conclude by discussing limitations and possible future directions for rape avoidance research.
Show less
Date Issued: 2010
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/1927315
Subject Headings: Rape, Psychological aspects, Sex differences (Psychology), Women, Violence against, Rape victims, Public opinion, Man-woman relationships, Evolutionary psychology
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: Gender, sports, and adjustment in preadolescent children.
Creator: Cooper, Patrick J., Charles E. Schmidt College of Science, Department of Psychology
Abstract/Description: The fact that 45% of boys and 32% of girls in the United States participate in youth sports suggests that sports participation might be an important influence on children's psychosocial development. This study explored: (1) how children's gender cognitions influence sports self-efficacy and (2) how sports self-efficacy influences children's psychosocial adjustment. Results suggest that for boys, felt pressure to conform to gender standards and the belief that sports is important for boys...
Show moreThe fact that 45% of boys and 32% of girls in the United States participate in youth sports suggests that sports participation might be an important influence on children's psychosocial development. This study explored: (1) how children's gender cognitions influence sports self-efficacy and (2) how sports self-efficacy influences children's psychosocial adjustment. Results suggest that for boys, felt pressure to conform to gender standards and the belief that sports is important for boys influence sports self-efficacy. In girls, both the belief that sports is important for girls and the belief that sports is important for boys predicted sports self-efficacy. Sports self-efficacy predicted benefits for girls adjustment (high self-esteem, higher body satisfaction, lower depression and lower anxiety) but both positive and negative outcomes for boys (higher narcissism, higher aggression, and lower depression and lower anxiety). The findings overall suggest that the correlates of sports self-efficacy are somewhat different for boys and for girls.
Show less
Date Issued: 2010
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/1927605
Subject Headings: Physical education and training, Psychological aspects, Sports, Psychological aspects, Adjustment (Psychology) in children, Sex differences (Psychology), Gender identity, Identity (Psychology) in adolescence
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: Phonological memory and the development of vocabulary and grammar in young Spanish-English bilinguals.
Creator: Parra, Marisol., Charles E. Schmidt College of Science, Department of Psychology
Abstract/Description: This study tested the hypotheses that phonological memory contributes to vocabulary and grammatical development in young Spanish-English bilinguals, and that the relation between phonological memory and both vocabulary and grammar is language-specific. Phonological memory skill was the percentage of consonants correctly repeated (PCC) in English, and Spanish Nonword Repetition (NWR) tasks at 22 months. Vocabulary size and grammatical complexity were measured at 25 months using the English and...
Show moreThis study tested the hypotheses that phonological memory contributes to vocabulary and grammatical development in young Spanish-English bilinguals, and that the relation between phonological memory and both vocabulary and grammar is language-specific. Phonological memory skill was the percentage of consonants correctly repeated (PCC) in English, and Spanish Nonword Repetition (NWR) tasks at 22 months. Vocabulary size and grammatical complexity were measured at 25 months using the English and Spanish versions for the MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventories. Nonword repetition accuracy was significantly related to both subsequent vocabulary size and grammatical complexity within and across languages after controlling for the percentage of input in English. The relations were not significantly higher within than between languages. The results suggest that in these young Spanish-English simultaneous bilinguals phonological memory is a language-general ability that contributes to the development of vocabulary and grammar in both English and Spanish.
Show less
Date Issued: 2010
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/1927606
Subject Headings: Language and languages, Physiological aspects, Bilingualism, Second language acquisition, Learning, Psychology of
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: Risk of sperm competition moderatres men's relationship satisfaction and interest in their partner's copulatory orgasm.
Creator: Bates, Vincent M., Charles E. Schmidt College of Science, Department of Psychology
Abstract/Description: Sperm competition occurs when the sperm of multiple males concurrently occupy a female's reproductive tract and compete for fertilization. Sperm competition may have been a recurrent adaptive problem over human evolutionary history. Women's orgasm may facilitate retention of a particular man's sperm. I therefore hypothesized that men experiencing greater sperm competition risk will be particularly interested in the occurrence of their partner's copulatory orgasm. Men who are more satisfied...
Show moreSperm competition occurs when the sperm of multiple males concurrently occupy a female's reproductive tract and compete for fertilization. Sperm competition may have been a recurrent adaptive problem over human evolutionary history. Women's orgasm may facilitate retention of a particular man's sperm. I therefore hypothesized that men experiencing greater sperm competition risk will be particularly interested in the occurrence of their partner's copulatory orgasm. Men who are more satisfied with and invested in their relationship may experience greater costs in the event of sperm competition and potential cuckoldry. Therefore, these men may be more interested in ensuring their partner's copulatory orgasm. I hypothesized that men's relationship satisfaction and investment would predict interest in their partner's copulatory orgasm and moderate the link between sperm competition risk and interest in partner's copulatory orgasm. Using data secured from 229 men in a committed relationship, I tested and found support for these hypotheses.
Show less
Date Issued: 2010
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/1927608
Subject Headings: Man-woman relationships, Sperm competition, Human behavior, Competition (Biology)
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: Gesture and learning about objects.
Creator: Freund, Robert R., Charles E. Schmidt College of Science, Department of Psychology
Abstract/Description: The role of gestures in determining the use of familiar and novel tools was explored. In the first study, participants were shown gestures for tools corresponding either to tool design, or to the physical affordances of a puzzle designed for each tool. In the second study, two additional conditions were added. In the first, gestures were used that did not correspond to tool design or the puzzle affordances. The second was a control condition in which no gestures were shown. Results indicate...
Show moreThe role of gestures in determining the use of familiar and novel tools was explored. In the first study, participants were shown gestures for tools corresponding either to tool design, or to the physical affordances of a puzzle designed for each tool. In the second study, two additional conditions were added. In the first, gestures were used that did not correspond to tool design or the puzzle affordances. The second was a control condition in which no gestures were shown. Results indicate that the demonstration of gestures appropriate to a novel problem situation facilitate creative use of tools. Additionally, attention to tool and puzzle affordances is effective for creative tool use when no gestural input is present. However, knowledge of tool design may interfere with this creative application. Performance is further hindered by the demonstration of gestures consistent with tool design, which may prime individuals to rely on the design stance.
Show less
Date Issued: 2010
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/1927868
Subject Headings: Gesture, Language and languages, Origin, Mind and body, Social aspects, Performance art, Influence
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: Influence of small conductance calcium-activated potassium channels (SK,Kca2) on long-term memory: global and local analysis across time- and task- dependent measures.
Creator: Vick, Kyle A., Charles E. Schmidt College of Science, Department of Psychology
Abstract/Description: Small conductance calcium-activated potassium (SK) channels are found ubiquitously throughout the brain and modulate the encoding of learning and memory. Systemic injection of 1-ethyl-2-benzimidalzolinoe (EBIO), a SK channel activator, impairs the encoding of novel object memory and locomotion but spares fear memory encoding in C57BL/6NHsd mice. The memory impairments discovered were not due to non-cognitive performance confounds such as ataxia, anxiety, attention or analgesia. Further...
Show moreSmall conductance calcium-activated potassium (SK) channels are found ubiquitously throughout the brain and modulate the encoding of learning and memory. Systemic injection of 1-ethyl-2-benzimidalzolinoe (EBIO), a SK channel activator, impairs the encoding of novel object memory and locomotion but spares fear memory encoding in C57BL/6NHsd mice. The memory impairments discovered were not due to non-cognitive performance confounds such as ataxia, anxiety, attention or analgesia. Further investigation with intra-hippocampal application of EBIO revealed SK channels in dorsal CA1 contribute to the encoding deficits seen systemically, but do not account for the full extent of the impairment. Concentrated activation of dorsal CA1 SK channels do not influence fear memory encoding or locomotor impairments. Taken together, these data indicate SK channels, especially in the dorsal hippocampus, have a modulatory role on novel object memory encoding, but not retrieval; however, pharmacological activation of hippocampal SK channels does not appear to influence fear memory encoding.
Show less
Date Issued: 2009
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/192991
Subject Headings: Mice as laboratory animals, Cellular signal transduction, Memory, Research, Biological transport, Research, Potassium channels, Physiological effect
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: A neuropsychological examination of the effects of mindfulnesss meditation in elementary school children.
Creator: Klco, Sara Elizabeth., Charles E. Schmidt College of Science, Department of Psychology
Abstract/Description: Many recent studies have confirmed that mindfulness meditation has wide ranging potential to improve the mental health and well-being of adults, though few studies have explored its potential to help younger populations. In the current study, a sample of 4th and 2nd grade students was trained in the techniques of mindfulness meditation. Baseline electroencephalograms (EEGs) were taken before the training, and again after a 10 week period of daily meditation practice. Measures of attention,...
Show moreMany recent studies have confirmed that mindfulness meditation has wide ranging potential to improve the mental health and well-being of adults, though few studies have explored its potential to help younger populations. In the current study, a sample of 4th and 2nd grade students was trained in the techniques of mindfulness meditation. Baseline electroencephalograms (EEGs) were taken before the training, and again after a 10 week period of daily meditation practice. Measures of attention, creativity, affect, depression, behavioral inhibition/activation, emotion regulation, impulsive/aggressive behaviors, and social anxiety were also administered before and after the meditation practice period. Results indicate that mindfulness meditation produces increased relative left-frontal alpha activation, a brain pattern that has been associated with increased positive affect and more adaptive coping responses to aversive events. Significant post-meditation improvements in depression and creativity were also found in the experimental condition.
Show less
Date Issued: 2010
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/2100574
Subject Headings: Education, Humanistic, Meditation, Health aspects, Medicine, Psychosomatic, Mind and body, Self-esteem in children, Neuropsychology, Children, Counseling of, Creative thinking in children
Format: Document (PDF)

FAU Theses and Dissertations (371)	+ -
FAU College Collections (7)	+ -

Psychological aspects (26)	+ -
Psychology, Developmental (17)	+ -
Psychology, Experimental (16)	+ -
Social psychology (16)	+ -
Memory (15)	+ -

Psychology, Social (15)	+ -
Visual perception (15)	+ -
Cognition in children (13)	+ -
Interpersonal relations (13)	+ -
Social aspects (12)	+ -
Child development (11)	+ -
Developmental psychology (11)	+ -
Adjustment (Psychology) (10)	+ -
Context effects (Psychology) (10)	+ -
Motivation (Psychology) (10)	+ -
Electroencephalography (9)	+ -
Recollection (Psychology) (9)	+ -
Bilingualism (8)	+ -
Identity (Psychology) (8)	+ -
Parent and child (8)	+ -
Sex differences (Psychology) (8)	+ -
Cognitive psychology (7)	+ -
Dissertations, Academic -- Florida Atlantic University (7)	+ -
Friendship in adolescence (7)	+ -
Human information processing (7)	+ -
Learning, Psychology of (7)	+ -
Man-woman relationships (7)	+ -
Peer pressure in adolescence (7)	+ -
Adjustment (Psychology) in children (6)	+ -
Attribution (Social psychology) (6)	+ -

United States (3)	+ -
Thematic Apperception Test (1)	+ -

Electronic Thesis or Dissertation (371)	+ -
Program Review (7)	+ -

Search In

Pages

Pages

Sort Results By:

Narrow results by:

Collection

Topical Subject

Geographic Subject

Genre

Type of Resource

Language

Creator

Format

Owner