Red River Psychology Conference Schedule

Empathy, a crucial life skill, was explored by Cameron et al. (2019). Their study revealed that people avoid empathy due to its perceived difficulty and cognitive cost. In a card-selection task, participants chose between "feel" and "describe" decks, were shown a photo of a child, and then had to write a sentence describing how the child either looks like or feels. The NASA Task Load Index (Hart & Staveland, 1988) gauged task-related effort, aversion, and efficacy. Cameron et al. found the "feel" task to be more cognitively demanding and to be selected less often than the "describe" task. We conducted a replication of this study using 57 undergraduate participants. Additionally, we hypothesized that there will be gender differences in empathy choices, guided by prior research indicating women's greater empathic tendencies. T-tests confirmed the findings by Cameron et al. However, gender did not seem to play a role in this selection.

It remains unclear whether bound representations stored in visual working memory (VWM) require more attentional resources compared to single features. To manipulate attention, recent approaches have leveraged emotion-inducing stimuli (García-Pacios et al., 2015; Xie & Zhang, 2016). The present study investigated whether unpleasant (relative to neutral) emotion-inducing stimuli disrupt the storage of bound representations greater than single-features. During a VWM change detection task, participants viewed four colored shapes followed by an emotion inducing image (unpleasant or neutral). Participants were probed with single color, single shape, or a single colored-shape. Performance was highest in the color-only condition, followed by the shape-only condition, and, finally, was lowest in the color-shape binding condition. An emotion-interference effect was observed wherein VWM performance was lower when an unpleasant image was shown, specifically during tests of color-shape binding. This suggests that unpleasant images capture attentional resources at the expense of binding processes in VWM.

Recent research suggests it is possible to ignore grouped stimuli while benefiting VWM performance by effectively reducing the number of to-be-remembered items within the memory array (Prieto et al., 2022). In the current study participants performed a VWM change detection task in which they were asked to remember either 3 or 6 uniquely colored squares (baseline conditions), 3 uniquely colored squares amongst 3 uniquely colored to-be-ignored circles, or 3 uniquely colored squares amongst 3 to-be-ignored circles where two of the circles were the same color. The novel prediction tested was that VWM performance will be higher for trials in which the task-irrelevant stimuli were grouped via color redundancy. It was found that there was no significant difference in VWM performance when comparing the two conditions where the task-irrelevant circles were presented. These results suggest when color-redundancy cues are not task-relevant, they do not appear to benefit VWM performance.

This study examined societal expectations of an ideal body image conveyed through mainstream media and how they impact halo effects. A sample of 89 participants was selected from female psychology undergraduate students at Minnesota State University Moorhead. Participants were randomly assigned to one of three body image conditions (ideal, non-ideal, and no image control) containing a photograph and description of an individual. Female participants viewed photographs of one male and one female corresponding to their assigned body image condition, then completed a personal and professional social desirability scale. We hypothesized there would be a traditional halo effect for the ideal body type, which would vary as a function of the photographed individual’s gender. Contrary to predictions, no halo effects were observed for the ideal body image. However, we did find overall that the female individual was rated higher on personal characteristics than the male.

Mindfulness meditation and training have recently been recognized as a way of learning to control one’s attention and being present in the moment and without judgment (Norris et al 2018). Recent research has demonstrated that benefits of mindfulness in everyday life (Yakobi et al 2021; Deng et al 2019). The purpose of this study is to establish a physiological measure of mindfulness based on the P300 Event-Related-Potential (ERP) in the visual domain. This study employed an XO oddball paradigm to gauge the effect of a novel stimulus on the P3 ERP in relation to an individual’s level of mindfulness. In a previous condition, it was hypothesized that the participant's P3 amplitude for the novel stimuli would not be significantly different from the P3 amplitudes of the common stimuli. The results of this condition found an insignificant difference in the P3 ERP amplitude when comparing the common (M = 0.034, SD = 0.027) and odd stimuli (M = 0.082, SD = .074); t(10) = -1.951, p = .0796. The current condition of this study recruited 21 participants to compare changes in the P3 ERP waveform component as they perform oddball and meditative breath counting tasks before and after a 4-month mindfulness training course. It was predicted that the P3 amplitudes elicited by the novel stimuli will decrease with training. In addition, it was hypothesized that experienced meditators would have more attentional control compared to novice meditators.

For this study, we examined previous research in which there was shown to be a link between self-esteem and self-efficacy and the role that both play in an academic setting. The purpose of this research will be to determine if self-esteem has any effect on test scores. The participants chosen for my study were college students aged 18 - 36 years. To measure self-esteem, participants filled out the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES), a questionnaire that is used for clinical purposes. Based on their answers, they received a score of either low (1-14) or average to high (15-30). Participants were then tasked with viewing a documentary and taking a multiple-choice quiz. Next, they completed a journaling exercise with open-ended prompts to force them to reflect positively on themselves. Afterward, they repeated the RSES with fodder questions to deter them from repeating previous answers. Lastly, they retook the quiz on the documentary. We used a repeated measures t-test to compare the pre-and post-test scores. Our results showed that individuals' self-esteem increased slightly, but their doc quiz scores decreased. Both measures were not statistically significant enough, so we had to reject the null hypothesis.

Past studies have indicated the connection between attachment style and sexist attitudes, but not many have covered how attachment style to one’s caregiver could impact the perception of sexism. The current study explored the influence of childhood attachment style on the formation of sexist attitudes among college students. 92 Minnesota State University Moorhead undergraduate students from psychology classes participated in this study. The Adult Scale of Parent Attachment - Short Form (ASPA-SF) and the Relationship Structures Questionnaire (ECR-RS) were used to determine participants' attachment styles towards their caregivers growing up. Participants also completed the Ambivalent Sexism Inventory to predict their hostile and benevolent sexism beliefs. Results showed people who have an anxious attachment style for their caregiver during childhood are likely to hold both benevolent and hostile sexist attitudes. Furthermore, avoidant attachment style predicts endorsement of benevolent, but not hostile, sexism.

Esports has exploded in popularity in recent years, with some of the most noticeable growth at the collegiate level. With this growth, discussions concerning the perception of esports programs among collegiate stakeholders, and the rules – or lack thereof – governing collegiate esports competitions. The present work compares perceptions of collegiate esports to traditional athletics concerning the use of performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) by competitors. A survey of collegiate stakeholders (students, faculty/staff, and administrators) at collegiate institutions in the United States, was conducted to assess perceptions of fairness of PED use by competitors in both traditional athletics and esports. Our findings include a significant difference in perceptions of fairness of PED use between the two, with stakeholders far more likely to believe that PED use was fair in esports competitions than in traditional athletics. Potential explanations for these findings, opportunities for future research, and implications for esports policy makers will be discussed.

We learn something new every day but not everything we learn tends to be remembered equally. Previous research has found that emotional valence can have either a negative or a positive effect on how likely someone is to remember something. However, little research has examined the specific role of emotion in memory for semantic pieces of information, such as trivia facts. Most of the research on memory for trivia involves the relationship between interest and memory. The current study aims to expand on this basic relationship and compare recall memory for negative, neutral, and positive trivia facts that had been previously tested and rated to be equally interesting. Participants in the current study were exposed to 120 trivia statements (40 negative, 40 neutral, and 40 positive). For each trivia statement, participants answered two questions: “How surprising did you find this fact?” on a 5-point scale (0 = “not at all, I already knew this to be true, 4 = “extremely surprising, I would not have guessed that to be true”) and “How interesting did you find this fact?” on a 5-point scale (0 = “not at all interesting, 4 = “extremely interesting”). After, participants took several questionnaires and completed some working memory assessments before taking a fill-in-the-blank memory test for the 120 trivia statements. Data collection for this study is still ongoing and analysis of the data will be completed by mid-April.

COVID-19 was a stressful time for the world. People were not allowed to gather, including in educational settings. Each state approached the lockdown differently with different rules and regulations. We aim to gather information on the effects of COVID-19 and COVID-19 school closures on Math and Reading test scores in upper elementary and middle school children, grades 3, 5, and 8. Data is being collected from public school records in multiple states, from multiple school divisions. Average division test scores from different states will be compared. Comparisons will be made based on the state’s COVID-19 closure guidelines, district sizes, and political standings. Data collection and analysis is still ongoing and will be completed by mid-April.

We evaluated whether sociodemographic factors interacted with each other in predicting sleep outcomes. This study uses data from the NDSU National COVID Study, which has followed 300 American adults since April 2020. The current analysis includes data from Wave 1 (April 2020) in 263 participants (51% male, 25% people of color, 12% LGBTQ, Mage = 44, MSES = 5 on a 10-point scale). Using regression, sociodemographic factors best predicted bedtime procrastination (~18% of the variance), followed by insomnia (15%), sleep disturbance (14%), sleep-related impairment (14%), sleep health (8%) and sleepiness (not significant). Interactions between sociodemographic factors were not statistically significant; thus, associations were additive. These results are consistent with the socioecological model of sleep. Although there were no significant interactions within the sociodemographic level, interactions may still be present across other levels (e.g., individual, interpersonal, community and policy, and society).

Research suggests that performance on working memory (WM) tasks differs not only across age groups but as a function of patient status. For example, individuals with Parkinson’s Disease (PD) have difficulty keeping distracting information out of WM and updating WM with new information. They may also have trouble maintaining information over longer time intervals compared to healthy younger and older adults. To examine this possibility, in the present study, separate groups of younger adults, older adults, and individuals with PD completed a change detection WM task requiring the storage of 2-6 colored squares over three intervals (1, 2, or 4 seconds). Analyses will focus on estimating WM capacity at each interval, and assessing differences across groups, controlling for multiple important co-variates, including self-reported depression, anxiety, and mental and physical fatigue. Results will inform our understanding of cognitive changes that occur with aging and due to disease processes, such as PD.

Connections between behaviors and health in humans are well recognized in psychology. We conducted a kind of replication of this phenomenon in banded crickets (Gryllodes sigillatus, N ≈ 98). We repeatedly measured exploratory behavior and latency to emerge from shelter both before and after exposure to African fat-tailed gecko (Hemitheconyx caudicinctus). This allowed us to estimate among-individual correlations (i.e. behavioral syndromes) and within-individual correlations (i.e. correlated plasticity) before and after selection. We found limited support for changes in among- and within-individual correlations as well as for correlational selection. Our results highlight the importance of considering the response of both among- and within-individual correlations and of properly estimating selection when considering the current utility of behavioral correlations.

Preliminary evidence suggests that attention biases toward disorder-relevant information may be involuntarily stored in working memory (WM), interfering with ongoing behavior and cognition in individuals with disordered eating behaviors. Specifically, failure to filter out disorder-related information out of WM may contribute to attention biases toward similar stimuli in the environment and promote consummatory behaviors in this population. The present experiments assessed individuals’ ability to store disorder-salient information in working memory and filter out this information when not relevant to the task as a function of binge-eating frequency. To investigate this, we analyzed an estimate of working memory capacity (k) derived from behavioral measures, hit rates and false alarm rates, Specifically, Experiment 1 examined WM differences between holding one versus two items in WM as well as differences in stimulus type. Experiment 2 had an additional three conditions aimed at investigating individuals' ability to filter information out of working memory.

Current models suggest that perception of depth from motion parallax (MP) relies on retinal image motion and pursuit eye movement signals. Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) of the Cerebellar vermis (CV) have been found to disrupt motion perception and produce smooth pursuit deficits. However, the role of the CV in the computation of depth from MP has not been explored. The present study TMS was applied to mid-line CV during three tasks: i) pursuit, ii) motion perception, and iii) MP depth perception. Average performance from participants indicates that TMS of CV produced an overall decrease in pursuit latency. Similarly, for depth perception, TMS produced a decrease in pursuit latency in both directions. TMS produced no change in motion perception latency for either direction of stimulus translation. These results suggest that CV may play a role in the integration of the pursuit signal needed for the perception of depth from MP.

Perception of depth from motion parallax (MP) relies on the integration of retinal image motion with pursuit eye movement signals. For the current study, we used Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) to investigate the role of cortical area MT in these computations. TMS was applied to the right MT of participants either 30 msec before (early) or 90 msec after visual stimulus onset (late) during the performance of three tasks: i) pursuit, ii) translational motion perception, and iii) MP depth perception. For depth perception, TMS produced speeding for leftward stimulus translation when applied early and late, while, for rightward translation, TMS produced speeding when applied late, but only minimal speeding when early. TMS early and late appeared to induce a small amount of speeding in pursuit, but not in translational motion in either direction. The effect of TMS suggests MT may have a role in pursuit and depth perception from MP.

The prevalence of dementia is a global public health concern, urging understanding of predictors beyond age and physical health for prevention efforts. This study examined idea-execution ability, self-determination, and cheerfulness as predictors of dementia onset over nine years using data from the National Health and Aging Trends Study (NHATS). NHATS participants are nationally representative of Medicare recipients in the United States. The current study included 6780 participants; 678 participants reported having a diagnosis of dementia at either baseline or a follow-up visit. Cox regression analyzed time-invariant self-report items scored on a 3-point scale, with higher scores being more positive. Statistically significant results were shown for idea execution (HR=0.79, p=0.008), self-determination (HR=0.69, p< 0.001), and cheerfulness (HR=0.91, p=0.047). Each of these potentially modifiable variables was associated with reduced odds of developing dementia, above and beyond demographic and health factors.

Dementia, including Alzheimer's disease, is a global public health concern. Exploring risk and protective factors is essential. This study examines childhood health, resilience, and idea execution as dementia predictors, indicative of cognitive reserve. Data from the National Health and Aging Trends Study were analyzed, including 6,846 participants, with 457 reporting dementia. Childhood health, resilience, and idea execution were self-reported on a scale, with higher scores indicating the more positive. Binary logistic regression was conducted with dementia status as the outcome. The odds of having dementia did significantly differ for childhood health (OR = 0.85, p = 0.020), resilience (OR = 0.78, p = 0.017), and idea execution (OR = 0.58, p < 0.001). Each unit increase in these factors reduced dementia risk by 15%, 22%, and 42%, respectively, controlling for demographics and health. Childhood health, resilience, and idea execution were protective against dementia, suggesting early-life promotion for later cognitive health.

North Dakota State University Research has shown that power in the lower-Alpha (8-10Hz) frequency band of the electroencephalogram (EEG), measured at rest, increases following completion of attentionally demanding tasks. This suggests lower-Alpha may be a sensitive measure of task-induced fatigue. In the present study, we decided to assess task-related changes in lower-Alpha frequencies measured at rest (no task) in separate groups of participants: Parkinson’s Disease (PD) patients and age-matched and young adult controls. Specifically, we will use multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA) to assess the extent to which lower-Alpha-band power changes from pre- to post-task, and whether the magnitude of this change predicts task performance and differs across groups. We expect resting power in the lower-Alpha frequency band to increase following the task, with the extent of this change predicting performance on the task. Given increased mental fatigue in PD, we also expect these effects to increase within the PD group versus comparison groups.

When people are asked about where the self is, they most often reference the head or the heart. These bodily organs are important metaphorically because the head is deemed to be rational and the heart is deemed to be emotional. In two experiments (total N = 269), links between metaphor and bodily perception were investigated. In Study 1, participants were asked to point to an area of their own body consistent with a mark on a manikin. When pointing to the head (versus the heart), activities seemed to involve intellectual processes (versus emotional processes) to a greater extent. In Study 2, primes were decidedly intellectual (e.g., calculating a budget) or emotional (e.g., empathizing with a friend); in this experiment, intellectual (relative to emotional) primes shifted the perceived location of the self upward. Even the (perceived) bodily self falls prey to conceptual metaphors.

Our study examined whether within-person shifts in secondary control predicted corresponding shifts in well-being and whether this relationship became pronounced during periods of financial hardship in a pandemic. We analyzed data from a representative sample of U.S. adults aged 18-80 (n=292). Preliminary multilevel models assessed how shifts in secondary control predicted corresponding shifts in mental health, hedonic wellbeing, and eudemonic well-being. Our main multilevel models examined whether these within-person relationships were moderated by shifts in an inability to pay for one’s needs while controlling for age, sex, education, income, and between-person secondary control and financial hardship. Within-person increases in secondary control predicted increased well-being across all outcome variables (bs=|0.11-0.23|, ps<0.01). Financial hardship moderated the relationship of secondary control on perceived stress and personal growth (bs=|0.14-0.24|, ps<0.05), such that increases in secondary control had pronounced benefits on occasions when individuals were unable to pay for their needs.

Prominent theories of self-regulation argue that behavior can be the product of impulse (e.g., an emotional reaction) or reflection. Such variations in self-regulation were assessed by correlating “would do” and “should do” ratings in response to a series of friendship-related dilemmas. These ego effectiveness scores varied markedly across participants (in Study 1, from -.19 to +.96), suggesting a prominent individual difference. As hypothesized, participants who received higher ego effectiveness scores, in Study 1, were deemed to be warmer and more socially competent by peers. In Study 2, it was further shown that ego effective (relative to ineffective) individuals were more capable of satisfying basic needs related to autonomy, competence, and relatedness, which were in turn associated with higher levels of psychological well-being. The ego effectiveness method can diagnose the maturity of self-regulation systems in an idiographic and implicit manner.

First-generation college students (FGCS) face unique challenges compared to their non-first-generation peers. While there’s an abundance of research on improving academic outcomes of first-generation college students, less is known about the role of grit, growth mindset, and learned helplessness in affecting first-generation college students’ mental health. The study aims to elucidate the contributions of these constructs in predicting mental health outcomes in FGCS. This study recruited FGCS in the Fargo-Moorhead area to participate in a larger study examining context and well-being. Using Qualtrics, students reported on their grit, growth mindset, learned helplessness, depression, and anxiety amongst other constructs not examined in this study. Results indicated that while grit and learned helplessness were significantly associated with depression and anxiety, growth mindset did not exhibit a significant relationship with mental health outcomes. These findings underscore the importance of cultivating grit and addressing maladaptive cognitive patterns in mitigating depression and anxiety in FGCS.

The sentence picture verification task (SPV) is used to study mental imagery during reading. Participants read a sentence where an object's shape is implied, then view an object and indicate if it was mentioned in the sentence. Participants are faster to identify an object when its shape matches the shape implied by the sentence than when it does not, which suggests they formed a mental image while reading. We investigated the role working memory plays in mental imagery during reading by asking participants to remember auditory or visual information under high or low load conditions during the SPV. We saw a reduction in reaction time differences between shape mismatch and shape match trials when participants were under a high auditory memory load. Our findings suggest that working memory contributes to mental imagery.

Adaptive self-regulation involves alignment between desires and long-term goals, such that something like an ego gains control over behavior. The current authors developed a new technique to measure individual differences in ego-based alignment by correlating actual self-likelihood ratings, for a series of health-related scenarios, with “ideal self” ratings for those same scenarios. The resulting continuum is termed “ego effectiveness”. As hypothesized, participants (total N = 366) who scored higher in ego effectiveness were perceived to engage in healthier, as well as less risky, behaviors by peers (Study 1) and they engaged in healthier, and less unhealthy, behaviors in a daily diary protocol (Study 2). Such behaviors were associated with higher, rather than lower, levels of positive affect and daily health satisfaction. The research provides new perspectives on alignment in the self-system as well as its link to health behavior.

When asked where the self is, most people choose the head or heart regions of the body. It is common to contrast these regions (e.g., head versus heart), but doing so renders it impossible to study dynamic (perceived) migrations of the self as a function of situational demands. Two studies presented 20 situations (e.g., talking to friends, studying) and asked participants how much self was in the brain versus heart in each situation. The average within-subject head-heart correlation was 0, meaning that some individuals display an “elevator-like” self (negative correlation) and others “spread” (positive correlation). The head and heart are metaphorically linked to different capacities and perceived movements in an elevator-like pattern could (metaphorically at least) facilitate both intellectual and emotional performance. Results, in the form of cognitive ability and emotional intelligence measures, supported this idea.

There is evidence that specific diets (e.g., low glutamate) can influence post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms in those suffering from PTSD. No study has systematically considered how a general diet and PTSD symptoms may be associated. This study recruited six veterans suffering from PTSD to record their daily diets using the MyFitnessPal app, and to complete daily diary surveys regarding PTSD symptoms, symptom severity, and daily stress for three days. Although preliminary, due to the small n, correlations suggest that specific dietary elements influence PTSD symptom severity on the following day, but not so much on the same day, suggesting a possible food sensitivity interaction. Additionally, this study suggested no causal link from PTSD symptom severity to dietary intake. This exploratory study suggests that the effects of diet on PTSD symptoms should be considered in future, more highly powered research.

Mispronunciations are not uncommon for adults to encounter, but when are they interpreted as a failure of pronunciation as opposed to a new word to be learned? We asked how familiarity and degree of mispronunciation affect this interpretation. Seventy-three English speaking undergraduates participated in this study. They learned 30 novel words for novel objects, experiencing each word-referent pairing 3, 5, or 7 times. They were tested on how well they learned the pairings by selecting the word’s referent in a 2-alternative forced-choice task. During testing, participants heard correct pronunciations of the learned words, as well as small and large mispronunciations. More frequent words showed better learning overall. Large mispronunciations were mapped to distractor referents more often, particularly for higher frequency words, suggesting interpretation as a new word. Familiarity and degree of mispronunciation significantly impact how adults interpret new words.

After interacting with real-world objects, observers tend to recall the objects as closer together than if they did not interact with them, a phenomenon known as spatial compression. We investigated whether spatial compression also occurs during digital interactions. We recruited (n = 194) participants for an online experiment in which they passively viewed (condition 1) or actively dragged and dropped an array of digital objects. Participants in the active conditions either dragged objects to a drop-zone adjacent to the object (condition 2) or to a single drop-zone at the bottom of the display (condition 3). After this brief study phase, participants performed a recall task, recreating the array by dragging each object back to its remembered position. The spatial layout of recalled arrays did not differ across conditions, suggesting that spatial compression does not occur during digital object interactions.

What makes a language easier for people to learn? We addressed this question using an artificial language consisting of a prefix form and a reduplication form. The prefix language used the affixes te- and po-, to indicate the singular and plural, respectively. The reduplication language used partial reduplication to indicate the singular and total reduplication to indicate the plural. About one third of the plural words in this study were irregulars. The irregular words followed the pattern of the other language. Participants’ learning was tested through both production and comprehension tasks. The results of this study indicate that the more perceptually salient language (reduplication) was harder for participants to learn than the affix version.The regular words were also harder for participants to learn. Although reduplication seems more perceptually salient, participants learned the affix language more easily possibly due to their familiarity with affixes.

Having a supportive audience during the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST) can elicit different responses from participants performing speech and math tasks compared to a non-supportive audience. Recently the TSST has been adapted for virtual reality (VR). This study asked if support from a VR audience during the TSST would elicit different psychological responses from participants and if the size of the VR audience mattered. Undergraduate participants performed a speech and math task to a supportive or nonsupportive audiences of 2 or 200 members. Immediately after completing the tasks participants reported responses to the tasks. We considered differences in self-reported effort, emotions, and stress responses. Notable differences were found in each domain. VR is a valuable tool for studying stress responses and social support.

Cognitive dispersion refers to an individual’s fluctuations in performance across neuropsychological domains. Little is known about the characterization of dispersion in unimpaired, younger samples. This study extends the literature on cognitive dispersion by examining how sociodemographic characteristics moderate the association between longitudinal changes in dispersion and corresponding shifts in cognitive performance using MIDUS data (n=2,518; age 55±11.2, Range: 33 – 83 years). Results of OLS regression models showed that age (b=.01, p<.001), sex (b=.26, p<.001), income (b=-.01, p=.056), and education (b=-.02, p=.066) moderated the positive association between regressed change in dispersion and regressed change in mean performance. Increases in dispersion were most strongly associated with shallower declines in performance among older adults (b=.41, p<.001), women (b=.40, p<.001), less educated individuals (b=.35, p<.001), and lower income individuals (b=.39, p<.001). These findings suggest that dispersion may reflect healthier cognitive aging in populations that are at greater risk for cognitive impairment.

High expectations place unnecessary stress on athletes, which can affect different areas of their lives, such as academics, personal relationships, and extracurricular activities. Previous research on this topic mainly focuses on the impacts of stress in academics. The purpose of this research is to expand on established research and assess if athletes placed under high expectations experience extra stress in other areas of their lives, such as personal relationships, extracurricular actives, and hobbies. Discussion will center on self-reports of NAIA student-athletes and how these results may be utilized by universities to improve upon the student-athlete experience.

The Stereotype Content Model developed by Fiske et al. (2002) suggests that stereotypes are predicted by the dimensions of warmth and competence. Previous research has demonstrated that women and elderly individuals are typically rated as high in warmth and low in competence. This study focused on the interactions between age, gender, and participant gender in differentiating out-group stereotypes based on the dimensions of warmth and competence. Participants were instructed to read one of four scenarios presenting an individual who was 30 or 65 years old, and male or female. Participants were then asked to complete a survey indicating how much or how little they agreed with a series of statements. Results indicated significant two-way interactions between participant gender and the gender of the described person for warmth, and participant gender and the age of the described person for competence.

The purpose of this study was to examine the stereotypes surrounding convicted felons in the context of American social-political events and legislation. Using the Stereotype Content Model, we investigated how race and gender intersect in shaping social stereotypes within hiring contexts. Participants read one of six hypothetical scenarios that varied based on race and gender. No significant results were detected related to perceptions of warmth and competence, but statistically significant effects were detected related to judgments of guilt. Participants deemed Hispanic Americans significantly guiltier than Black Americans, with guilt ratings of the White Americans falling in the middle. Notably, no main effect for the gender variable was observed. These results indicate nuanced societal perceptions, emphasizing the influence of racial stereotypes on guilt judgments and giving valuable insight into the understanding of biases in hiring decisions and social perceptions in the American context.

Background: Verbal coercion is a form of sexual violence. Methods: Cognitive interviewing, a technique used to understand how people perceive items on questionnaires, was utilized to examine the content validity of a potentially ambiguous item, “my partner insisted on sex”, from the Revised Conflict Tactics Scales, a measure of intimate partner sexual violence. N = 39 participants. Results: Participants responses were qualitatively coded for themes: coercion (physical and verbal), consent, compliance, hesitancy to have sex, personal experiences, and perpetrator’s intent. Participants were asked to rate how consensual they considered the item to be. Three tactics were rated as clearly nonconsensual using p < .05: your partner insisted on sex, someone removed their clothing to arouse you, someone removed your clothing to arouse you. Conclusions: Participants viewed insistence as a verbally coercive tactic. Participants differentiated coercion from compliance which suggests validity of the item measuring coercion.

The study presented here was an investigation of stereotypes related to pregnancy and motherhood, specifically along dimensions of warmth and competence. Participants (N = 273) were randomly assigned to read one of four scenarios and were asked to rate to what degree several traits related to warmth or competence would likely describe the woman in the scenario. The mean of all warmth items was computed to form a “warmth score,” and the mean of all competence items was computed to form a “competence score.” Participants were also asked three multiple-choice follow-up questions related to perceptions of the woman in the scenario. No significant findings relating to warmth and competence stereotypes of pregnant women or mothers were found. However, it was found that participants were more likely to assume that the woman in the scenario was married if it was explicitly stated that she was pregnant. It was also found that the effect of motherhood status on assumed marriage status depended on pregnancy status. These findings likely stem from traditional societal norms that link pregnancy and marriage together, emphasizing the need to challenge and reshape societal attitudes.

The Stereotype Content Model (SCM) proposed by Fiske et al. (2002) explores the origins and dynamics of stereotypes, emphasizing the dimensions of warmth and competence. Warmth reflects friendliness and goodwill, while competence relates to abilities and ambition. The purpose of this study was to investigate perceptions of college students based on socioeconomic and employment status, employing a between-groups 2 (socioeconomic status: high vs. low) x 3 (employment status: unemployed vs. part-time employed vs. full-time employed) factorial design. Results indicated a significant main effect of socioeconomic status on competence, indicating that students of higher status are perceived as more competent, regardless of work status, potentially perpetuating social and educational inequalities. The study contributes to understanding societal perceptions and their implications for individuals' opportunities based on socioeconomic backgrounds.

Using the stereotype content model, we examined stereotypes related to physical disability status and gender. Participants read a description of a male or female wheelchair user who had a congenital disability or a disability acquired from an accident. No significant differences were detected based on disability status or gender, but ratings for warmth and competence were above the scale midpoint, indicating generally favorable perceptions of the person described. The role of explicit vs. implicit biases, as well as potential ceiling effects, are considered.

The Useful Field of View (UFOV) test is commonly used to assess visual processing speed, divided attention, and selected attention. Prior literature has shown that several individual differences - such as age, education, mental status, and health - can influence an individual’s UFOV (Edwards et al., 2006). However, there has been little information relating other functional aspects of vision, such as spatial processing, information processing, sustained attention, and perception span to UFOV. As such, the intent of this project is to see which of the latter, if any, can impact UFOV scores. Data collection for this study is ongoing, however preliminary results and possible implications will be discussed. It is hypothesized that these results could justify the future use of vision or skill training to improve UFOV scores – the elements of which are crucial to several occupations, such as pilots, UAS operators, and those working in VR environments.

Head-up displays (HUDs) have been adopted by automotive manufacturers to decrease distraction and increase the safety of vehicle operation. This study investigated the impact of incorporating HUDs on crewed light tactical vehicles. The High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV) was selected as the research platform by the research sponsors: U.S. Army Ground Vehicle System Center. Using virtual reality simulators, three HUD layouts with multiple information display widgets were examined within a virtual HMMWV (n=18). Results suggest HUDs do not increase the subjective task load of drivers, they increase the safe operation of the vehicle, and they are seen as beneficial to experienced HMMWV drivers. The use of HUDs facilitated the operation of the HMMWV, the navigation around obstacles, and the communication of critical information to others. Future research should further develop the most utilized widgets and should replicate this study in a HMMWV or light tactical vehicle “live drive” environment.

The many negative effects of brain damage have been well studied, and some populations are at a higher risk for this type of injury, such as athletes and soldiers. In response, research has led to the development of increased head protection solutions, such as helmets. However, this is not the case for all at-risk populations of head trauma, specifically individuals who engage in head-directed self-injurious behavior. This study was conducted to assess the ways in which BCBAs treat clients who engage in this behavior. The results yielded information on some key client demographics and different treatment strategies used to intervene on head-directed self-injury. It was found that individuals who engage in head-directed self-injurious behavior were most commonly under the age of 15 years old and typically had a clinical diagnosis, such as autism spectrum disorder or intellectual disability. Additionally, it was found that BCBAs are open to the use of supportive equipment (helmets, blocking pads, etc.); however, they are hesitant to implement due to lack of knowledge about efficacy of equipment available on the market and the social stigmatization that accompanies headgear/helmets.

There are benefits from laboratory experiences, like increased student engagement (Ra’anon, 2005) and preparation for graduate school (McDonough, n.d.). Specifically, there are benefits from working in a live animal laboratory using operant chambers. It is not feasible for many universities to have live animal laboratories due to factors such as cost of animal care, maintenance, and ethical concerns, so many students have no laboratory experience. The current study sought to evaluate the CyberRat (Ray, 2019) software as an alternative to live rat laboratories. The variability of CyberRat was assessed via a Turing test, thus determining how realistic CyberRat is. To assess CyberRat’s variability three areas were analyzed: the latency to the first bar press, the total number of bar presses, and the cumulative records of the graphs. Results demonstrated multiple areas where variability is present. There are areas for further evaluation, but through analysis of the data output, CyberRat has passed another Turing test.

Personality stability and change are related to health outcomes. Drawing on the Big Five framework and theories of selection and evocation, we explored predictors of patterns in neuroticism during the spring and summer of 2020 (i.e., a period of high stress and health concern). Our data are from an ongoing, prospective and nationally representative longitudinal study of 300 American adults. We used data from 246 participants (Mage=44.6, 50% male) with at least two assessments of neuroticism in April, May, or June 2020. Results showed that similar numbers of people increased (17%) or decreased (17%) at least 0.5 points (out of 5) on neuroticism from April through June. Using regression, we found people who increased more steeply in neuroticism tended to have significantly worse self-rated physical health (Std. Beta = -0.08). These results suggest poor health and high neuroticism may be part of a self-reinforcing cycle which might accelerate aging-related processes.

For this study, we examined previous research in which there was shown to be a link between self-esteem and self-efficacy and the role that both play in an academic setting. The purpose of this research will be to determine if self-esteem has any effect on test scores. The participants chosen for my study were college students aged 18 - 36 years. To measure self-esteem, participants filled out the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES), a questionnaire that is used for clinical purposes. Based on their answers, they received a score of either low (1-14) or average to high (15-30). Participants were then tasked with viewing a documentary and taking a multiple-choice quiz. Next, they completed a journaling exercise with open-ended prompts to force them to reflect positively on themselves. Afterward, they repeated the RSES with fodder questions to deter them from repeating previous answers. Lastly, they retook the quiz on the documentary. We used a repeated measures t-test to compare the pre-and post-test scores. Our results showed that individuals' self-esteem increased slightly, but their doc quiz scores decreased. Both measures were not statistically significant enough, so we had to reject the null hypothesis.

Previous literature has indicated that individual differences significantly impact multitasking performance (Salomon et al., 2016; Colom et al., 2010). As such, the intent of this project is to explore potential relationships between personality traits, working memory, intelligence, and visuospatial abilities on multi-tasking and task-switching ability and adaptability. Subjects completed Peter’s Mental Rotation Test, the Big Five Personality Test, the WAIS Letter-Number Sequencing and Vocabulary assessments, and a multitasking paradigm that contained both single and multi-tasking patterns. Data collection for this study is ongoing, however preliminary results and possible implications will be discussed.

Professional counselors and clients who meet in healthcare facilities may be required to wear masks if COVID community transmission levels are high ([CDC], 2022). The current study examines how masking may affect therapeutic alliances via judgements of trust. A 2(trustworthiness) x 5(facial feature visibility) within-subjects factorial design will assess implicit and explicit facial judgements. Using E-prime, undergraduate psychology students will complete an Affect Misattribution Procedure measuring implicit judgements to target faces (Ma et al., 2015; Payne & Lundberg, 2014). Next, participants will provide explicit valence, dominance, and trust responses to the same stimuli set. Both the direction and the speed of all judgements will be recorded. It is predicted that implicit and explicit evaluations of partially occluded low-trust target images will be more positive and slower than explicit evaluations of fully visible low-trust images.

Transgender and gender diverse (TGD) bi+ women disproportionately experience sexual victimization and their acceptability of related interventions is under-researched. Online self-report data was collected from ethnoracially diverse, bisexual/plurisexual (bi+) adult American women who identified as TGD (n = 69) or cisgender (cis; n = 171). TGD bi+ women found intervention descriptions inclusive of their sexual and gender identities—and those including in-person active resistance strategy instruction (bystander/self-defense)—more acceptable. Intervention elements of importance included small group size, efficacy evidence—and chiefly—confidentiality. Intervention descriptions with alcohol use and/or sexual activity reduction components were largely found less acceptable. Most TGD bi+ women reported adult sexual victimization (88%)—and greater frequency of these experiences—compared to cis bi+ women, as well as higher rates (57%) of childhood sexual abuse (37%). Anticipated victim-blaming and stigma may explain TGD bi+ women’s reduced acceptability of intervention descriptions targeting changing their behaviors to reduce sexual victimization.

This experiment investigates the effect of anxiety on cognitive functioning, specifically on visual working memory. Trait anxiety refers to anxiety consistent in someone’s life, compared to state anxiety induced by specific situations. This experiment will include up to 90 participants. Participants will fill out a demographic questionnaire and the Beck Anxiety Inventory. Participants will then complete a visual working memory task of 15 pairs of frames containing multiple rectangles. The participants will indicate if they can notice a difference in a second frame. Five of the frame pairs will have no change, five have one change, and five have two changes. This experiment is intended to expand previous research on the extent that anxiety affects cognitive functioning and memory impairments. It is hypothesized that participants who score higher on the anxiety inventory will have a lower accuracy and higher response time indicating difficulty on the visual working memory task.