<p> Similar to the pattern observed in people with substance abuse disorders, laboratory animals will exhibit escalation of cocaine intake when the drug is readily available and will exhibit increased drug-seeking behaviors after long periods of abstinence. Additionally, there are long term changes in neuron structure, receptor function, and neurotransmission associated with abstinence from cocaine in humans and animals. DNA methylation is an epigenetic modification to the DNA structure that mediates mRNA expression to confer different cell types, but has recently been implicated in learning and memory mechanisms. The long-term control that DNA methylation has over gene expression in animals makes it a prime candidate for controlling gene expression over the course of abstinence in animals with previous drug experience. Therefore, here, I investigated the contribution of behavioral contingency of cocaine administration on escalation of cocaine intake and re-exposure to cocaine cues as well as DNA methylation and gene expression within the dorsal medial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC) in adult male Sprague-Dawley rats. I exposed rats to daily training for saline (1 h/ day) or cocaine (0.25 mg/kg/inf) in limited- (1 h access per day), prolonged- (6 h access per day), or limited + yoked-access (1 h contingent + 5 h non-contingent access per day) for 15 days. Rats were then put through forced abstinence for 1, 14, or 60 days, and then the dmPFC was dissected out. Saline- and prolonged-access rats were additionally separated into cue- and no cue- conditions after 60 days of abstinence, where cue rats were re-exposed to the operant chamber without cocaine delivery for 2 h. These studies led to 4 main findings. 1) cocaine contingency affects mRNA expression for glutamatergic genes, 2) DNA methylation changes dynamically throughout abstinence, 3) re-exposure to cocaine cues rapidly alters DNA methylation and mRNA expression, and 4) DNA methylation, hydroxymethylation, and transcription factor binding all contribute to altered mRNA expression.</p><p>

<p>An interesting unsolved case in cognitive science, and one that impacts education and decision-making, is the whole number bias: when people compare fractions they rely on the numerical values of the components (numerator or denominator). A handful of theories have been proposed to explain the bias in Arabic formats, all sharing the assumption of some fundamental difficulty in estimating ratio magnitudes. This thesis contrasts them in a perceptual setting by means of a cognitive model of ratio comparisons. Contrary to the assumption, for the visual system the bias is automatic even when fraction magnitudes are mentally available (Chapter 2a). Moreover, it is present in indigenous populations living in the Amazon, suggesting a limited role of culture and a more generic feature of cognition (Chapter 2b). The automatic activation of numerical magnitude can impact confidence (Chapter 2c), visual selection (Chapter 3) and modulate how the motor system displaces effectors (Chapter 4). The overall results are consistent with the view that the whole number bias is part of a larger phenomenon: people spontaneously and robustly represent numerical value across a variety of perceptual decision tasks.

Recently, investors have asserted that firms' loss contingency disclosures are not adequate to allow them to assess the likelihood of material losses due to litigation (i.e., litigation risk), and a debate has developed over whether the threshold for disclosure should be lowered to provide investors with more information relating to litigation. Using an experiment, I investigate two unintended consequences of lowering a disclosure threshold, as the FASB has recently proposed. First, I find that adding low probability lawsuits to the disclosure of reasonably possible lawsuits lowers prospective investors' perceptions of litigation risk relating to the disclosure, even though more lawsuits are disclosed. Second, lowering the threshold allows firms to portray the entire disclosure opportunistically, diverting attention from higher probability to lower probability lawsuits. I find evidence that firms can use such an opportunistic presentation under a lower threshold to their advantage. Specifically, prospective investors' and even short investors' perceptions were just as favorable to the firm as long investors' when the disclosure threshold was lower and firms adopted an opportunistic disclosure strategy. Thus, my findings suggest that the FASB's proposal to require disclosure of lower probability loss contingencies may have unintended consequences for investors' perceptions of firms' loss exposure.

Cocaine abuse and addiction are widespread problems with profound medical and socioeconomic consequences. At present, the neurobiological adaptations associated with short- and long-term cocaine abuse are not well understood, which contributes to the lack of availability of broadly effective treatments for this type of addiction. Recently, some studies have implicated GABAA receptor subtypes in the neuroadaptations underlying addiction. To explore the contributions of GABAA receptors to the neurobiological basis of cocaine abuse, we utilized a non-human primate model of cocaine self-administration and examined changes in species typical behaviors, and corresponding alterations in three GABAA receptor subtypes within five reward-related areas of the brain. Sixteen rhesus monkeys either self-administered cocaine intravenously (1-hr/day, 0.03 mg/kg/injection of cocaine) or received passive infusions of saline yoked to the cocaine injections (yoked control). Monkeys either self-administered cocaine for ~10 days (short-term group) or ~100 days (long-term group). Twenty-four hours after the last session, animals were sacrificed and brains were removed. We examined alterations in &agr;1, &agr;2, and &agr;3 subunit-containing GABAA receptors (&agr;1, &agr;2, and &agr;3GABAA receptors) using immunohistochemistry (IHC), in situ hybridization (ISH), and real-time PCR experiments (RTPCR) within reward-related areas of the brain including the nucleus accumbens, ventral tegmental area, caudate, putamen, and anterior cingulate cortex. Long-term cocaine taking animals self-administered cocaine in a cyclical pattern, and increased number of cocaine injections taken within the initial portion of daily self-administration sessions. We observed behavioral alterations in behaviors including locomotor, stereotypic, scratching and affiliative behaviors. IHC results demonstrated alterations in &agr;1GABAA receptors within all regions of interest after long-term self-administration. After short-term cocaine self-administration decreases in &agr;3GABAA receptors were observed in all regions examined. When examining transcript levels using ISH and RTPCR, we found relatively few changes in comparison to protein alterations. The notable change was a decrease of all three receptor mRNAs within the anterior cingulate cortex after short-term cocaine exposure. The present model of drug may expand our understanding of addiction-related behaviors and the role of GABA in addiction. Furthermore, our findings suggest GABAA receptors may serve as viable targets for pharmacotherapeutic approaches to treat addiction.

Addiction has been a problem over the years, with opiate use on the rise. The cycle of using and relapse includes negative emotions and cravings, which are associated with physiological responses and self-efficacy with respect to drinking and drug-taking refusal skills. Interrupting this cycle could help an individual with problematic substance use behavior. The purpose of this research was to study the efficacy of an intervention that could interrupt this cycle. A review of the models of emotional regulation (ER), as well as the complexities identified the need for a tool to support an individual in an acute interaction on multiple levels of his/her experience. This study provided a consolidated conceptual model of process, system, and technology in addressing emotional regulation. The studied intervention has three stages: communicate alternatively (CA), release endorphins (RE), and self-soothe (SS) (CARESS). The purpose of the study was to investigate the acute effects for cravings management and negative affect in a one-time treatment session using CARESS for those with problematic substance use behaviors in comparison to a control group with a treatment as usual intervention. This study was run at a local outpatient hospital, as a randomized control trial with 96 participants. Measures to reflect physiological responses, cravings, drinking and drug-taking refusal skills, and negative affect were used in a pre/post/follow up test implementation. A multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA) showed there was no statistically significant difference on the combined post-test scores between the experimental and control groups. The hypothesis was not supported. Further analysis demonstrated effect sizes in the changes in the pre post-test scores in individual measures were different, with each intervention having a greater effect size on two of the measures. Due to the lack of variance between the outcomes, it was concluded that CARESS as good as Isometric as a change agent for this population. Opportunities for future studies were identified.

No description available.

Thesis advisor: Christopher Maxwell / This paper investigates the existence of omission bias in Major League Baseball’s home plate umpires. Omission bias describes the human tendency to prefer harm caused by inaction, or acts of omission, over equal harm caused by action, or acts of commission. For umpires, I define an act of commission as a call made by the umpire that ends the at-bat and an act of omission as a call that does not end the bat. By analyzing over 1.5 million pitches thrown between the years 2018 and 2022, I find that MLB umpires display omission bias by systematically increasing the size of the enforced strike zone on three-ball counts and shrinking the size of the enforced strike zone on two-strike counts. Further, I find that omission bias exists separately from and is not impacted by other biases present in MLB umpiring, such as the biases favoring home batters and star batters. / Thesis (BA) — Boston College, 2023. / Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Departmental Honors. / Discipline: Economics.

This dissertation facilitates an understanding of the entire domain of product/consumption-based behaviors. It takes a holistic approach to the conceptualization, description, and measurement of consumer behaviors. Although the discipline has adopted the label "consumer behavior," previous research has considered behaviors narrowly, usually focusing on the purchase and rarely considering more than a very limited subset of consumption-based behaviors (e.g., complaining behaviors, word-of-mouth, information search). This research conceptualized behaviors inclusively, including all behaviors that consumers undertake in relation to the product. Comprehensive inventories of consumption-based behaviors were generated through a review of the literature and through interviews with consumers. Those inventories of consumption-based behaviors were then examined for structure via the use of a card sort methodology intended to gauge consumer perceptions of similarity/dissimilarity. This methodology did not yield the dimensional structure which had been hypothesized, but it did identify categorical structure across the behaviors--consumers appeared to recognize differences in types of behaviors. Two levels of behavior typologies were identified. The first was a parsimonious set of three distinct types of consumption-based behaviors: information/ transactional/social behaviors; maintenance/repairs/working on the product behaviors; and usage behaviors. These three types of behaviors generalized across the three product categories considered (cars, stereos, and clothes). A second, more specific, level of typology was developed for each product category. These more detailed frameworks included groups of behaviors particular to each product category. Finally, in a large consumer survey, indices of the behavior typologies for the car product category were developed and the measured behaviors were related to consumption-based affect and consumer product involvement. Thus, this research has: contributed to a comprehensive conceptualization of consumption-based behaviors; explicated a description and understanding of that behavior's domain; and, developed and validated measures of those behaviors.

This thesis research was designed to study the role of glucocorticoids in the central regulation of aggressive, submissive, and communicative behavior in male golden hamsters (Mesocricetus auratus). It represents the first time that site-, context-, dose-, and steroid-specific actions of glucocorticoids in behavioral regulation have been systematically examined within the central nervous system. Chronic implants of cortisol exerted site-specific and context-dependent effects on agonistic responding within the hypothalamus. In paired encounters with aggressive opponents, submissive responding was induced by cortisol implants in the medial preoptic area, anterior hypothalamus, and ventromedial hypothalamus; aggressive responding by implants in the paraventricular nucleus and third ventricle. Cortisol implants in the anterior hypothalamus induced submissive responding in paired encounters with aggressive opponents, aggressive responding in paired encounters with submissive opponents, and aggressive responding in territorial aggression tests with juvenile intruders. Acute microinjections of cortisol in the anterior hypothalamus exerted dose-dependent and steroid-specific effects on agonistic responding. High (10$\sp{-2}$M) doses of cortisol induced submissive responding; low (10$\sp{-6}$M) doses induced aggressive responding. The direction of these biphasic effects were unique to cortisol. High doses of deoxycorticosterone induced aggressive responding, while both high and low doses of testosterone, dihydrotestosterone, progesterone and estradiol had no effect. Low doses of deoxycorticosterone also had no effect. Acute peripheral administration of cortisol induced aggressive responding, as did chronic administration of the glucocorticoid synthesis inhibitor cyanoketone. In contrast, central and peripheral administration of the antiglucocorticoid RU486, had significant site- and dose-dependent effects hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis function, but no effect on agonistic responding. In all cases, the effects of cortisol on flank marking behavior appeared to relate more to the social status of the cortisol-treated animal than a direct effect on the neural substrates of flank marking. Dominant animals flank marked at higher, and subordinate animals at lower levels than their opponents. In conclusion, glucocorticoids are prepotent modulators of agonistic responding within the medial hypothalamus. Both acute and chronic neuroendocrine regulation of agonistic responding by adrenal steroids appear to serve the function of promoting adaptive behavioral responses that minimize the risk of serious injury during competitive interactions.

To examine the functional significance of song in a tropical resident wood-warbler (Emberizidae:Parulinae), the vocal behavior of the Adelaide's Warbler was studied in relation to its social behavior and ecology. Breeding was seasonal although individuals maintained monogamous pair bonds and exclusive pair territories year-round. When residents disappeared, territories and pair bonds were replaced by floaters or neighbors. Paired birds gave duets consisting of male songs plus female calls (females song was uncommon). Both sexes used the same non-song display in close-range territorial encounters, but only males maintained territories when unpaired. The large song repertoire of each male (about 23 song types) was organized into two categories, A and B, distinguished by structural characteristics, manner of singing, and temporal use. Relative to A songs, B songs were more complex and emphasized lower frequencies, and were sung at more rapid rates and with greater sequential variety. Males sang A songs regularly throughout the day and year. In contrast, males sang B songs mainly during the breeding season, in bouts, regularly and intensively at dawn and sporadically and less intensively during the day. Social patterns of song use suggested A songs were more important in communication with females, whereas B songs were more important in communication between males. Males sang A songs in male-female interactions and increased their output of A songs when unpaired. Paired males sang B songs during male-male interactions only when females were not nearby, especially at dawn and during the incubation stage. Song sharing patterns indicated repertoires were learned from neighbors after dispersal. Micro-geographic song variation was extreme, with little sharing at distances $\geq$500 m. Repertoire similarity between males was negatively correlated with the distance and frequency of social interaction between them. In addition, B songs were more often shared than A songs, suggesting different timing or modes of learning. In field song playback experiments, males responded significantly different towards: (1) conspecific and congeneric songs, (2) familiar and unfamiliar conspecific songs, and (3) conspecific A and B songs. Both males and females responded differently to playback during the breeding versus non-breeding seasons.