In an experiment which investigated the effects of stress on the Protestant Ethic Effect (PEE) 12 Wistar rats were trained for 20 days to barpress for their total water intake. Following training the rats were divided into two groups and were allowed to choose between barpressing for a 10% sucrose solution and consuming a freely available sucrose solution under either stress or nonstress conditions. Stress was defined as a .01 cc per 36g body weight injection of norepinephrine. The stress and nonstress conditions were counterbalanced during the choice session. Regardless of stress order both groups preferred the free over the earned solution. The preference for the free reinforce is discussed in terms of strain of rat used in the experiment as well as the physiological effects of norepinephrine.

Forty-five male and female family caregivers of institutionalized and noninstitutionalized Alzheimer’s Disease patients were assessed for depression, using the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS). Internal consistency and concurrent validity for the BDI and GDS were acceptable, based on item-total correlation, coefficient alphas, and a Pearson’s Product-moment correlation. A stepwise multiple regression analysis was carried out to determine which variables predict depression in Alzheimer’s caregivers. Using the traditional cut-off score of 11 for each scale, it was found that 42% were depressed on the BDI, while 58% were depressed on the GDS; these rates were not significantly different. No difference in depression rate was found between male and female caregivers or between spouse and adult daughter caregivers. However, the depression rate for the caregiver sample was significantly higher than that reported for the general population of older adults. The regression analysis showed that only two variables were predictive of depression in this group of Alzheimer’s caregiver. The less frequently the caregiver spent time away from the patient, the less frequently the caregiver had help in caring for the patient, the more likely the caregiver was to be depressed. It is suggested that social support may be an important factor in the prevention and/or alleviation of depression in family caregivers of patients with Alzheimer’s Disease. Future research is suggested including validation of the BDI and GDS for Alzheimer’s caregivers, using a large representative sample.

The purpose of this experiment was to determine if stress, induced by intraperitoneal (IP) injections of epinephrine, influenced rats' preference to freeload (drink sucrose solution from a drinking tube) or to work for a liquid reinforcer (obtain sucrose solution by barpressing). Furthermore, the order in which stress was introduced was investigated. Following two weeks of water deprivation, 6 female and 6 male Hooded rats approximately 90 days old were divided into two experimental groups. The first group (S-N) was stressed the first and second experimental testing days in which a choice was presented between barpressing and freeloading for a 10% sucrose solution. The choice was presented the third and fourth testing days in the absence of stress. The second group (N-S) was given the choice of barpressing or freeloading the first and second experimental testing days in the absence of stress, and was presented with the same choice the third and fourth days in the presence of stress. Two dependent variables were measured: the ratio of the amount of solution earned by barpressing to the total amount of solution consumed and the amount of solution earned by barpressing. The results of the study indicated that rats in the stress condition preferred to freeload. Furthermore, the order in which the stress was introduced affected work versus freeloading preference. When permitted to make the initial choice between barpressing or freeloading in the absence of stress, all rats chose to barpress. When the stress was subsequently introduced on the third experimental testing day, all rats preferred to freeload. Results of the (S-N) group were not as significantly conclusive because of the large variance of choice in both the stress and nonstress conditions.

Feedback and goal setting are both necessary for either to have an effect on performance (Erez, 1977). In the present study two attributes of feedback, frequency and source, were manipulated under goal-setting conditions to examine their effects on performance. It is generally assumed that performance can be enhanced by providing individuals with frequent feedback and by providing them with feedback that originates from a source close to themselves--that is, feedback from the task itself or self-administered feedback. A third variable of interest, subjects' perceived control over the task, was assessed via questionnaires. Subjects worked on a problem-solving task. Each subject was placed in one of eight feedback source/frequency conditions and assigned a goal for the task based on his/her performance in a practice trial. Questionnaires designed to assess subject's perceptions of the assigned goal, the feedback provided, and the task itself were administered at predetermined intervals. Neither the source from which the feedback originated nor the frequency with which it was presented had an effect on performance. However, a source by frequency interaction was obtained from questionnaire data measuring subject's perceptions of control over the task. Individuals perceiving themselves as receiving infrequent feedback felt greater control when the feedback was presented by the researcher. Individuals who perceived themselves as receiving more frequent feedback felt greater control when the feedback was self-administered. Theoretical explanations of the findings were offered along with recommendations for future research. Recommendations included the further examination of the role of feedback on individual perceptions of external control and its influence on task performance.

This research compares the performance of a group of extraverts to a group of intraverts on a cognitive reasoning task. According to the theory of Hans J. Eysenck, one would expect that the intraverts would perform better than the extraverts on a task of massed reasoning. On the basis of scores on the Eysenck Personality Inventory and the Otis Lennon Mental Ability Test, a sample of 72 Ss were drawn from two undergraduate classes, Principles of Applied Learning and Human Development, at Western Kentucky University. Only Ss with extreme scores on the Extraversion scale E were selected, with each extravert and intravert being matched according to I.Q. Those Ss with high Neuroticism scores (N) were eliminated. After selection, the Ss were administered an abstract reasoning test. A comparison of the performance of the two groups revealed no significant differences.

Previous research has demonstrated that self-affirmation via values affirmations seem to buffer the self against perceived threats (Steele, 1988). An example of such a threat is opposing worldviews regarding civil liberties in counterterrorism policies. The present study uses the threat of worldview opposition in regards to counterterrorism policies in conjunction with an experimental induction of mortality salience to explore whether self-affirmation can attenuate increases in worldview defense following mortality salience. It was hypothesized that mortality salience would increase worldview defense, but that self-affirmation would decrease worldview defense following exposure to a worldview threat. When extremity of attitudes toward civil liberties in counterterrorism policies were considered in analyses, results indicated an interaction of self-affirmation and mortality salience, such that self-affirmation decreased worldview defense in participants in the mortality salience condition if they expressed extreme civil liberty attitudes. Results suggest that self-affirmation and mortality salience interact to predict worldview defense in those who care about civil liberties in counterterrorism policies. This study provides qualified theoretical support for self-affirmation theory (Steele, 1988). More research on the topic of self-affirmation and civil liberty attitudes is needed.

Many students claim that they can study well while listening to music (Anderson & Fuller, 2010; Patton, Stinard, & Routh, 1983), but how does listening to music affect students’ ability to encode and recall studied information? Previous research on background music and attention has revealed mixed results, with some studies indicating that background music can help reduce inattentional blindness (Beanland, Allen, & Pammer, 2011), while others suggest that music may hinder the attention of the listener (by Shih, Huang, & Chaing, 2012). Additionally, individual differences in working memory capacity impact one’s ability to store and retrieve information, as well as to suppress any intrusive thoughts and ignore distractions (Cowan et al., 2005; Rosen & Engle, 1998). The purpose of the present study was to determine if the musical components of polyphony and homophony impact students’ ability to encode and recall information, while accounting for the impact of working memory capacity. Participants were randomly assigned to one of five musical conditions: simplistic without lyrics, simplistic with lyrics, complex without lyrics, complex with lyrics, or control (silence). In each condition, participants studied Swahili English word pairs, then completed a verbatim recall test. Higher working memory capacity was associated with recalling more items correctly. The results of the study indicated that there were no significant differences in recall performance due to music condition when accounting for working memory capacity. Potential explanations for the results of this study, as well as implications for future research, are examined.

Substantial evidence from previous research has supported the idea that greater self-regulation in the form of “cool” self-regulation or executive functioning and “hot” self-regulation or effortful control is associated with higher academic achievement within the preschool years and school readiness in the kindergarten years (Anaya, 2016; Carlson, 2005). However, there are only a few studies that assess the prediction of school readiness through validated cool and hot self-regulation tasks (Carlson, 2005; Krain, Wilson, Arbuckle, Kastellanos, & Wilham, 2006; Rothbart, Ellis, Rueda, & Posner, 2003; Thompson & Giedd, 2000). There also few studies examining to what extent cool and hot-self-regulation tasks predict socio-emotional (Blair, 2002) and academic achievement (Bull & Scherif, 2001), which are aspects of school readiness. The current study examined the validity of hot and cool tasks as measures of school readiness within a preschool sample (n = 86) enrolled in one of two programs: one blended Head Start and one full Head Start program. Adapted hot and cool self-regulation tasks, global observer ratings of hot and cool self-regulation tasks (Preschool Self-Regulation Assessment Assessor Report (PSRA-AR) and the Observation of Child Temperament Scale), Woodcock Johnson subtests (Letter Word, Applied Problems, and Picture Vocabulary), teacher ratings of social competence (Social Competence and Behavioral Evaluation) and emotional competence (Emotion Regulation Checklist) were collected in the fall of the school year. Results indicated that performance on cool tasks of measures cool self-regulation were highly correlated with academic performance and that the Snack Delay task and the PSRA-AR component scores (Attention/Impulse Control and Positive Emotion) of hot self-regulation were correlated with socio-emotional competence. Additionally, there were no age differences for hot self-regulation. Regression analyses suggested that hot self-regulation predicted socio-emotional competence and cool tasks predicted academic achievement. However, conclusions regarding hot self-regulation age differences and predictive validity are limited by the sole use of one hot task within this study and the results do not warrant a conclusion regarding whether hot self-regulation and cool self-regulation are separate self-regulation constructs, given the use of only one hot task.

The fact that adolescents commonly initiate drug use in social settings is well established. Both clinical and preclinical research has investigated how social interaction is altered by a variety of drugs of abuse. What is less understood is how the rewarding value of drugs of abuse is affected by the presence of social peers. This dissertation aimed to investigate the interaction of morphine and social play on conditioned place preference (CPP) in adolescent male Sprague Dawley rats, using both behavioral and immunohistochemistry (IHC) methods. Rats were exposed to morphine (0, 1, or 3 mg/kg; s.c.), social interaction, or a combination of both and tested in a modified CPP procedure. Behavioral results indicate that, while doses of morphine used produced only weak CPP across experiments, they were sufficient to reduce the rewarding effect of social interaction. IHC results suggest that this finding may be due to reduced activation in NAc shell. Taken together, the results of this dissertation may help to provide an explanation as to why persons with opioid use disorder spend less time interacting with social peers, compared to non-dependent persons.

The Westboro Baptist Church and Phelps family are notorious for their signs proclaiming anti-homosexuality epithets such as “God Hates Fag,” and references to Biblical verses to revile homosexuality (e.g., Romans 1:24-27). Although the homonegativity bias that Westboro patrons and many traditional Christians express is often understood as being rooted in religion, I proposed the possibility that religion can be a justification rather than source of homonegativity. That is, although religion typically is seen as the source of prejudice towards LGBT+ people, I argued that this relationship might work in reverse. I examined under which conditions this “reverse” phenomena might occur in both the Pilot Study and follow-up study. My Pilot Study results suggested that there are differences in participants’ level of Religiosity after falsely being told they held LGBT+ prejudices. These differences were moderated by political alignment. Relatively liberal participants were more likely to have higher levels of Religiosity after receiving Biased Feedback compared to those who received Neutral Feedback. In terms of those who were more politically conservative, their level of Religiosity tended to be about the same regardless of which feedback they received. When it came to Biblical Literalism, however, relatively conservative participants had higher levels of literalism when given the Neutral Feedback compared to relatively liberal participants when given the same Feedback. These findings were mostly replicated in the follow-up Main Study. The results from both studies suggest that, under some circumstances, people might use religion to justify their prejudice towards LGBT+, and the strategy they use is affected by their political alignment (liberal or conservative). There could be differences in motivations between people who are more politically conservative and those who are more politically liberal. These potential differences are addressed in the discussion.