Specific language impairment (SLI), defined as a disproportionate difficulty in learning language despite having normal hearing, intelligence, and no known neurological or emotional impairment, has been shown to share similar cognitive characteristics with individuals with attention deficit hyperactive disorder (ADHD). However, little research has investigated the dissimilarities in these two different developmental disorders. Children with SLI also show many similar symptoms with individuals diagnosed with dyslexia. The aim of these studies is to get a better understanding of cognitive differences between SLI and ADHD, and the cognitive similarities between SLI and dyslexia. Tests of both verbal and non-verbal measures of working memory, IQ, and academic performance were administered to all groups. It was hypothesized that children with SLI would perform worse on verbal measures due to their language deficits but perform better on non-verbal measures than children with ADHD. It was also predicted that children with SLI will perform similarly, but worse than children with dyslexia. Results from the SLI/ADHD experiment confirm this pattern: children with SLI performed poorer than children with ADHD on all verbal cognitive measures. When looking at the non-verbal measures of abilities, the SLI group outperformed the ADHD group on working memory and IQ scores but not academic performance scores. Results from the SLI/Dyslexia experiment also confirmed what was predicted. Children with dyslexia outperformed their SLI counterparts on all cognitive measures. A possible explanation for these finding is that there are fewer classroom-based programs designed specifically to support children with SLI.

We examined whether individual self-monitoring differences predict what type of relationships people have on Facebook. In the offline world, high self-monitors have large heterogeneous social networks made up of weak emotional ties, whereas low self-monitors have small homogenous social networks made up of strong emotional ties. In our study, we defined online relationships in terms of bridging and bonding social capital. Bridging social capital refers to large heterogeneous social networks made up of weak emotional ties. People maintain these relationships for social benefits. Bonding social capital refers to small homogeneous social networks made up of strong emotional ties. People maintain these relationships for emotional benefits. We predicted high self-monitors will have more bridging than bonding social capital on Facebook; low self-monitors will have more bonding than bridging social capital on Facebook. We believed attitudes about using Facebook would moderate these relationships. We used Snyder‟s Self-Monitoring Scale, Williams‟ Online Social Capital Scales, and Facebook Intensity Scale to assess our variables of interest. We found support for our hypotheses. For high self-monitors, greater importance placed on Facebook usage predicted increases in bridging social capital on Facebook; for low self-monitors, greater importance placed on Facebook usage predicted increases in bonding social capital on Facebook. Keywords: self-monitoring, social capital, social media, Facebook

The mood-as-input model of perseverative worrying is a conceptual model that has been developed to explain the perseverative aspect of worry inherent in Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) (Davey, 2006a). The first objective of this study was to provide additional empirical support for the mood-as-input model of perseverative worrying. A second objective of this study was to investigate the association between perseverative worry and GAD symptoms. The final objective of this study was to assist in generating a comprehensive model of worry that incorporated unique predictors of GAD. Results indicated that unique variables, such as ‘as many as can’ stop rules and beliefs about worry, were weak predictors of perseveration, but were significant predictors of worry and GAD symptoms. Therefore, these variables may still contribute to the processes inherent in perseverative worry. Results also indicated that the catastrophic interview was an overall weak predictor of worry and GAD symptoms, suggesting that the catastrophic interview might not be the most suitable measure of perseverative worry. In summary, the current study provides mixed support for the mood-as-input model of perseverative worrying. Future research should further examine the relationship of the catastrophic interview and perseverative worry. In addition, future studies should include measures of GAD symptoms as an outcome variable when studying the mood-as-input model. Keywords: worry, GAD, catastrophic interview, meta-cognition, stop rules

In order to obtain a closer look into the relationships between an at-risk populations’ family stressors and future school problem behaviors, a Latent Class Analysis (LCA) of family stressor variables was performed on at-risk elementary school girls from Health Zone 1. Participants were 308 girls with a mean age of 8.79 years. The dataset was inherited from the Delores Barr Weaver Policy Center and analyses were run to uncover latent classes of family stressors. Class membership was then utilized to predict future behavioral referrals and suspensions from school. A total of three classes emerged from the LCA: “Exposure to Trauma”; “Familial Stress”; and “Stable Home.” Chi-square analysis between class membership and future behavioral referrals and suspensions failed to reach significance. However, chi-square analyses between class membership and some future family stressors were significant. It appears that latent classes of stressors can be uncovered, and these classes can be utilized in the meaningful prediction of outcome variables. Implications for researchers and policy makers are discussed.

The mere thought effect is the tendency for favorable attitudes to become more favorable and unfavorable attitudes to become more unfavorable following thought (Tesser, 1978). Changes in belief-consistency and belief-confidence mediate this effect (Tesser, Martin, & Mendolia, 1995). However, there are self-monitoring differences in the extent to which people are driven by consistency in their beliefs (Fuglestad & Snyder, 2009; Snyder, 1974). It was predicted that mere-thought and self-monitoring will interactively influence attitude polarization. We also hypothesized that the interactive effects of mere-thought and self-monitoring on attitude polarization will be mediated by belief-consistency and belief-confidence. After indicating their initial attitudes about capital punishment, participants were randomly assigned to two different opportunities for thought (i.e., 60s or 180s condition) to list all beliefs about capital punishment. Participants independently responded to the 25-item Self-Monitoring Scale (Snyder, 1974) and a measure on belief-confidence. As predicted, there was a marginally reliable significant interaction between mere-thought and self-monitoring. Low self-monitors compared to high self-monitors demonstrated more polarized attitudes when giving them more time to think about a target issue. As predicted, after controlling for belief-consistency and belief-confidence, the interaction between opportunity for thought and self-monitoring was attenuated. Limitations (i.e., problem with directionality, third variable problem, and threats to statistical validity) and suggestions for future research (i.e., conditions high self-monitors might exhibit more attitude polarization and exploring additional personality/situational moderators) were discussed.

Creativity is a topic that is relevant to everyday life. Research in this area has mainly focused on comparing creativity in work contexts and between Eastern and Western conceptualizations. The current study was designed to measure differences in creativity between students in the United States and India by comparing a measure of cognitive creativity, the Abbreviated Torrance Test for Adults, to a measure of creative achievement, the Creative Achievement Questionnaire. The results from a linear regression showed that the Abbreviated Torrance Test for Adults was predictive of the Creative Achievement Questionnaire in the United States, but not in India. Results from independent samples t-tests showed that participants from the United States scored significantly higher on the Abbreviated Torrance Test for Adults than participants from India. Independent samples t-tests further showed that participants from India scored significantly higher on originality domain of the Abbreviated Torrance Test for Adults than participants from the United States. Independent samples t-tests showed there was no significant difference between the two countries in terms of overall creative achievement. However, participants in the United States scored significantly higher in the domain of creative writing, and marginally higher in the domain of music. Participants from India scored significantly higher in the domain of culinary arts. Part of the explanation for the results revolves around the idea that the Abbreviated Torrance Test for Adults is western-centric test. There is a need for a creativity test that takes into account Eastern conceptualizations of creativity. Based on the results the researcher recommends staying away from overgeneralizing East/West dichotomies, instead shifting the focus towards the uniqueness of individual cultures.

The co-dependence of nicotine and alcohol addiction occurs at high rates, complicates treatment, and is often associated with significant morbidity and mortality. Treatment options of alcohol and tobacco co-dependence are limited. Currently, there are drugs available for nicotine dependence or alcohol dependence. However, there are no therapeutic drugs available on the market for the co-dependence of nicotine and alcohol. Therefore, and important opportunity of new therapeutic options and drug development has presented itself. NT69L, a non-selective neurotensin (NT) agonist, provides a potential novel therapy for nicotine addiction in alcoholics by interacting with the common neurotransmitter circuits supporting the rewarding process for both nicotine and alcohol. Considering the behavioral effects of NT69L in attenuating nicotine self-administration in rats and alcohol consumption in mice, the present study was designed to assess the effects of NT69L as a new drug. NT69L was used in the treatment of nicotine addiction in an animal model of alcoholics and in attempts to attenuate withdrawal signs associated with nicotine and alcohol dependence. Wistar rats pre-exposed to alcohol vapor or air were allowed to self-infuse nicotine (0.03mg/kg/infusion) or saline. When the rats reached a stable level of responding, the effect of pretreatment with NT69L (1mg/kg i.p.) on the reinforcing effect of nicotine was determined. Animals self-infused nicotine at a significantly (p < .05) higher rate compared to saline in both air and alcohol vapor exposed groups. Acute pretreatment with a single injection of NT69L significantly (p < .05) reduced nicotine self-infusion in both the alcohol vapor and the air exposed groups for 5 days post-injection. Additionally, NT69L attenuated the alcohol- and nicotine-induced withdrawal signs associated with the discontinuation of alcohol and nicotine administration. Neurotensin agonist, NT69L, may represent a potential novel therapy to treat the co-addiction of alcohol and nicotine.

Women in leadership positions may experience stereotype threat when explicitly or implicitly reminded of gender and leader stereotypes. Increased worry about potentially confirming the stereotype should affect their behavior and perceptions in leadership situations. I used a 3 (article) x 2 (confederate gender) between-participants design. Female participants read an article that either made stereotypes explicit (explicit threat), countered stereotypes (threat nullification), or did not include stereotype-relevant information (implicit threat) and were assigned to lead a male or female confederate through the construction of a Lego model. I hypothesized that women in the implicit threat conditions (implicit article; male confederate) would objectively and subjectively perform worse than women in the explicit and nullification article conditions and those working with a female confederate. Women should experience the situation more negatively in conditions of threat (explicit and implicit articles; male confederate). Confederate perceptions of the participants should be more negative, except competence, when participants performed well (explicit and nullification article; female confederate). Results partially supported the hypotheses. Women who led men objectively performed worse, perceived their own performance as worse, were perceived as less competent and overall less favorably by their employees, and experienced the situation more negatively than women who led women. The article had little impact on participants and outcomes. The findings suggest that female leaders may be unintentionally undermining themselves when stereotype reminders are present, such as when asked to lead a man in a masculine task. Experiencing stereotype threat may influence women to opt out of leadership due to their negative experiences and they may not earn promotions due to poor performance and coworkers’ negative perceptions of their behavior.

Recently, cognitive psychologists have focused their research on the survival aspects of human memory, showing advantages for remembering information encoded for adaptive qualities. When participants rated words related to survival relevance (stranded in grasslands), Nairne et al. (2007) and others found survival processing’s retention superior to many semantic encoding techniques, however, we questioned the global application of survival processing. In the present adaptive memory experiment we used the thematic word list paradigm pioneered by Deese, Rodeiger and McDermott, allowing us to measure false recall of critical items from sets of word lists. To investigate recall differences based on the material type encoded, we separated recalled material into two categories: survival and non-survival. Because arousal can influence memory performance, we extended research on adaptive memory to include social arousal induced by videotaping participants during study and recall tasks. Videotaping subjects has been shown to induce arousal levels similar to those when being observed, and may parallel arousal experienced in survival scenarios. Overall, recall was lower for survival processing. Survival-relevant information was more accurately remembered, and was not hindered by camera presence, unlike non-survival information. Additionally, false memories were higher under videotaped conditions. While our results did not support Nairne and colleagues, our findings may support the development of evolved brain mechanisms. The current findings are discussed with an emphasis on contemporary high arousal situations that may influence the activation of adaptive memories. We join a growing set of literature that questions the overall benefits of survival processing.

The current work extends upon the theories of female mate preference in a novel way by examining how the interaction of race and the masculinity of males affect preference in females. In Study 1, I manipulated the facial masculinity of photographs of White, Black, and Asian males. Female participants rated the faces on attractiveness, masculinity, and age. In Study 2, nine photographs were matched on masculinity and participants made judgments on dimensions relating to dateabiltity, attractiveness, resources, masculinity, and parenting behaviors. Asian males are often neglected as potential romantic partners. A major aim of the current work was to assess if racial bias against Asian males in romantic situations are lessened with increased facial masculinity. Asian males were evaluated highly across several dimensions if they possessed high masculine facial characteristics. Medium masculine White and Black males were evaluated as the most attractive and dateable in their respective racial groups. Additionally, low masculine White and Black males were evaluated as better choices for resource and family-related attributions in their respective racial groups.