There is a long history of research on the effects of reward motivation on memory, but there are still questions concerning how such motivational variables affect memory. In a study that examined the influence of reward anticipation on episodic memory, Adcock, Thangavel, Whitfield-Gabireli, Knutson, and Gabrieli (2006) found that memory was better for scenes preceded by high value reward cues than low value cues (see also Cushman, 2012; Spaniol, Schain, & Bowen, 2013). More recently, Castel, Murayama, Friedman, McGillivray, & Link (2013) observed that anticipation of reward influences selective attention to “to be remembered” (TBR) words and the memories that are formed in both younger (YA) and older adults (OA). Finally, in an examination of reward-motivated memory for both word items and pairs, Mutter, Luttrell, & Steen (2013) found that high reward enhanced associative memory for word pairs for both YA and OA. The theoretical explanation for this finding attributed word pair stimuli as promoting and high reward motivation as selectively enhancing relational encoding strategies for both OA and YA, producing reward effects for associative recognition performance only. The present study conceptually replicated the methodology from Mutter, Luttrell, and Steen (2013) in an examination of how reward motivation at study affects non-verbal single item recognition and dual item recognition for picture pair stimuli. It was expected that high reward will induce both YA and OA to engage in more extensive encoding of TBR information, but that, due to age-related associative deficits (e.g., Naveh – Benjamin, Hussain, Guez, & Bar-On, 2003), the type of encoded representations would differ for the two groups. YA would perform better than OA on the types of recognition that require memory for relational information (i.e., associative and context recognition), but YA and OA would perform equally well on the types of recognition that require memory for item-specific information (i.e., pair and no context recognition). As compared to the word pair stimuli used by Mutter and colleagues (2013), it was expected that picture pair stimuli would alternatively promote item-specific encoding strategies for both OA and YA and high reward would selectively enhance single item recognition performance.

The area of childlessness, particulary voluntary childlessness, has been virtually ignored by most researchers. Pohlman claims to have been unable to find research which supports the popular idea that intentionally childless husbands and wives tend to be emotionally disturbed. However, he does note that he was able to find numerous statements from medical and social science publications which in various ways imply that the deliberately childless are usually maladjusted.

In an investigation of the concurrent validity of the Acting Out Score (AOS) of the Hand Test, the AOSs of 32 normal college students were compared with the scores they obtained on two clinically popular self-report criterion measures of hostility and aggression, the Buss-Durkee (BD) and the Hostility and Direction of Hostility Questionnaire (HDHQ). The AOS did not significantly differentiate between high and low scoring groups on either the HDHQ or BD although both criterion measures were found to be significantly related.

Three population samples of college students were found to be similar on two stratifying variables, general intelligence and knowledge of conditioning principles, before viewing a time-compressed or non-compressed videotape presentation. The amount of unprompted information recalled did not differ significantly between the time-compressed and non-compressed treatment conditions. Additionally, neither treatment condition differed significantly on a multiple-choice posttest, although both groups did differ significantly from a control group that did not view the videotape. No significant difference was found between the time-compressed and non-compressed groups on their ratings of Quality of Narrator, Interest Level of Topic, and Overall Quality of Videotape Presentation. The time-compressed group rated their presentation as significantly faster than the non-compressed group.

Although the link between violent video games and aggressive behavior has received extensive coverage, there is growing evidence that prosocial video games can exert a positive influence as well. However, whether these effects generalize to costlier prosocial behaviors that help more distant recipients remains unclear. Here I propose an experimental study to examine whether prosocial video games can influence charitable donation behavior. College students will be randomly assigned to play 45 min of either a prosocial video game (Lemmings) or neutral video game (Tetris), followed by a 10 min filler task (mental calculation). Participants will then be asked to complete a payment form, indicating if they want to donate a portion of their experimental participation payment to a local nonprofit organization. Based on previous research, we predict that there will be a main effect of gender, with female participants more likely to donate than males. Additionally, we hypothesize a main effect of video game, where participants who play the prosocial video game will be likelier to donate than those who play the neutral game. If confirmed, these results would extend the existing literature on prosocial video games beyond informal face-to-face helping behaviors, potentially providing a psychological mechanism for costlier needs such as charitable appeals.

Little is known about how electronic cigarette (EC) users manipulate device parameters, what factors drive their use, and how non-nicotine ingredients influence the stimulus effects of EC aerosols. The ingredients propylene glycol (PG) or vegetable glycerin (VG) serve as the base for virtually all electronic cigarette liquids, and information on how they affect the using experience would provide important groundwork for the study of other ingredients. In this dissertation, results from a survey and laboratory study focused on the stimulus effects of ECs, and the influence of PG and VG, will be discussed. A total of 522 regular EC users completed a survey comprised of an electronic cigarette dependence questionnaire, questions on tobacco and electronic cigarette use, and device and liquid preferences. This was followed by a laboratory study with sixteen electronic cigarette users completing five test days (one practice and four assessment days). In the laboratory study, following one hour of nicotine deprivation, two sampling puffs from liquid formulations containing 100/0, 75/25, 50/50, 25/75, and 0/100% PG/VG concentrations were administered in random order during five assessments, each separated by 20 min. Primary outcome measures were self-reported stimulus characteristics and breakpoint on a multiple-choice procedure. Survey results indicated that ability to change device voltage, and level of resistance, was significantly associated with level of nicotine dependence, as was amount of liquid consumed, nicotine concentration, and milligrams of nicotine used per week. Participants also rated 'good taste' as the most important consideration when purchasing and using liquids, and PG was associated with undesirable effects and VG with desirable effects. Laboratory results indicated that greater VG content was associated with greater reports of visibility of the exhalant (i.e. “cloud”). Liquids with mixtures of PG or VG were associated with conventional cigarette smoking sensations and greater reductions of systolic blood pressure compared to formulations with only PG or VG. There was no significant effect of liquid formulation on the multiple-choice procedure, but puffs were rarely chosen over even the smallest monetary option ($0.05), suggesting minimal reinforcing efficacy. In conclusion, survey data indicate that a wide range device parameter settings and liquid ingredients are preferred by daily e-cigarette users, and that individuals with greater nicotine dependence favor voltage control devices, and lower resistance heating elements. Survey data also indicated that taste is a key factor for EC liquid selection, and relative concentrations of propylene glycol and vegetable glycerin may have a significant impact on the reinforcing effects of liquids. In contrast, laboratory data suggests that PG or VG do not significantly impact the abuse liability of EC liquids, though reinforcing effects of these ingredients was unclear in the laboratory study.

Licensed drivers arrested for driving under the influence (DUI) of alcohol have increased rates of vehicle crashes, moving violations, traffic tickets, and contribute to an estimated 120 million occurrences of impaired driving per year (Evans, 2004; Jewett et al., 2015). Survey research on DUI offenders indicates traits of impulsivity (e.g., sensation seeking). Together, these pieces of evidence suggest that DUI offenders display patterns of impulsive action and risk-taking while driving. However, to-date DUI offenders are rarely studied in a laboratory setting, and not much is known about how they respond to a dose of alcohol. The present study examined the degree to which DUI offenders display an increased sensitivity to the acute impairing effects of alcohol on mechanisms of behavioral impulsivity, skill and risk-based driving simulations, and subjective evaluations of driving fitness and perceived intoxication following alcohol consumption. A sample of 20 DUI offenders were compared to a demographically-matched sample of 20 control drivers. All participants attended two dose sessions in which they received either a 0.65 g/kg dose of alcohol or a placebo dose, counterbalanced, on separate days. Results indicated that alcohol affected all of the behavioral outcome measures. More specifically, alcohol increased impulsive choice responses and decreased response inhibition on the behavioral impulsivity tasks. Alcohol also increased risky driving behaviors and decreased driving-related skills. Furthermore, alcohol generally decreased participants’ self-reported willingness and ability to drive a motor vehicle, and increased levels of intoxication and BAC estimations relative to placebo. With regard to group differences, DUI offenders showed an increased sensitivity to the disrupting effects of alcohol on impulsive choices, such that DUI offenders showed a significantly greater preference for impulsive choices under alcohol relative to placebo than controls. Taken together, these findings provide some of the first pieces of evidence that compared to controls, DUI offenders display an increased tendency for impulsive decisions under alcohol, which likely contributes to risky decisions to drive after drinking, despite clear evidence for their behavioral impairment. These findings could have important implications for understanding the mechanisms underlying maladaptive behaviors in this high-risk population, and sheds light on possible targets for intervention to reduce DUI recidivism.

Men from a culture of honor often use physical aggression in response to threats as a way of restoring lost honor. Threats can range from being called an offensive name to someone flirting with their romantic partner. On the other hand, women from a culture of honor are expected to be submissive and avoid situations that can result in harm to their reputation. However, a recent meta-analytic review of the literature suggests that women do not always avoid situations that can harm their reputation. Rather, women in a culture of honor also use physical aggression in response to threats. In this study, I tested when and why men and women from a culture of honor use aggression in response to an honor threat. Participants (N = 1,043) responded to hypothetical scenarios that included threats to a person’s honor. Overall, men and women from a culture of honor used more aggression following a threat to their honor compared to people not from a culture of honor. People from a culture of honor also felt as though their reputation was hurt more by an honor threat than those, not from a culture of honor. The more participants felt their reputation was hurt, the more aggression they used against their attacker.

Major depressive disorder (MDD) is commonly diagnosed prior to adulthood, and when left untreated, may result in negative consequences that extend into adulthood. It is estimated that children and adolescents who suffer from MDD are more likely to develop conduct and anxiety disorders, and that up to 25% eventually develop substance abuse disorder. Consequently, this has resulted in a disproportionate increase in the prevalence of antidepressants prescribed to populations below 20 years of age, many of whom remain treatment-resistant. Recently, the non-competitive N-Methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonist, ketamine, has been shown to alleviate symptoms of MDD in individuals that suffer from treatment-resistant depression. However, little is known about the potential long-term consequences of ketamine exposure during early development. This is important to examine at the preclinical level, given ketamine’s abuse potential, and the diffuseness of glutamatergic innervation within the reward circuit. We first demonstrate that juvenile ketamine treatment enhances preference for natural reward (i.e., 1% sucrose) three weeks post ketamine administration. In order to determine whether these long lasting increases in reward sensitivity extend to drugs of abuse, we examined whether adolescent ketamine treatment leads to an increased preference for cocaine later in life. Specifically, male c57BL/6 mice were exposed to ketamine (0 or 20 mg/kg) either during adolescence (postnatal days [PD] 35-49) or adulthood (PD70-84), and later assessed for sensitivity to cocaine (0.0, 2.5, 5.0, 7.5, or 10.0 mg/kg) place conditioning (CPP). We show that, when compared to saline pretreated controls, adult mice treated with ketamine during adolescence display an enhanced preference for environments previously paired with moderate doses of cocaine (5.0, 7.5, and 10.0 mg/kg). In contrast, mice that are pretreated with ketamine during adulthood do not show an enhanced preference for cocaine later in life. This study is the first to show that ketamine exposure during adolescence, but not adulthood, leads to a heightened preference for cocaine in adulthood. Future research is needed in order to determine to what extent ketamine exerts age-dependent functional modification of the reward circuit, and the mechanisms by which these responses are mediated.

In Experiment I, contingency management was employed with five non-institutionalized trainable retardates (mean MA=4.l, CA=9.9, and language age=2.6) in a classroom situation. Empirically determined high probability behaviors were displayed as colored cartoon figures in a reinforcement menu. Tasks from the Peabody Language Development Kit defined the behavior strengthened during 15 one-hour sessions. A quantity of low probability task behavior had to occur in order for subjects to emit 4 minutes of high probability reinforcing activity. Through contingency management, amount of task per reinforcement was shaped from a low ratio to a high ratio. Significant gains in language age (p In Experiment II, the five children of Experiment I and another trainable retardate served as subjects. Dependent upon the behavioral change desired of the subject in the classroom situation, each subject had to meet the criterion of increasing or decreasing the specified behavior to receive the reinforcement menu and engage in 4 minutes of high probability reinforcing activity. Contingency management over 15 one-hour sessions was successful in reducing and possibly extinguishing the rate of aggressive acts, delays in starting work, shouting, leaving the desk during lessons, and refusing to obey teacher instructions. Frequency of task relevant vocalizations was also increased by this technique. During an unsystematic observation of the subjects 6 months after termination of the experiment, the undesirable behaviors occurred once an hour on the average, a rate far below the baseline frequency. Task relevant vocalizations which had been shaped to a high frequency during the experiment were emitted at a rate higher than the rate obtained during the baseline period.