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Recent research on structural priming has found that cumulative priming effects established in one experimental session can persist for a week and affect a participant's subsequent linguistic productions (e.g., Kaschak, Kutta, & Schatschneider, 2011). Furthermore, the results of Kaschak, Kutta, & Coyle (under review) indicated that the persistence of the priming effect over the course of a week was dependent upon the participant performing the same language production task that they had a week before. This provided evidence that the long-term cumulative structural priming effect operates in a context-specific manner, however it is unclear exactly what types of memory contribute to these long-term priming effects. The persistence of this long-term cumulative structural priming effect seems to be primarily due to the participant's implicit learning of the biased syntactic construction and the procedural learning that occurred in the biasing phase. If the priming effect is primarily due to implicit learning, then it should be insensitive to changes in the extrinsic context and follow the pattern of results found in McKone and French (2001). The results of the present study indicate that the long-term persistence of the priming effect was insensitive to any changes in the extrinsic context. This study provides strong evidence that long-term structural priming effects should be attributed to an implicit learning mechanism within the language production system. Implications for the role of memory in a structural priming task and prospective research are discussed. / A Thesis submitted to the Department of Psychology in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science. / Fall Semester, 2011. / October 24, 2011. / Context, Implicit Learning, Structural Priming / Includes bibliographical references. / Michael Kaschak, Professor Directing Thesis; Colleen Kelley, Committee Member; Carol Connor, Committee Member.

A subpopulation of neurons in the chick cochlear nucleus, nucleus magnocellularis (NM), dies following cochlea removal. Previous studies using a "candidate molecule" approach, in which molecules known to regulate cell death in other systems are selectively investigated, have identified several proteins that are up- or down-regulated in NM following deafness. A problem with this approach, however, is that it will miss many potentially important candidates. The present study sought to perform a more complete profile of proteomics changes in response to deafferentation. Early post-hatch chicks were deafferented by a unilateral removal of the basilar papilla (cochlea) and sacrificed 3 hours, 6 hours, or 1 week later. Proteins from NM tissue on the deaf and intact side of the brain were analyzed using nanospray LC/MSE with a Waters Corp. Synapt G2 HS Mass Spectrometer, and data were processed in ProteinLynx Global SERVERTM. At each time point, several pro-survival proteins were found to be increased on the deafferented NM. Many of the proteins that were identified were related to managing ATP levels in neurons and have also been shown to be neuroprotective in other systems. Several more proteins are known to interact with and inhibit known apoptotic proteins. Here, we provide evidence for deafferentation-induced protein changes at three time points following deafferentation. We also name several proteins that are likely involved in the survivability of NM neurons following deafferentation. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Psychology in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Spring Semester, 2012. / March 28, 2012. / auditory, cell death, cell survival, chick, mass spectrometry, proteomics / Includes bibliographical references. / Rick Hyson, Professor Directing Dissertation; Laura Keller, University Representative; Frank Johnson, Committee Member; Mohamed Kabbaj, Committee Member; Michael Kaschak, Committee Member.

Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD) is a prevalent disorder marked by significant impairment. Advancing our understanding of the disorder is important to prevention and treatment of SAD. Formal diagnostic criteria and traditional accounts of SAD highlight the feature of avoidance; however, this depiction of SAD minimizes the full spectrum of responses to social anxiety. If humans are evolutionarily prepared to face perceived threat with a "flight or fight" response, it seems reasonable to assume that the entire nature of this response should be observed in clinical manifestations of anxiety. Following work by Kashdan and colleagues (Kashdan, Elhai, & Breen, 2008; Kashdan & Hoffman, 2008; Kashdan, McKnight, Richey, & Hoffman, 2009), this study directly examined this confrontational side of responses in social anxiety, specifically aggression, in a sample of socially anxious college students. Two hundred twenty-one students who exhibited high scores on two measures of social anxiety were subjected to a paradigm in which they were asked to make decisions ostensibly related to painful tasks and hurtful ratings of partners in the study. In order to increase the likelihood of aggressive responding, half of the participants were told that the study was investigating leadership skills, and their leadership skills were called into question. All participants received measures of symptoms/traits thought to relate to aggressive responding; a component score was derived from these measures to aid in the detection of participants most likely to aggress. Results showed that some participants did display aggressive responding in the study. Direct aggression was predicted by a three-way interaction between component score, experimental manipulation, and sex, and approximately 16-22% of the sample displayed high levels of aggression on the various tasks measuring direct aggression. Traits of paranoia, psychopathy, and borderline personality were most related to direct aggression. Indirect aggression was predicted by component score, and 21.27% of the sample displayed high levels of indirect aggression. Traits of paranoia were most related to indirect aggression. Self-reported aggression was predicted by component score and gender, and 7.78% of males in the sample and 14.50% of females in the sample reported high levels of self-reported aggression. Traits of paranoia, psychopathy, and depressive personality were most related to self-reported aggression. These patterns of results were not, however, mediated by beliefs about the status enhancement potential of aggression. The results, as a whole, support prior findings of atypical responses to social anxiety and suggest that some social anxious individuals may respond with aggression rather than prototypical avoidance. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Psychology in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Summer Semester, 2012. / June 26, 2012. / Aggression, Social Anxiety / Includes bibliographical references. / Norman B. Schmidt, Professor Directing Dissertation; Bruce A. Thyer, University Representative; Thomas E. Joiner, Committee Member; Jon K. Maner, Committee Member; Jesse R. Cougle, Committee Member.

Does asking participants to monitor their performance alter the way metacognitive processes operate? Judgments of learning and other similar metacognitive judgments are recognized as a type of verbal report, and although reactivity is often a central concern in other verbal report methods (see Fox, Ericsson, & Best, 2011), surprisingly little work has specifically evaluated reactivity in JOLs. The two experiments presented here demonstrate that immediate JOLs are reactive under self-paced study conditions. Specifically, immediate JOLs change how participants allocate their self-paced study time, which in turn affects memory performance. I argue that this occurs because the expectation that a JOL will be requested for a given item changes participants` criteria for terminating study. Implications for theories of self-regulated study are discussed. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Psychology in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Fall Semester, 2011. / October 24, 2011. / judgments of learning, metamemory, reactivity, verbal reports / Includes bibliographical references. / Colleen M. Kelley, Professor Directing Dissertation; Leonard L. LaPointe, University Representative; Neil Charness, Committee Member; Joyce Ehrlinger, Committee Member; K. Anders Ericsson, Committee Member.

For my dissertation, I used whole nerve and single-cell recording methods to investigate the influence of organic anions and organic acids on sodium responses by the chorda tympani nerve (CT) that innervates taste buds on the anterior tongue. For single cell recording, I focused on the responses of NaCl-specialist and acid generalist neurons, the two major neuron types of the chorda tympani with robust salt sensitivity. To assess the influence of organic anions on sodium responses (Chapter 2), I examined the responses of the whole nerve and both neuron types to a broad concentration range of NaCl (an inorganic salt) and Na gluconate (an organic salt). The CT nerve responded better to NaCl than to Na gluconate at each concentration; however both salts were differentially represented by NaCl-specialist and acid-generalist neuron types. In particular, I showed that NaCl specialists responded to sodium salts with short-response latencies and high-response frequencies--spike latency and spike frequency was virtually unaffected by the large organic anion, gluconate. Responses to NaCl in NaCl specialists were attenuated by application of benzamil, indicating that they respond to sodium via apical epithelial sodium channels (ENaCs). In contrast, acid generalists responded to sodium salts with longer-response latencies and lower-response frequencies than their NaCl specialist counterparts--gluconate severely attenuated spike frequency and increased spike latency. NaCl responses in acid generalists were unaffected by benzamil or SB366791, indicating that they do not respond to sodium via ENaCs or via transient receptor potential vanilloid receptor 1 (TRPV1) channels, respectively. Interestingly, humans report that Na gluconate tastes less salty and they recognize it more slowly than NaCl, similar to the response characteristics of acid-generalist neurons. It is possible that the receptor mechanism(s) of acid generalists is functionally conserved in humans but this awaits future investigation. To assess the influence of an organic acid (Chapter 3) on sodium responses, I examined the responses by the whole nerve and by both neuron types to a broad concentration range of acetic acid, NaCl, and mixtures of NaCl with acetic acid. I showed that the rat CT nerve and acid-generalist neurons responded in a concentration-dependent manner across the entire range of acetic-acid concentrations. Acid-generalist neurons responded with progressively increasing spike frequency and decreasing spike latency as acetic acid concentration increased. NaCl-specialist neurons were virtually unresponsive to acetic acid. Interestingly, CT nerve responses to acetic acid/NaCl mixtures were less than the sum of responses to each stimulus component, indicating that either acetic acid or NaCl decreased the responses of the other. In NaCl specialists, responses to NaCl/acetic acid mixtures were less than the sum of responses to each component, but there was no apparent concentration dependent effect of acetic acid evoked inhibition. In contrast, responses to acetic acid/NaCl mixtures in acid generalists were additive, equal to the sum of responses to each stimulus component. Together, results from both studies indicate that NaCl specialists respond to sodium salts through apical ENaCs and are attenuated with acetic acid, whereas acid-generalists responded to sodium salts and acetic acid through separate mechanisms whose origins are still largely unknown. The pronounced "anion effect" in acid generalists indicates that this unknown receptor site is not apical, rather it is most likely located deeper within the epithelium--below the tight-junctional barrier. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Psychology in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Fall Semester, 2011. / October 14, 2011. / Gustatory, Neuron, Sodium / Includes bibliographical references. / Robert J. Contreras, Professor Directing Dissertation; Peggy Hsieh, University Representative; Michael Meredith, Committee Member; Alan C. Spector, Committee Member; Christopher Schatschneider, Committee Member.

Although it is well known that people have fundamental desires for both social affiliation and power, it is less clear how these core social motives interface with each other. In the current research, I tested the hypothesis that power reduces social affiliative motives, especially among those high in power motivation. In Study 1, I found that the psychological experience of power reduced people's desire to connect with others. In Study 2, compared to control and low power individuals, powerful individuals displayed less interest in joining a campus service aimed at bringing students together. For individuals high in power motivation, experiencing power caused especially strong disinterest in affiliating with others. In Study 3, participants were randomly assigned to a powerful role, a powerless role, or a control role on a dyadic task and then completed a variety of measures assessing affiliative desire. Relative to control and low power participants, high power participants experienced significant decreases in their affiliative desire and were more likely to distance themselves physically from anticipated social partners. Together, these results are consistent with the hypothesis that power reduces people's need for social connection. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Psychology in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Summer Semester, 2012. / May 22, 2012. / Affiliation, Belonging, Motivation, Power / Includes bibliographical references. / Jon K. Maner, Professor Directing Dissertation; Mark Winegardner, University Representative; Roy F. Baumeister, Committee Member; Mary A. Gerend, Committee Member; Michael P. Kaschak, Committee Member.

Dysfunctional decision-making is characteristic of numerous psychiatric disorders including schizophrenia, mood disorders, ADHD, eating disorders, pathological gambling and substance abuse. The rodent Gambling Task (rGT) is analogous to the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) and models risky decision-making in rodents. The rGT has unique response options that range from high probability of small rewards and lower probability of penalty to responses that result in low probability of larger reward and higher probability of penalty. Similar to the IGT, the optimal rGT strategy is exclusive choice of an intermediate reward/penalty response option. Importantly, similar baseline behavior exists between human and rodent subjects and supports the validity of the rGT in examining different behavioral phenotypes. In addition to strong face and construct validity, the rGT measures motor impulsivity and decision-making behaviors and integration- or dissociation- of these two behaviors is essential to characterizing the impact of different neurobiological or pharmacological manipulations. Due to monoamines' (dopamine, serotonin and norepinephrine) integral role in the modulation of reward assessment and impulsivity, we examined the impact of several monoaminergic-altering drugs: d-amphetamine, eticlopride, cocaine, methylphenidate (Ritalin), and bupropion (Wellbutrin). Although each drug differed in mechanism of action and affinity for specific monoamine transporters, only slight behavioral differences were observed in the rGT. Interestingly, all monoamine-enhancing drugs increased selection of the lowest risk option and significantly shifted behavior away from the optimal response. / A Thesis submitted to the Department of Psychology in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science. / Spring Semester, 2012. / March 26, 2012. / Decision Making, Monoamines, rGT / Includes bibliographical references. / Joshua S. Rodefer, Professor Directing Dissertation; Frank Johnson, Committee Member; Walter R. Boot, Committee Member.