Depression and related disorders are characterized by motivational dysfunctions, including deficits in behavioral activation and exertion of effort. Animal models of relevance to depression represent a critical starting point in elucidating the neurobiological mechanisms underlying motivational dysfunctions. The present study explored the use of the Wistar-Kyoto (WKY) animal model of depression to examine effort-related functions as measured by voluntary wheel running and performance on a mixed fixed ratio 5/progressive ratio (FR5/PR) operant task. Given the known link between activational aspects of motivation and the mesocorticolimbic dopamine (DA) system, the behavioral effects of d-amphetamine (0.5 and 1.0 mg/kg, IP), a psychostimulant that increases DA release, were evaluated in WKY and control Sprague-Dawley (SD) male and female rats responding on a mixed FR5/PR task. An additional experiment assessed intracellular content of monoamine neurotransmitters and their metabolites in relevant mesocorticolimbic brain regions, including the medial prefrontal cortex, the nucleus accumbens and the ventrolateral striatum using HPLC-ED. WKY rats demonstrated initial effort-related deficits in FR5/PR responding compared to SD controls, which ameliorated with training. Amphetamine significantly decreased FR5 work output, but increased responding on the PR phase in both SD and WKY rats. This effect was more pronounced in SD rats compare to WKY rats. In addition, sex differences were evident both in FR5/PR performance and in the behavioral response to amphetamine treatment. Moreover, females demonstrated higher levels of voluntary wheel-running than males. Finally, tissue concentrations of dopamine were lower in the NA and VLS of WKY compared to SD rats. Taken together, results suggest dysfunctions in mesolimbic DA neurotransmission in the WKY strain, likely underlying the depressive phenotype. The present study represents an important initial step in validating the WKY strain as a rat model of effort-related dysfunctions relevant to depression and other neuropsychiatric disorders.

This paper discusses the design, implementation, and evaluation of a serious game intended to reinforce applied behavior analysis (ABA) techniques used with children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) by providing a low cost and easily accessible supplement to traditional methods. Past and recent research strongly supports the use of computer assisted instruction in the education of individuals with ASD (Moore & Calvert, 2000; Noor, Shahbodin, & Pee, 2012). Computer games have been shown to boost confidence and provide calming mechanisms (Griffiths, 2003) while being a safe environment for social exploration and learning (Moore, Cheng, McGrath, & Powell, 2005). Games increase children's motivation and thus increase the rate of learning in computer mediated environments (Moore & Calvert, 2000). Furthermore, children with ASD are able to understand basic emotions and facial expressions in avatars more easily than in real-world interactions (Moore, Cheng, McGrath, & Powell, 2005). Perspective-taking (also known as role-taking) has been shown to be a crucial component and antecedent to empathy (Gomez-Becerra, Martin, Chavez-Brown, & Greer, 2007; Peng, Lee, & Heeter, 2010). Though symptoms vary across children with ASD, perspective-taking and empathy are abilities that have been shown to be limited across a wide spectrum of individuals with ASD and Asperger's disorder (Gomez-Becerra, Martin, Chavez-Brown, & Greer, 2007). A game called WUBeeS was developed to aid young children with ASD in perspective taking and empathy by placing the player in the role of a caregiver to a virtual avatar. It is hypothesized that through the playing of this game over a series of trials, children with ASD will show an iv increase in the ability to discriminate emotions, provide appropriate responses to basic needs (e.g. feeding the avatar when it is hungry), and be able to communicate more clearly about emotions.

<p>Past theory and research have documented several stereotypes that explain why biases against Asian Americans (AAs) in U.S. organizations can occur, such as the Model Minority Stereotype (MMS) and Perpetual Foreigner Syndrome (PFS). The current project expands on past work by proposing a new perspective of stereotypes driving (mis)treatment of AAs: Mechanistic dehumanization. Specifically, I argue that AAs are seen as more robot-like compared to other racial groups in the U.S., which may explain some of the negative workplace treatments they face. To test this phenomenon, I conducted a set of five pre-registered studies to examine the extent to which AAs tend to be more mechanistically dehumanized than other racial groups in the U.S., and its workplace implications. In a pilot study (N = 1,003), the results revealed that East, South, and Southeast AAs tended to be mechanistically dehumanized and internalized this dehumanization more than other groups. In Study 1 (Study 1a, N= 255; Study 1b, N = 427), a survey and experimental study provided support that AA coworkers are more mechanistically dehumanized than White American coworkers, and this mediated the relationship between coworker race and negative work outcomes (e.g., less perceived leadership potential, more exploitative treatment, and less workplace friendship). In another survey study, Study 2 (N = 473) found that mechanistic dehumanization exhibited incremental validity in predicting negative work outcomes for AAs, above and beyond MMS and PFS. Finally, in Study 3 (N = 477), an all-Asian sample found that AAs’ internalization of mechanistic dehumanization predicted more negative work outcomes (e.g., increased burnout, less workplace friendship), above and beyond MMS and PFS. Altogether, the current work supports a mechanistic dehumanization account of bias against AAs, reveals racial subgroup differences, and provides a novel explanation for why AAs experience certain workplace inequities. </p>

Physical activity (PA) has many health benefits, both physical and psychological. PA has been linked to improved cognitive functioning, superior overall health, and enhanced emotional well-being in populations ranging from school-age children to older adults. There has been less research, however, examining the benefits of PA in atypical preschool populations. The present study examined the efficacy of a PA intervention in preschool-aged children at risk for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). ADHD symptomatology, response inhibition, and physical activity were measured at three time points over a 6-month period. Results provide support for the efficacy of PA as an alleviative tool in preschoolers with ADHD. This research is some of the first to use objective measures to examine PA as viable intervention in atypical preschool populations.

<p dir="ltr">A loss of a job or relationship are a few examples of unexpected reward loss. Life events such as these can induce negative emotional reactions (e.g., anxiety and stress) which have been associated with increased drinking and in turn, an increased risk of developing an alcohol use disorder (AUD). The present study used a consummatory successive negative contrast (SNC) procedure to demonstrate unexpected reward loss reactivity in two lines selectively bred to consume high amounts of ethanol, alcohol preferring (P) and high alcohol drinking (HAD) rats. Following this reward loss, animals were given free access to ethanol to determine if ethanol consumption would increase to negate any negative emotional reaction provoked by this loss. P rats demonstrated a longer contrast effect than HAD rats, indicated by a longer recovery time following the downshift in reward. Conversely, HAD males did not demonstrate a contrast effect following this downshift in reward. Surprisingly, P rats who experienced a loss of reward consumed significantly less ethanol than animals who did not. Lastly, an individual measure of contrast size, or shift ratio, was significantly associated with greater ethanol consumption in HAD males only, who did not display a contrast effect. These data indicate different reactivity to SNC between these two lines and sexes, suggesting different genetic and sex-related mechanisms underlying sensitivity to an unexpected loss of reward.</p>

<p>When environmental philosophy began as a political movement, one of its original goals was to transform people's lifestyles. This required appeals to everyday intuitions and emotional writing evoking the intrinsic value of nature. This style exists in institutional environmental philosophy today, but sits uneasy with academic pressure toward rigor and careful analysis. The first half of my thesis criticizes various problems in environmental philosophy regarding these issues and arguments for other moral principles that displace intrinsic value. I attempt to return the concept of intrinsic value to a prominent place in environmental philosophy, not as a popular intuition, but as an answer to one central philosophical question: the point of human existence. Engaging with particular topics in ecology, biology, phenomenology, ethology, complexity theory, and the assemblage theory of Deleuze and Guattari, the second half of my thesis builds a concept of selfhood that I hope is adequate to answer that question of why humanity should bother ensuring its survival.</p> / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

The research on siblings of individuals with disabilities has rarely addressed the perceived benefits of having a sibling with a disability. The existing research on the experience of siblings of persons with disabilities is also limited to European American families (Sage & Jegatheesan, 2010). With families from different cultures, I sought to capture the experiences of brothers and sisters who have siblings with disabilities. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the relationships of siblings with disabilities and typical developing siblings, and present a holistic picture from the perspective of the typical developing siblings. These gaps in the literature will be addressed by interviewing siblings about their experiences of coping with adversity, the perceived benefits of having a sibling with a disability, and how the perceptions of the person with a disability by professionals, parents, and other family members has impacted their experiences. Participants were recruited from a pool of persons already known to the researcher and through a “snowball” approach (Hays & Singh, 2012), resulting in a heterogeneous group of eight participants. Interpretive phenomenology was the theoretical lens used for this study, as the purpose of it is to interpret and understands one’s described experiences. A semi-structured interview protocol was used to interview each of the participants three times. Themes emerged in the areas of the challenges of having a sibling with a disability, coping with those challenges, and perceived benefits of having a sibling with a disability. Lastly, messages for families, educators, professionals and future researchers are shared.

Two studies were conducted to measure positive personality change expected to occur during four years of a self-actualizing program. The first study computed inter correlations among the scales of the Personal Orientation Inventory (POI) for students in the Psychology and English Departments of a Spanish-speaking college, which were then compared with those reported in the test manual. Generally, correlations were greater than those in the manual, which suggested possible influence by the humanistic and Christian philosophy of the college. The second study examined the effect of training for self-actualization and personality growth on the behavior of a group of psychology teacher-trainees. Results indicated that subjects in the treatment conditions improved significantly in their levels of self-actualization as measured by the Time Competency and Inner-directedness scales of the POI.

Millennials are growing within the workforce, but they are becoming difficult to attract and retain for longer than two years at a time. In addition, Millennials have generational-specific values that are different than their predecessors. Identifying and applying these workplace expectations to organizational policies have made it challenging for leaders to appeal to this generation. Millennials desire five aspects from their workplace: work with a purpose, to be their own boss or work for a boss that is a mentor, a collaborative work environment, flexible work schedules, and work-life integration and/or work-life balance. Using a survey research method, this thesis outlines how Millennials appreciate these values in a workplace and, because of this appreciation, employers and recruiters should consider them for attrition and recruitment purposes. This thesis also examines why the assumption that Millennials are job hoppers who would rather work for themselves than an established corporation is unfounded. Finally, this thesis finds that the risk aversion trait Millennials possess affects their potential for decision making regarding their career that this trait can be used by organizations to market communication positions to this generation.

Activation of brain regions that make up the mirror neuron system (MNS) is thought to reflect processing and perceiving behavior, action, and intentionality of other organisms. Sensing and perceiving motor behavior in others is an important component of understanding and participating in social interactions. Children with chromosome 22q11.2 deletion syndrome (22q11.2DS) are diagnosed with serious medical, cognitive, and socio-emotional symptoms. Atypical development and function of the MNS may underpin some aspects of socio-emotional impairment and autism spectrum disorder (ASD)-like symptomology reported. This study of the MNS investigates differences in activation in the operculum, sensorimotor areas, and basal ganglia (BG) in children with 22q11.2DS compared to typically-developing (TD) controls. Twenty-nine children (22q11.2DS: n=15; TD: n=16) between ages 7-16 viewed videos of a human hand manipulating various household objects during a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scan. In Analysis 1, children with 22q11.2DS had less extensive brain activation than TD children in the operculum, sensorimotor areas, and BG. In Analysis 2, children with 22q11.2DS had the same results as Analysis 1 with the exception of sensorimotor areas not being highly active in either group. In both analyses, fMRI signal change from baseline to video did not differ significantly between groups. Processing efficiency in children with 22q11.2DS may be lower or more variable when compared to TD peers. This is the first study comparing children with 22q11.2DS to TD peers specifically looking at MNS activation within the operculum region to assess higher cognitive functioning, somatosensory cortex for sensory interpretation, and basal ganglia for gross motor activity. Future studies should compare brain activation between children with ASD and those with 22q11.2DS during an MNS task as the next step to further clarify the origin of ASD symptoms reported in this population.