This study investigated the effects of music choice on the ratings of attentional focus, affective valence, perceived exertion, and enjoyment during and after self-paced treadmill exercise of varied intensities. Thirty-four college-aged, healthy, active males and females volunteered to participate in the study. Participants completed 6 visits to the laboratory: the first visit was a medical screening to ensure safety of the participants. For the second visit, participants completed a maximal treadmill exercise test. On the third visit, participants completed the Brunel Music Rating Inventory-2 to determine their preferred and non-preferred music genres, and to self-select the low, moderate and high intensity exercise speeds that would be used in the experimental trials. During the last three visits, participants completed each of the three (preferred, non-preferred, no music) randomized and counterbalanced experimental trials. The Physical Activity Enjoyment Scale and the Feeling Scale were used to measure baseline and post-exercise ratings of enjoyment and affective valence. During exercise, the single-item Attentional Focus Scale, Feeling Scale, Borg 6-20, and Exercise Enjoyment Scale were used to measure attentional focus, affective valence, perceived exertion, and enjoyment, respectively. Results revealed a main effect for condition for affective valence and enjoyment (p < 0.001 for both interactions). A main effect was also found for intensity for attentional focus (p = 0.002) and perceived exertion (p < 0.001). Lastly, there was a main effect for activity revealed for affective valence (p = 0.047) and enjoyment (p = 0.012). Moreover, tests of between and within subjects factors revealed an interaction effect for condition by intensity for affective valence (p = 0.019) and for condition by intensity by activity for perceived exertion (p = 0.005). There was a general trend for thoughts to be more associative as intensity increased in both groups. In addition, there was a general trend for thoughts to be more dissociative during the preferred music condition compared to the non-preferred and no music trial. However, these differences were only found to be significant in the active group. Furthermore, there was a general trend in the active group for affective valence to be more positive regardless of exercise intensity or music condition when compared to the inactive group. Both groups showed the highest ratings of affective valence during the preferred music condition, followed by the non-preferred and no music condition. In-task enjoyment ratings were highest during the preferred music condition when compared to the non-preferred and no music condition regardless of exercise intensity or activity status. The results did not reveal significant differences for ratings of exertion across music conditions, which does not support previous findings. In conclusion, the perceptual responses in this study, which represent affective valence, attentional focus, and enjoyment, were generally more favorable during the preferred music condition and in the active participants. These results support previous findings to suggest exercising while listening to preferred music may lead to an increase in physical activity adherence.

E-cigarette use has been increasing in recent years, and its ultimate public health impact is still unknown. In order to assess the addictive liability of these products, research is needed to investigate the roles of nicotine and other factors on psychological and physical effects of “vaping.” The goal of the current study was to investigate the role of expectancies, nicotine delivery, and their interactions on the effects of e-cigarette use via a balanced-placebo experiment. In this design, drug dosage (contains nicotine or not) was crossed with instructions (told nicotine or non-nicotine) during ad-lib e-cigarette use sessions by 128 current e-cigarette users. This design allows for parsing of the causal role of expectancies and pharmacology, as well as their interaction. Dependent variables included both psychological outcomes (cravings for cigarettes and e-cigarettes, mood, satisfaction, reward) and physiological variables (hunger, attention, aversion, respiratory tract sensations). Among cigarette smokers (n=52), a significant main effect of instruction emerged on reductions in craving to smoke, although moderation analyses revealed that this effect was limited to males. Overall, significant drug X instruction interactions were found on craving to vape, psychological reward, and enjoyment of respiratory tract sensations, indicating synergistic causal influences of both expectancies and nicotine. Expectancies, smoking status, and gender moderated some of these effects. The results of this study identified effects of e-cigarettes that were driven by either nicotine, cognitive drug expectancies, or both. Results should be considered in the context of methodological and theoretical limitations. This study contributes to the understanding of motivational influences that may affect the initiation and maintenance of e-cigarette use, which may guide the development of public health and clinical interventions.

This study expanded the current literature by assessing PTSD in relation to reactivity and recovery from negative emotional arousal among OEF/OIF/OND Veterans. Cardiac impedance was employed during a speech task and a trauma imagery procedure. Those in the PTSD-S group displayed lower SBP and higher TPR reactivity relative to the PTSD- and PTSD+ groups; lower CO reactivity relative to the PTSD+ group; and more CO recovery than those in the PTSD+ group to the trauma task. For speech task, Veterans in the PTSD-S group exhibited lower HR reactivity for both speech preparation and delivery than those in the PTSD- group. Depression was not a significant mediator in the relation between PTSD and reactivity. However, further analyses revealed that it served as a moderator between PTSD and reactivity during speech preparation (SBP, HR, and PEP reactivity), and speech delivery (HR, PEP, and CO reactivity). Simple slopes analysis revealed that depression was positively associated with HR and SBP (speech preparation) and HR (speech delivery) for those in the PTSD-S group. For those in the PTSD- group, depression was positively associated with PEP during the speech task (to include preparation) and negatively associated with SBP and CO (speech preparation) and HR and CO (speech delivery). For those in the PTSD+ group, depression was negatively associated with CO and positively associated with PEP. For the most part, Veterans in the PTSD-S group exhibited lower reactivity to both tasks than Veterans in the PTSD+ group or combat-exposed controls without PTSD. In light of the emerging evidence relating blunted reactivity to unhealthy behaviors and negative health outcomes (e.g., depression, obesity), it would appear that both extremes, exaggerated and diminished reactivity are maladaptive responses to stress and that the most optimally response to stress is a moderate reaction.

Time perspective refers to an individual’s cognitive orientation toward the past, present or future. Time perspective has been theorized to have implications for motivation, goal setting, and decision-making. This research examines the role of time perspective in determining whether individuals are primarily focused on short-term or long-term goals. Three studies were conducted to show that time perspective adjusts the incentive value of long-term goals and thus influences self-control. Study 1 is a pilot study confirming the expected correlations between time perspective, goal strength, and self-control. Study 2 extends Study 1 by examining additional dimensions of the future time perspective as well as testing indirect effects. Study 3 shows that manipulating time perspective produces changes in self-control as measured by a delay of gratification test. The results suggest that time perspective influences the content of individuals’ goals and thus self-control.

This paper explores how gender and veteran status effects the level of stigmatization around Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Participants were randomly assigned to one of four vignette conditions, which were distinguished by gender and veteran status. Participants were then asked to rate how they perceived the individual depicted in the vignette. The researchers analyzed the results by examining how the participants own report of gender, and masculinity, effected how each of the vignettes were judged. This paper addresses the stigma surrounding mental health in general, and more specifically how that stigma affects individuals suffering from PTSD across multiple domains. For the purposes of this paper, the domains of stigma explored include public stigma, social distancing, self-stigma and gender role conflict. Research indicates that PTSD is detrimental to both males and female veterans and civilians. In general, research suggests that males are more stigmatized than females and less likely to seek treatment (Addis & Mahalik, 2003; Good, et al., 1995). Individuals with a PTSD diagnosis may not seek services due to self-stigma, public-stigma, and social distancing (Corrigan & Watson, 2002; Girma et al., 2013; Gulliver et al., 2010; Link et al., 2002; Vogel et al., 2006; Weiner et al., 1988). Women are also more likely to be diagnosed with PTSD than men, and veterans are more likely to be diagnosed with PTSD than civilians (Breslau, 2001; Kessler et al., 1995; Olff et al., 2002). Although women are diagnosed with PTSD more frequently than men, research indicates that male veterans are the most stigmatized (Daoud, 2009; Mittal et al., 2007).

Information and communication technologies (ICTs) are an important part of society today. Older adults often report ICTs as difficult to use and unhelpful; however, ICTs can support older adults’ ability to stay in touch with family and friends across long distances and help increase their quality of life. Unfortunately, training programs targeted at teaching older adults to use ICTs are often costly and time-consuming. The current study attempts to determine whether advertisements depicting older adults using ICTs can be used to increase self-efficacy without the use of training programs. A within subjects experimental design was completed using an independent variable in which participants viewed two advertisements. Participants were randomly assigned to view an advertisement PowerPoint depicting younger adults using technology first, or randomly assigned to an advertisement PowerPoint depicting older adults using technology first. The dependent variable was a Technology Self-Efficacy Survey developed for the purposes of this study. Results of a paired samples t-test indicated that participants did not rate their selfefficacy higher after viewing the PowerPoint with older adults depicted using technology, as compared to viewing the PowerPoint with younger adults depicted using technology. Although the results were not statistically significant, this research indicated that older adults generally rated their self-efficacy higher after viewing the PowerPoint with older adults versus the PowerPoint with younger adults. Future research could help determine whether advertisements could be used to increase technology self-efficacy in older adults.

The goal of this paper is to explore the way the Race Card is used in the United States and how its use affects the racial climate of the country. The use of the Race Card in politics, courts, and sport is addressed. Research and examples show that the use of the Race Card in these areas has generally negative effects. In most cases the use of the Race Card in these areas not only reinforces stereotypes but also can racialize a situation, which can cause the actual issue to be ignored. Therefore, in order to improve America’s racial climate and ensure the root of issues are being addressed it is important to limit the use of the Race Card to anti-discrimination issues courts.

Real Witness is a collection of poems exploring responses to loss--loss of youth, of health, of an envisioned future--particularly when loss challenges faith or foundational beliefs, or when responses seem at odds with one's beliefs. Poems push against pat or prescribed responses and look for more honest alternatives.

The test effect (Roediger & Karpicke, 2006) demonstrates that performance on a final test is better when an immediate test is taken after reading a passage rather than rereading. Although transfer appropriate processing has been suggested as a theoretical explanation, the results could be due to elaborative retrieval processes during the immediate test that are not available during restudy. We compared testing to three other strategies using elaborative retrieval—Generating Questions, Read-Recite-Review, Teaching—to determine whether they would be as beneficial as testing. Results showed that each of the alternative strategies produced final test performance equal to that of testing, suggesting not only that these strategies are as effective as testing, but also that elaborative retrieval can explain test effects. However, final test performance for testing was not better than rereading. This finding leaves unanswered questions, given that the test effect is a robust result in the literature.

A simulated inner-city training scenario was found to increase skills in the area of turning when compared with a simulated off-track training scenario. To answer this question, two groups of ten participants (5 women and 5 men) were tested using three scripted scenarios focusing on left and right turns. The first training scenario (control group) is an off-track training scenario, which consists of a large asphalt lot and the use of orange cones; the second training scenario (experimental group) is an inner-city training scenario without the presence of vehicular traffic; and the third scenario (test scenario) is an inner-city scenario with the presence of vehicular traffic. A subject matter expert, who is also a former driver and trainer, evaluated and scored all participants on four critical turns (2 left and 2 rights). The apparatus used for this study was the V-sim non-motion simulator from General Electric (GE). A 2 x 4 factorial analysis was utilized to examine conditional differences as well as gender differences. While there were no gender differences, the results for overall turns were significant, F(1, 16) = 7.14, p = .017, η2 = 3.09. The mean for the control group was (M = 20.50, SD = 9.59) with the experimental group at, (M = 31.10, SD = 7.26).