Changes in acute alcohol withdrawal across the lifespan in female and male C57BL/6J, DBA/2J and A/J mice; Sex, age and strain effects.Douglas B Matthews, Lydia Staebell, Samantha Feller, Jared Kendrick, Jadyn Hartwig, Aidan Riley, Michael Tommarello2nd, Katie Johnson, Ann Sobania, Kennedy Korger, Megan Schroeder, Olive Schrandt, Aiden Kerr & Pravesh Sharma. Department of Psychology, University of Wisconsin – Eau Claire, Eau Claire, WI 54701Understanding the effects of alcohol across the lifespan in animal models have been severely hampered by an overreliance on cross-sectional studies that compare alcohol’s effects in subjects of different ages. Aging is a dynamic process, and longitudinal studies are particularly meaningful as they determine the effect of alcohol in the same subject during the aging process. Acute alcohol withdrawal can be determined using handing induced convulsions (HIC) in mouse strains. We determined HIC 4, 6 and 7-hrs following a 4.0 g/kg alcohol injection beginning at 5 weeks of age and then approximately every two months in female (n = 10 per strain) and male (n = 10 per strain) B6, D2 and A/J mice. In addition, we determined survival curves. Acute alcohol exposure and HIC determination produced differential mortality, with males dying earlier (p < 0.0001). HIC was significantly greater in males (p < 0.05) and A/J subjects (p < 0.001) when first tested at 5-weeks of age. We next analyzed if sex differentially impacted HIC for each strain by investigating total HIC in the last age when at least 6 of the subjects were still alive per sex for each strain. No significant difference existed in B6 female and male, D2 female and male or A/J female and male HIC following the 4.0 g/kg alcohol challenge at 57 weeks of age (B6), 39 weeks of age (D2) or 21 weeks of age (A/J) although B6 females had a greater pre-alcohol HIC compared to males (p
In modern industrial societies, the majority of both sexes enter the workforce; however, even in gender egalitarian societies, sex disparities remain in pay as well as in representation in various occupations and elite positions. One explanatory factor may be differences in what men and women value most in a job. However, one limitation of previous research is that, given the opportunity to rate multiple job attributes, people rate many of them as very important. Using samples of college students (N= 513), online survey workers (N= 492), and UWEC alumni (N= 1404), we addressed this issue of restricted range by giving participants a limited budget of 40 “importance points” to allocate among 10 desirable job characteristics. In the college student and alumni samples, three primary hypotheses were supported: Men allocated more importance points to having an above-average salary and opportunity for advancement than women did, and women allocated more importance points to being able to directly help others than men did. We found partial support for the hypothesis that women would allocate more importance points to having friendly coworkers than men would. We discuss the strengths and limitations of our samples and chosen method.
Using an evolutionary framework, we generated hypotheses about the content of men’s and women’s deceptions toward their same- and opposite-sex friends. In Study 1 (N=359), we asked men and women to tell us, via open-ended responses, what they deceived their male and female friends about. In Study 2, we compiled and expanded upon those responses and then asked two samples of young adults (N=389, N=303) to report how often they engaged in each type of deception towards their male and female friends. Analyses revealed consistent support for several hypotheses, including that young people would (1) deceive same-sex friends more often than opposite-sex friends about mating rivalry; (2) deceive opposite-sex friends more often than same-sex friends about romantic interest or disinterest; and (3) deceive female friends more often than male friends about their friends’ appearance. Analyses revealed partial support for the hypotheses that (1) men more often than women would deceive their opposite-sex friends about feelings of romantic interest; and (2) women more often than men would deceive opposite-sex friends about romantic disinterest. Future research could focus on investigating the motives (e.g., fear of rejection) and circumstances (e.g., relationship status) tied to various forms of deception.
Dating back to the 1960s, educational researchers have documented that students’ and teachers’ attitudes about students are more influenced by their characterization as athletic (versus not) than by their characterization as brilliant (versus not) or studious (versus not). In the current study, we build on past research by using continuous rating scales to investigate student attitudes toward student characteristics. We surveyed 468 college students about the extent to which they were athletic, smart, studious, physically attractive, and popular when they were in high school, and how much they and their peers wanted to be thought of as each of those characteristics. Students also rated how much their high school teachers favored and disfavored these characteristics. Preliminary analyses showed that students who reported liking intellectual engagement in high school also tended to want to be perceived as smart and studious. Further, students’ ratings of being popular, athletic, and physically attractive clustered together, as did their ratings of being smart and studious. They rated their own desire to be thought of as smart and studious as stronger than their peers’, and they rated their own desire to be thought of as popular, athletic, and physically attractive as weaker than their peers’.
Lopata, Donnelly, and Thomeer (2017) certified that 70% of autism diagnoses are comorbid with another disorder, with anxiety being the most common. This review of literature will begin with an exploration of previous research regarding the diagnosis of anxiety in children with autism and identify any differences in its presentation compared to children without autism. Previous research has found that anxiety symptoms can vary in children based on if they diagnostic criteria for autism (White et al, 2015), which was then used as reason to argue for the implementation of more autism-specific assessment tools (Houting et al, 2018). This review will then detail some limitations highlighted in past research regarding appropriate assessment tools to identify anxiety in non-verbal children with Autism. Lastly, our review will highlight what supports and potential barriers to support exist within homes and schools for these children. In examining previous conclusions and potential gaps found in current research, we hope to identify direction for future research on this topic.
Research suggests that when students in high school are asked what they like most about going to school, they mention many things – learning, extracurricular activities, nice teachers, sports – but they mention seeing friends and socializing far more often than anything else. When asked what they dislike, students again mention a variety of aspects, but uncaring or poor teachers top the list (Erickson & Lefstein, 1991). We wanted to investigate the extent to which students enjoy intellectual/academic opportunities in high school and factors related to more enjoyment of intellectual/academic opportunities. We asked college students to report what they liked and disliked most about high school as well as the class they liked and disliked most in high school. Students also rated how much they enjoyed intellectual engagement, social opportunities, and extracurricular activities during high school. We predict that students who nominate academic or intellectual challenge as their most liked aspect of high school (and the lack of academic or intellectual challenge as their most disliked aspect) will report more enjoyment of intellectual engagement during high school, be more likely to have taken advanced coursework during high school, and report more favorable attitudes toward grouping students by ability.
Research has shown that women engage in strategic manipulation of others’ reputations. For example, women are more likely to spread negative information about another woman’s sexual promiscuity when that woman is characterized as a potential mating rival than when she is not described as a potential mating rival. Here, we describe two experiments (N=837, N=1105) on reputation manipulation among men as well as among women. In the experiments, participants reported their likelihood of sharing reputation-enhancing and reputation-harming information about a same-sex newcomer. For half of participants, the same-sex newcomer was described as attractive and flirting with their romantic partner (i.e., a mating rival). In Experiment 1, women were more likely to share information designed to harm women’s reputation when the newcomer was described as a potential mating rival; however, men were more likely to share that information, too. In Experiment 2, women but not men were more likely to share information designed to harm women’s reputations when the newcomer was described as a mating rival. Both men and women were more likely to share information designed to harm men’s reputation when the newcomer was described as a mating rival. We discuss consistent and inconsistent findings between the two experiments.
The Advanced Placement (AP) program began in the 1950s as a means of providing college-level rigor to intellectually advanced individuals while they are still in high school. Since the 1980s, the program has massively expanded its reach, such that currently, over 80% of the nation’s public high school students attend a school that offers a variety of AP courses. We are interested in the rate at which students take AP courses and exams as well as gender differences in AP course participation and exam performance. As part of a broader study on experiences in high school, 468 college students reported on their experience, or lack thereof, with AP courses and AP exams in high school. They reported on whether they participated in the AP program, what AP courses and AP exams they took, their reasons for taking or not taking them, and their performance on AP exams. We have begun analyzing data relating to our predictions and research questions. Preliminary findings indicate that the top three reasons that participants reported for taking AP courses were that they wanted potential college credit, they were interested in the topic, and that AP looks good on college applications.
Smartphones are designed in large part to capture and maintain our attention. It is unclear which individual differences are most relevant to understanding variation in problematic smartphone use. To investigate this, I used backwards regression to identify key predictors, then used Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) to analyze how smartphone use relates to these predictors. This model was created using survey data from over 1,800 UWEC students over multiple years that included questions about amount of phone use, phone reliance (dependence), and nomophobia (fear of lacking functional phone access), as well as attention-related measures such as mindfulness (sensitive awareness of the present moment), impulsivity (urge to act without thinking ahead), and ADHD-related attention difficulties. Modeling efforts so far suggest that attention difficulties were the greatest predictor of problematic smartphone use, but also that mindfulness reduced that risk. Two possible interpretations for these results are that 1) having attentional difficulties predisposes one to problematic phone use, but less so in more mindful individuals, and 2) heavy/problematic phone use alters attentional traits, but higher mindfulness may mitigate that impact.
Electroencephalography (EEG) research is challenged by the prevalence of artifacts, i.e., non-brain contributions to the EEG signal. Brain electrical signals are incredibly small in comparison to electrical noise from movements, with eye blinks in particular 2-3 orders of magnitude larger than brain activity of interest. Approximately 10% of our current study's data is contaminated by artifacts. This data is taken from 2 procedures, one where the phone serves as a distractor while the participant completes a task, and another involving passive phone viewing with no task. One approach to reclamation of otherwise unusable data is a preprocessing technique called Independent Component Analysis (ICA). ICA allows for blind separation of signals into separate components, like separating a combined music track into individual tracks for each instrument. Using this, we are able to separate brain and artifact contributions and reconstitute a signal factoring out major noise components. So far I have used ICA for the passive viewing portion of our EEG data, increasing the percent usable data from 90% to 98%. Datasets from participants with less than 90% usable EEG data disproportionately benefited from ICA, as those had more data to reclaim.
The use of ketamine for the management of neuropsychiatric conditions outside traditional clinical settings has rapidly expanded. As a result, there is a critical need to understand diverse real-world patient experiences of ketamine use. We conducted a qualitative content analysis of posts from the r/TherapeuticKetamine subreddit. From 3,302 threads, the 500 highest-engagement threads were analyzed by independent coders across six domains: perceived positive effects, adverse effects, reasons for use, route of administration, polydrug use, and dose amounts. Mood-related concerns were the most reported reason for ketamine use (53%). Users frequently reported positive effects, most often improvements in emotional well-being (65%). Adverse effects were predominantly psychological or mood-related in nature (56%). Notably, 70% of reported doses exceeded 149 mg, suggesting a trend toward higher-dose use. Intravenous administration (40%) and sublingual troches (23%) were the most frequently reported routes. Concurrent use of prescribed psychotropics, cannabis, and psychedelics was also reported. This analysis identified substantial heterogeneity in patient-reported ketamine experiences. The frequent reporting of high-dose use, dose escalation, and polydrug exposure underscores the importance of proactive clinical monitoring and attention to potential drug–drug interactions. Findings should be interpreted with caution, as longitudinal follow-up and clinical verification are not possible through social media data; however, these data provide an unfiltered view of patient experiences that are critical for understanding real-world ketamine use.
This study examined whether sleep quality moderates attentional bias and aversion to self-harm in suicidal ideation and NSSI. Sleep problems are associated with increased suicidal ideation and NSSI, and several suicide theories highlight acquired capability (e.g., diminished fear and aversion to pain and death) as key factors increasing suicide risk alongside attentional biases to self-harm. Studies have not looked at how sleep may affect these cognitive factors. Participants included 132 college students with past-month NSSI and suicidal ideation (Mage =19.44; 69.7% Female; 87.9% White; 49.2% in counseling) who completed a 28-day, daily diary protocol. Participants responded to items assessing subjective sleep problems, aversion to self-harm, self-harm attentional bias, NSSI acts, and suicide intent each evening. Results suggest that sleep problems influence how attentional bias and self-harm aversion relate to suicide intent and NSSI. Integrating cognitive behavioral sleep-focused interventions with those addressing cognitive biases and processes could be important in reducing suicide risk and NSSI behaviors.
Previous research has largely focused on statistical associations between loop box spending and problem gambling scores, focusing primarily on youth groups who are actively engaging in gambling-like systems and how those systems affect their gambling behaviour while still in their youth. While these studies provide valuable quantitative evidence, there is less research exploring how individuals remember their early exposure to these systems and how their perceptions of these systems changed their perspective or behaviour in gambling. What we hope to achieve is more retrospective data showing how they interpret their gaming experiences after reaching adulthood, and how that may have shaped attitudes towards spending, gambling, and game design later in life. We also hope to provide a more ethical dimension of these mechanics, examine how players themselves interpret the fairness, transparency, and responsibility surrounding these systems.
This study contributes to existing research by examining how multiple personalit traits interact to influence motivation and procrastination aross a diverse poppulation, including both students and non-students. While previous research often focuses on single traits or populations this study aims to provide a more comprehensive understanding of how these factors work together to shape behavior.
We investigated whether the mere presence of one’s smartphone influences attention-related EEG (electroencephalographic) activity in undergraduates scoring above the median on at least 2 of 3 phone-related survey measures: Phone Time (hours per day), Phone Reliance (dependence on one’s phone), and Nomophobia (fear of lacking functional phone access). Participants first attended and responded to infrequent on-screen visual targets (“oddballs”) while ignoring frequent nontargets; we replicated the classic enlarging effect of oddballs on the P3, an attention-related EEG measure, but the mere presence of one’s nearby phone (vs. a control object) did not reduce the oddball P3. Next, participants focused visually on their phone versus a control object, with no other task. Phones decreased alpha activity (8-13 Hz; associated with relaxation and inward focus) over anterior and posterior electrode sites. Phones also increased beta activity (13-32 Hz; associated with external orientation and arousal/attention) over posterior electrode sites, an effect that correlated positively with participants’ Phone Time, Phone Reliance, and Nomophobia. While these findings do not demonstrate a negative impact of smartphone presence on the brain correlates of task-related attention, they do suggest one’s smartphone can draw attentional resources proportional to one’s phone use and related problems.
Specious psychological statements continue to be widely accepted despite refuting data, likely in part because they are commonly encountered, intuitively appealing, and often portrayed to be scientifically grounded. Common examples include misconceptions about memory accuracy, learning styles, and brain usage. Lilienfeld and colleagues (2010) compiled and presented “50 Great Myths of Popular Psychology,” providing a foundation for acknowledging the widespread endorsement of these myths. College students are a particularly important demographic to study, as misconceptions may interfere with learning and the accurate interpretation of scientific information. In this longitudinal study, over 1,000 undergraduate students enrolled in Introduction to Psychology courses at the University of Wisconsin – Eau Claire completed an anonymous survey assessing their levels of knowledge of and belief in specific psychological myths. Results provide insight into which myths persist most strongly across the years, highlighting areas where targeted educational intervention might be most useful to directly address students’ misconceptions of various psychological topics.
Understanding the development of adult behavior requires examining the complex interaction between biological predispositions and environmental influences. Although genetic traits such as impulsiveness or emotional reactivity may increase vulnerability to certain behavioral outcomes, these predispositions are not without environmental context. Family environment, socioeconomic status, and peer influence may either amplify or mitigate biological risk factors, yet the mechanisms through which these variables interact remain less understood. The problem addressed in this study is the lack of clarity regarding how environmental factors shape the genetic predispositions in adult behavioral outcomes.
For this research project the main objective was to better understand the divide between people by understanding the ‘why’ to how they perceive the world. Because we are in a situation where people consistently exaggerate differences, stereotype anyone who doesn’t agree with them and throws words around without fully understanding the meaning of. This research seeks to understand the underlying causes to how people understand language and ideas.
Impulsive choice, or the preference for smaller, immediate rewards over larger, delayed rewards, is a behavioral process implicated in addiction, obesity, and other adverse health outcomes. Prior research suggests that prolonged exposure to delayed consequences can reduce impulsive choice over time, though recent findings raise questions about the generality of these effects across sex and species. The present study replicates and extends delay-exposure research by examining long-term effects in both male and female Sprague Dawley rats. Rats are randomly assigned to delay-exposure training, immediacy-exposure training, or a no-training control condition. Impulsive choice is assessed longitudinally across a 12-15 month period to evaluate the durability of training effects. Findings from this study can help clarify how experience shapes self-control and decision-making and ideally will help inform the development of behavioral interventions that are durable and clinically relevant.
Obesity is a prevalent condition that causes adverse health conditions and death, where medical and pharmaceutical treatments are options for patients. Sibutramine, a known obesity treatment, shares its pharmacological mechanism of action with duloxetine. Both are serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors. Duloxetine’s effects on hunger remain unclear. This study examines whether duloxetine reduces hunger in rats trained in an operant chamber to discriminate between 22-hour and 2-hour food deprivation. After 22-hour food deprivation, left-lever responses were reinforced with a 45mg sugar pellet. Right-lever responses produced eight seconds of darkness. Contingencies were reversed after 2-hour food deprivation. Male and female rats received duloxetine (1-32 mg/kg). Following injections, rats were tested for their perceived hunger (a decrease in left-lever responses). Post-test, one hour of food and water consumption was measured. In males, but not females,17.8 mg/kg reduced hunger. Duloxetine decreased food consumption and lever pressing rates in all doses compared to the 22-hour control condition in both males and females. In the future, this lab will study whether the reduction in hunger and food intake is due solely to serotonin or norepinephrine activation, or the combination of both. The results of this study may help obesity therapies in the future.
