Working memory (WM) is the cognitive construct responsible for maintaining and processing information. Despite the fact that WM permeates nearly every aspect of daily life, the current research on the relationship between WM and metacognitive ability is sparse and inconclusive. In the present study, we were interested in using WM capacity to predict an individual’s perception of difficulty in a category task. We hypothesized that higher WM capacity would allow an individual to more easily complete the task and, subsequently, perceive the task as easier. To test this hypothesis, participants were presented with everyday words and given opportunities for trial-and-error-based learning about to which of three novel categories each word belonged. Next, participants completed two counterbalanced measures of WM, R-span and O-span tasks. Finally, participants were presented with a novel transfer task and a questionnaire that measured strategy usage and perceived task difficulty. Participants were assigned to high and low WM groups based on a median split of the combination of R-span and O-span scores. Preliminary results are consistent with our hypothesis. Individuals in the high WM group rated the task as less difficult than participants in the low WM group. Additionally, the high WM group also had higher accuracy scores than the low WM group on the final trial of the category learning task. These findings have important implications for education. If WM capacity really does influence actual and perceived performance in cognitively demanding situations, manipulating WM load in the classroom could help facilitate success for all students.

In general, women are at higher risk for anxiety disorders than men. A characteristic of many anxiety disorders is generalization of fear responses, which occurs when fear is expressed towards non-fearful stimuli. Previous research from our lab demonstrates that in ovariectomized female rats, estradiol induces contextual fear generalization, whereas in gonadectomized males, estradiol reduces generalization. Our lab determined that estradiol acts within the dorsal CA1 (dCA1) and anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) to induce generalization in females. However, in males the brain regions mediating estradiol’s ability to reduce generalization are unknown. Given the influence estradiol has on glutamate receptors, we hypothesized that estradiol induces generalization in female rats by enhancing glutamatergic signaling in the dCA1 and ACC. Using a passive avoidance paradigm, we examined the role of NMDA and AMPA type glutamate receptors in the dCA1 and ACC and found that both are necessary for estradiol-induced generalization. Pharmacological blockade of both receptor types reduced generalization caused by administration of estradiol. To determine specific brain regions involved in the reduction of generalization in male rats, we examined the effect of estradiol in the dCA1 and the bed nucleus stria terminals (BNST), two regions important for mediating the behavioral effects of estradiol. Results demonstrated estradiol infusions into the dCA1, but not the BNST, reduced generalization in males. These data suggest a similar neural circuit is involved in the sex-specific effects of estradiol on generalized fear. Understanding the sex-dependent influences of estradiol on generalization will allow for improved, sex-specific, treatments for many anxiety disorders.

This study examines relationships between executive functions (updating, shifting, and task switching) and spoken word. Participants complete three measures of executive functions and then are audiotaped while reciting a poem and giving a short speech. Audio tapes are analyzed for quality and number of speech errors. Results will be analyzed to determine which executive functions predict speaking ability. Data collection is ongoing, as this is a class project for Research Methods in Psychology.

This study aims to examine the physiological, emotional, and psychological effects of stress on the human body. Chronic stress can cause a wide variety of symptoms and if left untreated can lead to illnesses such as heart disease and stroke. The goal I have for this study is to find how stress affects people, particularly college students, in order to gain a better understanding of how to help people better manage their stress and to lead healthier and happier lives. The study is a quantitative, quasi-experimental, correlational design and will focus on students within a university setting. I am using a variety of surveys and cognitive tests to see how stress affects participants’ lives and if there are any correlations between stress and well-being. I hypothesize that stress will show a negative correlation with emotional health and cognitive well-being, and a positive correlation to physiological symptom reporting. This research study has been approved and I am currently collecting data.

There is an association that can be observed between PTSD and the severity of substance abuse disorders in those individuals who experience a traumatic event (Peirce et al., 2008). However, we aim to investigate if there is a relationship between gender and substance abuse when an individual experiences an interpersonal trauma. Prior research does suggest that women are more susceptible than men to develop PTSD (Peirce et al., 2008). In presence of interpersonal trauma history (sexual assault, physical assault, physical assault with a weapon), does gender influence frequency substance abuse?

This sample was collected through an inpatient detox center for individual’s presenting with a substance use problem. Cognitive assessments and questionnaires about past trauma and substance use history were administered to the participants at the detox center. The questionnaire asked about different types of trauma, such as physical or sexual assault, and the degree of exposure (i.e. “happened to you” or if “you witnessed it”).

Given the relationship shown between PTSD and substance use (Dansky et al., 1996), we expect to replicate this relationship for PTSD and substance use in this sample but we hypothesize that gender will not impact these variables. Understanding the potential gender differences within substance and trauma may better inform whether treatment approaches should be tailored by gender for interpersonal trauma. Data collection is ongoing at this point. Results will be provided at the poster presentation.

Individual differences in spelling ability may lead to differential orthographic processing during reading (Andrews & Low, 2013), and may contribute to nonsignificant effects when individual differences are not considered (Andrews & Hersch, 2010). The hypothesis of the current study was to investigate whether such differences in spelling ability may influence phonological processing during silent reading. One hundred and thirty-two participants were given tests of spelling ability and reading comprehension ability. Using a masked priming procedure, participants made lexical decisions on words (e.g. FROG), that is judging whether a letter string is a real word or not, that were briefly preceded by a semantic associate (e.g. TOAD) or a homophone of the associate (e.g. TOWED). These associates acted as primes – related words that would speed processing of the subsequent target word. Overall, not considering individual differences and consistent with prior literature (Lukatela & Turvey, 1994), only the semantic associate primed the target word. However, individual differences analyses indicated that spelling ability differentially influenced priming in this task. Participants with low spelling ability, regardless of reading ability, demonstrated priming from both prime types. Participants with high spelling ability, regardless of reading ability, only demonstrated priming from the semantic associate. Thus, spelling ability not only contributes to differences in orthographic processing, but also to differences in phonologically mediated semantic activation during reading.

Latina adolescents are at increased risk for developing symptoms of psychological distress. They often face higher levels of poverty and lower education levels than other adolescent groups, in addition to experiencing acculturative stressors associated with immigration. Adolescent Latina mothers also experience additional stressors related to parenting at a young age. Social support has been shown to reduce risk for psychological distress; however, there are several factors that influence this relation. In the current study, the association of perceived social support from adolescent mothers’ own mothers and fathers on psychological distress was examined. Familism, a traditional family-centric Latino value, was examined as a potential moderator in the relation between social support and distress, as mothers who endorse more familistic values may take advantage of support provided by grandmothers and grandfathers better than mothers who endorse fewer values.

Preliminary correlations revealed that support from adolescents’ own mothers and fathers was associated with lower distress. Hierarchical regression analyses revealed that after controlling for maternal age, economic strain, and negative life events, mother support was no longer associated with lower distress; father support was still associated with lower distress. Additionally, familism did not moderate the relationship between social support and distress for mother or father support. Findings contribute to body of research on father support, but further research is needed to examine the quality and importance of support providers to determine why there were differences in distress symptoms between those perceiving mother and father support.

We examined serial pattern retention in rats focusing on retention for a single pattern element that violated pattern structure. Violation elements were targeted because they are typically unusually difficult to learn, contrasting with rule-learning in the structured pattern. They are also sensitive to selective manipulation of central neurotransmitter and plasticity systems. Adult male and female rats were trained in a serial multiple choice task to perform nosepoke responses for water in receptacles mounted on the 8 walls of an octagonal chamber. Rats learned to nosepoke in the pattern, 123-234-345-456-567-678-781-818, where digits represent the clockwise position of successive correct receptacles, dashes indicate brief pauses, and the final “violation element” is inconsistent with pattern structure. Rats were trained twice to an 85% correct criterion on the violation element prior to testing after 4-week and 2-week retention intervals, respectively. After each retention interval, rats received a 1-day 10-pattern retention test on the same pattern. Results indicated that rats had approximately 57% retention of the violation element after 2 weeks and 28% retention after 4 weeks. Sex differences were not significant. The results indicate that serial pattern memory, particularly violation element memory, can be assessed by characterizing forgetting curves using traditional methods.

We assessed the effect of a cholinergic challenge on serial pattern extrapolation in rats. Male and female rats learned a rule-based serial pattern of nosepoke responses in receptacles on the walls of an octagonal operant chamber. The training pattern consisted of 7 chunks of a rule-based serial pattern (123-234-345-456-567-678-781). After learning to a criterion of 90% correct responses on all elements of the pattern, rats were given i.p. injections of 0.6 mg/kg scopolamine hydrobromide 30 minutes before testing on a transfer pattern consisting of the training pattern with an added eighth chunk that was either consistent with pattern structure (chunk “812”) or contained a terminal element that violated pattern structure (chunk “818”). Under scopolamine, and even with impaired performance throughout the pattern, rats in both groups extrapolated known pattern structure, producing approximately 60% rule-consistent responses on the terminal element of both added chunks. Despite scopolamine exposure, both male and female rats extrapolated well-learned pattern structure to a new chunk. In the case of the chunk containing the violation element, when confronted with a new trial requiring a response inconsistent with already learned pattern structure, rats attempted to apply the well-learned rule.

Every day, humans face the complex cost-benefit analysis of integrating numerous different incentives to pursue behavioral goals. Impairments in cognitive control (and particularly an abnormal response to motivation) underlie disorders such as schizophrenia, anxiety, depression, eating disorders, and addictions; as such it is important to illustrate how differing motivational cues are processed in healthy humans. Research has made great progress in discovering the behavioral and neural mechanisms that underlie motivation and cognitive control. However, a significant question that remains to be addressed is whether rewards and punishments utilize the same or different neural substrates to yield motivational effects. In the current study, participants performed a cued-task switching paradigm during two fMRI scanning sessions, with liquid incentives serving as either a reward for desirable performance or a punishment for failure to complete the task quickly and accurately. Reward and punishment incentives resulted in comparable behavioral task performance. Upon contrasting reward and punishment, our analysis revealed several regions of interest that appear to be distinct between the conditions. This analysis utilized data quality checks, a standard preprocessing analysis, and GLM contrasts to illuminate these neural substrates of reward vs. punishment motivation. Results suggesting the utilization of different neural substrates between reward and punishment conditions give reason to apply the more sensitive Multi-Voxel Pattern Analysis approach to further clarify and support these findings in the future.