Psychology Doctoral Work

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Aging, Object-Based Inhibition, and Online Data Collection
(North Dakota State University, 2020) Huether, Asenath Xochitl Arauza
Visual selective attention operates in space- and object-based frames of reference. Stimulus salience and task demands influence whether a space- or object-based frame of reference guides attention. I conducted two experiments for the present dissertation to evaluate age patterns in the role of inhibition in object-based attention. The biased competition account (Desimone & Duncan, 1995) proposes that one mechanism through which targets are selected is through suppression of irrelevant stimuli. The inhibitory deficit hypothesis (Hasher & Zacks, 1988) predicts that older adults do not appropriately suppress or ignore irrelevant information. The purpose of the first study was to evaluate whether inhibition of return (IOR) patterns, originally found in a laboratory setting, could be replicated with online data collection (prompted by the COVID-19 pandemic). Inhibition of return is a cognitive mechanism to bias attention from returning to previously engaged items. In a lab setting, young and older adults produced location- and object-based IOR. In the current study, both types of IOR were also observed within object boundaries, although location-based IOR from data collected online was smaller than that from the laboratory. In addition, there was no evidence of an age-related reduction in IOR effects. There was some indication that sampling differences or testing circumstances led to increased variability in online data.The purpose of the second study was to evaluate age differences in top-down inhibitory processes during an attention-demanding object tracking task. Data were collected online. I used a dot-probe multiple object tracking (MOT) task to evaluate distractor suppression during target tracking. Both young and older adults showed poorer dot-probe detection accuracies when the probes appeared on distractors compared to when they appeared at empty locations, reflecting inhibition. The findings suggest that top-down inhibition works to suppress distractors during target tracking and that older adults show a relatively preserved ability to inhibit distractor objects. The findings across both experiments support models of selective attention that posit that goal-related biases suppress distractor information and that inhibition can be directed selectively by both young and older adults on locations and objects in the visual field.
Assessing the Neural Correlates, Sources and Consequences of the Attentional Rhythm
(North Dakota State University, 2019) Bocincova, Andrea
Evidence suggests that even when sustained at a single location, spatial attention waxes and wanes over time. These fluctuations are cyclic, lasting about 125-200 ms (i.e., ~4-8 Hz), and are characterized by alternating periods of focused attention to a single location together with exploratory periods during which attention is prone to switching to a new source of stimulation. Despite an increasing interest in this temporal property of spatial attention, multiple aspects of rhythmic attentional sampling remain to be explored. In this dissertation, I introduce and examine three unexplored areas related to this topic. The first area, addressed in Experiment 1, concerns the potential neural oscillatory signatures of attentional rhythmicity. Precisely, it assesses the role of a well-established oscillatory correlate of selective attention, alpha band power, in rhythmic switching of attention over time. The second area focuses on the neural sources controlling rhythmic attentional sampling. More specifically, the goal of Experiment 2 is to establish causal evidence for the involvement of an important attentional hub in generating the attentional rhythm using transcranial magnetic stimulation. Finally, the last area examines the consequences of attentional rhythmicity on the encoding and storage of information in working memory. In particular, Experiment 3 provides evidence that rhythmic changes in spatial attention affect the quality with which information is encoded into working memory. Finally, Experiment 4 assesses whether attention rhythmically cycles between items stored in WM in a manner similar to the cycling observed when attention is directed to the external world. In summary, the work included in this dissertation makes an important contribution to extending our understating of the attentional rhythm and introduces multiple avenues for further research necessary in this area.
Awakening the Social Self: Nostalgia Regulates Loneliness by Energizing Approach-Related Social Motivation
(North Dakota State University, 2017) Abeyta, Andrew Allen
Chronic loneliness is predictive of poor health. Therefore, it is vital to identify psychological resources that combat loneliness and encourage social connection. However, loneliness is difficult to overcome, in part because it is associated with a maladaptive high avoidance and low approach motivation orientation that limits a person’s ability to connect with others. I hypothesized that nostalgia, a positive emotional experience that involves reflecting on cherished memories that are typically social in nature, is a psychological resource that regulates the tendency for lonely people to be less oriented toward social approach goals and motivation. I tested this hypothesis across 3 studies. Studies 1 and 2 examined whether nostalgia mitigates the inverse relation between loneliness and approach-related social goals, intentions, and behaviors. Studies 2 and 3, explored whether nostalgia mitigates the inverse relation between nostalgia and general approach/avoidance motivation. The results provided mixed support for the hypothesis. Nonetheless, there was preliminary evidence that feelings of nostalgia may weaken the relationship between loneliness and deficits in approach-related goals and intentions.
The Benefits of Metaphoric Thinking: Using Individual Differences in Metaphor Usage to Understand the Utility of Conceptual Metaphors
(North Dakota State University, 2013) Fetterman, Adam K.
Metaphor representation theory posits that people often think, rather than merely speak, metaphorically. Particularly, concrete domains (e.g., tactile experiences) are recruited to represent abstract concepts (e.g., love). Based upon this theory, three assumptions can be derived. The first assumption is that metaphors should be common in speech and are not relegated to the realm of poetics. Second, the manipulation of metaphoric mappings should activate associated domains. The final assumption is that the use of conceptual metaphors facilitates the understanding of concepts with no physical referents (e.g., emotion). Research has supported the first two assumptions. The current studies were the first empirical test of the third assumption. A metaphor usage measure was developed and validated in the first study. Two additional studies directly tested the third assumption. Study 2 demonstrated that the metaphor usage measure predicted emotional understanding. Study 3 demonstrated that low metaphor usage predicted dysfunctional responses to negative daily events to a greater extent than high metaphor usage. Those scoring higher in metaphor usage also showed the established sweetness-pro-sociality metaphor effect to a greater extent than those low in metaphor usage. These findings empirically support the idea that metaphor use is associated with an increased understanding of concepts lacking physical referents, an important theoretical question in the metaphor literature. A foundation for future research is provided.
Combining Trait and Processing Perspectives of the Individual: Toward a New Assessment Model of Interpersonal Competence
(North Dakota State University, 2020) Persich, Michelle Ruth
Satisfying interpersonal relationships are an important and beneficial part of life. However, despite that fact that most people desire close interpersonal relationships, some people are less successful at forming and maintaining these relationships than others. One plausible explanation for such individual differences is that people differ in their levels of interpersonal competence – their ability to consistently enact behaviors that are effective, socially appropriate, and satisfying to others. The present research sought to examine different approaches to understanding and assessing interpersonal competence. A comparison of these approaches led to the creation of an Integrated Interpersonal Competence Model (IICM) that sought to maximize the strengths of each individual approach. This new model was tested in two studies (total N = 348) with the goal of understanding why people receive higher (or lower) interpersonal competence (IC) scores and how competence is related to successful interpersonal functioning. Both Studies 1 and 2 examined how the individual components of the IICM contributed to one’s overall IC score. Both studies found that the ability to accurately process social information was related to one’s likelihood of receiving a high IC score. In addition, how an individual evaluated response options seemed to play the largest role in determining whether or not the person would enact the response. Finally, IC appeared to be composed of a blend of interpersonal warmth and dominance. Study 1 also examined the relationship between IC and daily life outcomes. Results showed that higher competence individuals tended to experience a greater frequency of positive events, higher levels of prosocial feelings and satisfaction, and enacted fewer hostile and submissive behaviors on a daily basis. Study 2 investigated how IC was perceived by others. Individuals who were higher in IC were perceived to have fewer antisocial feelings, and be less selfish by peers and parents, and had higher quality relationships with their parents. Interestingly, processing abilities were unrelated to daily and informant-reported outcomes, but personality-like tendencies toward enacting friendly and hostile behaviors were consequential. Overall, the integrated model produced insights into interpersonal competence and can provide a useful guide for future investigations of interpersonal competence.
Context Processing and Aging Older Adults' Ability to Learn and Utilize Visual Contexts
(North Dakota State University, 2013) Gayzur, Nora Denise
The purpose of the present study was to examine how older adults utilize contextual information to guide attention in visual scenes. Studies that have examined context and attentional deployment have used the contextual cueing task. Contextual cueing reflects faster responses to repeated spatial configurations (consistent context-target covaration) than random spatial configurations (inconsistent covariation). Research has shown mixed results in older adults' ability to utilize context with this task. Young (18-23 years) and older (60-85 years) adults were tested in two contextual cuing experiments to assess age differences in how individuals utilize context in novel and real-world visual scenes. Experiment 1 investigated the development of contextual cueing effects using low-meaning visual contexts (letter arrays). In low-meaning arrays, young and older adults were able to use context effeciently with no age differences in the development of contextual cueing effects. Experiment 2 examined older adults' ability to utilize context when context was meaningful (real-world images). Younger and older adults saw real-world images in an upright (meaningful) or inverted (less meaningful) orientation. Older adults were able to use context similarly to younger adults, with no age differences in the development of contextual cueing. Contrary to predictions, context utilization was not impacted by the meaningfulness of the image. Contextual cueing effects occurred at the same time for upright and inverted images for young and older adults. Together, these studies demonstrated that older adults were able to utilize context. Meaningfulness did not provide an additional benefit for older adults, but this was true of young adults.
Does a Brief Mindfulness Intervention Improve Distress Tolerance among Athletes?
(North Dakota State University, 2019) Siyaguna, Tharaki
Trait mindfulness has been found to be a beneficial characteristic of athletes. However, the research on mindfulness interventions has been limited, poorly described, and poorly designed. The current study sought to determine whether a brief mindfulness intervention improves distress tolerance among athletes. In addition, this experiment tested the impact of cultivating mindfulness on psychological variables that may be important for sport such as anxiety, happiness and capacity for stress. Athletes were randomly assigned to one of the three intervention conditions (brief mindfulness, sham mindfulness and no-intervention control). All participants completed distress tolerance measures, a motor performance measure under distressing conditions, and self-reported psychological measures. These measures were administered at pre- and post-intervention. Results indicated that the brief mindfulness intervention did not result in significant improvements in the primary outcome variables, in comparison to the sham mindfulness and no-intervention control groups. Strengths and limitations of the study, as well as future directions are provided.
Does Social Support Influence Bulimic Behaviors through its Impact on Cognitive Appraisal
(North Dakota State University, 2016) Kwan, Mun Yee
Social support is one of many interpersonal functions that is impaired among individuals with bulimia nervosa. The buffering hypothesis of social support posits that social support shields the deleterious impact of stress on bulimic behaviors. However, the specific mechanism by which social support protects against the negative impact of stress on bulimic symptoms remains to be clarified. To investigate this mechanism, two studies examined the potential role of cognitive appraisal as a mediator in the relationship between social support and bulimic behaviors among undergraduate students. Study 1 was a longitudinal, naturalistic study in which participants completed online surveys at two assessment points that were four weeks apart. Bootstrap analyses revealed that cognitive appraisal did not mediate the relationship between perceived social support and bulimic behaviors. Exploratory analyses demonstrated that perceived stress, a construct parallel to cognitive appraisal with the emotional experiences taken into consideration, acted as a mediator in this relationship. Perceived social support appeared to be associated with decrease future bulimic behaviors through lowered stress perception. Study 2 was an experimental study that examined the role of cognitive appraisal in the relationship between social support and food consumption, which was used as a laboratory analogue of binge eating. Female participants were randomly assigned into one of two groups: with or without social support available. Stress was induced with a speech task, followed by a bogus taste task. Results demonstrated that perceived stress, instead of cognitive appraisal mediated the relationship between subjective ratings of the experimenter’s supportiveness and calories consumed. Unexpectedly, perceived supportiveness was associated with more caloric consumption through lower stress perception among individuals with high restraint. These studies extended the existing literature by examining perceived social support, perceived stress, and bulimic behaviors in a mediation model. Findings have theoretical and clinical implications for the role of social support in bulimic behaviors and the stress-disordered eating relationship. For example, stress does not always predict binge eating. Moreover, findings suggest the importance of social support in stress management and eating disorder treatments as well as the potential for emotional interventions for eating disorders.
Dual Effects of Social Support on Cardiovascular Reactivity: Social Support as a Comfort and an Encouragement
(North Dakota State University, 2015) Teoh, Ai Ni
The stress-buffering hypothesis (Cohen & McKay, 1984) proposes that social support attenuates cardiovascular reactivity (CVR) in times of stress. Past research which tested this hypothesis has obtained inconsistent findings. A dual effect model of social support and stress (Teoh & Hilmert, 2015) suggests that these inconsistent findings could be due to different effects of social support on CVR that depend on how engaged participants are during a stressful task. Specifically, this model proposes that when people are not engaged, social support encourages, increasing CVR relative to no support; and when people are engaged, social support comforts, attenuating CVR relative to no support. This study examined the dual effect model by empirically manipulating social support and task engagement while monitoring participants’ cardiovascular readings. We randomly assigned the participants (N = 121, all women) to give a speech on either a more engaging or a less engaging topic while receiving social support or no support from two evaluative female audience members. Before and after the speech, the participants completed several questionnaires that included measures of perceived stress and task engagement. Our results showed that, consistent with our prediction, socially supported participants responded to the task with greater CVR than nonsupported participants in the less engaging condition, indicating a social encouragement effect of social support. However, when the speech topic was more engaging, there was no significant effect of social support on CVR. Our findings show that task engagement moderates the effects of social support on CVR. The health implication of a CVR-elevating effect of social support is relatively unexplored and suggests that increased CVR to stress may be associated with positive health in certain situations.
The Effects of Cultural Dispositions on Behavior in Social Dilemmas: Examining the Impact of Expectations on Cooperation and Competition
(North Dakota State University, 2010) Ladbury, Jared Lee
Many groups require cooperation in order to efficiently complete tasks in a manner that benefits all group members. The antecedents of cooperative and competitive behavior have been well studied using a particular class of problems called social dilemmas. Cultural variables, such as collectivism, are often thought to influence cooperative behavior in groups, but experimental evidence has seen mixed results. The current study attempts to add to our understanding of the effects of cultural variables on cooperative and competitive behavior in groups by advancing two major ideas: (1) that the Input-Process-Output (I-PO) framework-a theoretical framework of group functioning which proposes that group members' individual characteristics, dispositions, etc. influence the processes of groups when interacting which, in turn, impact the outcomes the group produces-can be used as a conceptualization for understanding the impact of cultural variables on potential group outcomes, provided that a distinction is made between potentially meaningful but taskunrelated distal inputs such as collectivism and task-related proximal inputs, and (2) that group process can be indexed using variance components calculated from the Social Relations Model (SRM}-a statistical tool used to analyze dyadic data. Using two social dilemmas as experimental media, participants were placed in groups of four and asked to report what they expected each of their group members to do during the social dilemmas and how much they trusted each of their fellow group members. Results demonstrate that collectivism increases the tendency to expect similar behavior from fellow group members and to trust fellow group members at similar levels when given little diagnostic information. In turn, more competitive behavior is demonstrated in groups that have members who all expect similar behavior from each group member, but show variability regarding what the behavior will be. The study demonstrates (1) a significant relationship between collectivism and expectations of other group members' behavior, (2) expectations will synthesize into meaningful variance components as calculated using SRM, (3) SRM variance components serve as useful indicators of group process and, (4) SRM variance components can be used to predict cooperative and competitive behavior in social dilemma situations. This research demonstrates the value of using SRM variances as indices of process and underscores the theoretical utility of the I-P-O framework as an explanatory tool of group behavior.
The Effects of Reattribution Training and Behavioral Activation on Cognitive Vulnerabilities to Depression Among College Students
(North Dakota State University, 2018) Myhre, Samantha Kathleen
Depression among adolescents and college students comes with significant negative impacts on multiple areas of functioning as well as burdens on society. It is important to understand what makes young people vulnerable to experiencing depression as well as how to prevent it. This study intended to compare cognitive and behavioral skills training to determine their effect on cognitive vulnerabilities to depression. Participants who have never been depressed were recruited based on high levels of cognitive vulnerabilities to depression. They were randomized to a cognitive condition, a behavioral condition, or a waitlist condition. Pre-, post-, and follow-up measures were collected including cognitive vulnerabilities, symptoms of depression and anxiety, areas of general functioning, and the credibility of the workshops. Overall, participants in all conditions demonstrated decreases in dysfunctional attitudes and state anxiety overtime as well as increases in sleep quality, satisfaction with life, perceived social support, and academic self-concept. Individuals in the both the cognitive and behavioral conditions demonstrated decreases in level of rumination from pre-workshop to the time of follow-up. Decreases in dysfunctional attributional styles were found for those in the cognitive condition. Lastly, individuals in both workshop conditions demonstrated significant increases in behavioral activation whereas those in the waitlist condition demonstrated a significant decrease. This study provides us with inconclusive evidence regarding whether brief skills training workshops may be of use when attempting to reduce cognitive vulnerability to depression.
Embarking on the analytical odyssey: a phenomenological exploration of the psychoanalytic journey of formation
(North Dakota State University, 2024) Giddens, Steven
This Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) study explored the lived experiences of Lacanian psychoanalysts undergoing formation. The research aimed to elucidate the subjective dimensions of the psychoanalytic journey by addressing three primary questions: (a) What are psychoanalysts’ fundamental experiences and challenges during their formation and training? (b) How do psychoanalysts perceive the impact of their formation on their professional development? (c) What roles do supervision, personal analysis, and organizational support play in the formation of psychoanalysts? Three participants affiliated with the Colorado Analytic Forum were recruited through purposive sampling. Data were collected through semistructured interviews and analyzed using IPA’s six-step process, incorporating reflexive journaling and member-checking to ensure trustworthiness. Four Group Experiential Themes (GETs) emerged: Challenge, Personal and Professional Growth, Effects/Acts, and Formation. Participants navigated clinical, conceptual, and personal challenges, with growth occurring through validating inner strengths and reconciling external ideals with internal truths. Pivotal turning points, catalyzed by adversity and realization, led to decisive actions that realigned developmental trajectories. Formation itself emerged as an ongoing process of reconciling theory and practice, external pressures and internal ethics. The findings illuminate the transformative nature of the psychoanalytic formation journey, characterized by continuous self-reflection, immersion in the analytic method, and the pursuit of understanding the unconscious. Supervision, personal analysis, and organizational support played crucial roles, facilitating growth, providing guidance, and shaping the participants’ evolving identities as analysts. This study contributes to the understanding of the subjective dimensions of contemporary Lacanian psychoanalytic formation. The findings offer valuable insights for enhancing training practices, support mechanisms, and the ongoing development of psychoanalysts. By embracing the complexity and perpetual nature of formation, this research invites further exploration of the profound personal and professional odyssey undertaken by those dedicating themselves to the practice of psychoanalysis.
An Examination of the Link Between Weight Stigma and Binge Eating
(North Dakota State University, 2019) Douglas, Valerie Jane
Past research shows that weight-related teasing is linked to binge eating, but little is known about the individual risk factors that render certain people more vulnerable than others. The current study examined three potential risk factors for binge eating in response to weight-related teasing: weight stigmatization experiences, weight bias internalization, and emotion dysregulation. The current study empirically investigated how these factors interacted to predict concurrent binge eating behavior through a self-report questionnaire and eating behavior in a laboratory following exposure to a weight stigma vignette. First, it was hypothesized that higher levels of weight stigmatization and emotion dysregulation would be associated with higher levels of binge eating, which was consistent with the results of a multiple linear regression analysis. Second, it was predicted that higher levels of weight stigmatization and emotion dysregulation would predict greater quantities of cookie consumption during a bogus taste test following exposure to a weight stigma vignette. The hypothesis was not supported by a multiple linear regression. Third, we posited that weight bias internalization would moderate the relationship between weight stigmatization and emotion dysregulation on disordered eating, such that higher levels of weight bias internalization would be associated with higher levels of binge eating. This was not supported by a hierarchical regression analysis. Overall, the results highlight variables pertinent to the relationship between weight stigma and binge eating. Future research should test the model in clinical samples to see if it is more relevant to people with more severe levels of eating pathology.
Facilitating Attentional Guidance in Driving Scenes: Adult Age Differences in the Effectiveness of Directional Cues
(North Dakota State University, 2018) Elliott, Dustin Michael
Aging negatively impacts multiple processes of visual attention that can influence driving performance and safety. However, spatial orienting in response to visual cues remains relatively intact into late adulthood. The two experiments in the present study were aimed to determine the extent to which two types of directional visual cues effectively guide spatial orienting of older (60-80 years) and younger (18-35 years) adults in driving scenes. In Experiment 1, I utilized a Posner cuing task to investigate reflexive orienting to a target (a car at an intersection) in response to peripheral onset and central arrow cues. Both younger and older adults showed orienting benefits to valid directional cues and costs to invalid directional cues, and older adults showed greater attentional costs and benefits than younger adults. Furthermore, only younger adults showed general alerting effects following non-directional cues. In Experiment 2, I tested whether peripheral onset cues could effectively orient younger and older adults’ attention to a car’s location in video clips of simulated driving. Both age groups showed attentional benefits and costs from directional cues as well as alerting effects from neutral cues. Older adults showed larger overall cuing effects, which were driven primarily by costs from invalid cues. The age differences in the magnitude of cuing effects persisted, for the most part, after reducing the influence of general slowing. The two experiments of the present study demonstrated the effectiveness of visual cues in guiding attention in driving scenes. The findings suggest that the visual attention of both younger and older adults can be facilitated by visual cues in a driving environment, and the findings serve as a stepping-stone to the applied integration of cues into automobiles.
Finding Meaning in Misery: Can Stressful Situations Provide Meaning in Life?
(North Dakota State University, 2013) Juhl, Jacob
Theory and research investigating the relationship between affective experiences and meaning in life have focused on how positive affect contributes to perceptions of meaning in life. No work has considered how people can attain meaning in life while experiencing negative affect. The present work tested whether affectively negative circumstances can provide meaning in life. Specifically, two studies, using distinct methodologies, tested whether people can attain meaning in life while experiencing the stress associated with goal-pursuit. In Study 1, the salience of stressful college-related goal-pursuit was experimentally heightened and then perceptions of goal-engagement, meaning in life, and positive and negative affect were measured. In Study 2, trait levels of meaning in life and positive and negative affect were assessed. Later in the semester, stress associated with college-related goal-pursuit, perceptions of goal-engagement, meaning in life, and positive and negative affect were measured. In Study 1, the salience of stressful goal-pursuit did not affect these outcomes. In Study 2, when controlling for trait levels of meaning in life and positive and negative affect, regression and mediation analyses showed that college stress predicted increased negative affect; and that college stress predicted increased perceptions of goal engagement, which in turn predicted increased meaning in life and subsequently positive affect.
Group Marginalization Promotes Hostile Affect, Cognitions, and Behaviors
(North Dakota State University, 2012) Betts, Kevin Robert
The present research investigates relationships between group marginalization and hostility. In particular, I focus on the experiences of small, contained groups that are intentionally rejected by multiple out-group others. An integrative framework is proposed that attempts to explain how group processes influence (a) coping with threatened psychological needs following marginalization, (b) affective states, (c) cognitions regarding the marginalization and its source, and ultimately (d) hostile behavior. Study 1 describes a unique paradigm that effectively manipulates interpersonal rejection. Study 2 then implements this paradigm to empirically test relationships between the components of the integrative framework and examine differences among included and rejected individuals and groups. Results reveal partial support for the framework, particularly in regard to the impact of group marginalization on psychological needs and hostile affect, cognitions, and behaviors. Implications for natural groups such as terrorist cells, school cliques, and gangs are considered.
I Want to Break Up: Testing an Integrative Framework for Understanding and Predicting Romantic Relationship Dissolution
(North Dakota State University, 2021) Semanko, Anna Maruska
Romantic relationships are desired by the majority of individuals. Despite this prevalent desire, romantic relationships end often. What are the underlying motivations and reasons for breaking up with a romantic partner? The current research investigated this question through an innovative theoretical approach. First, salient beliefs associated with breaking up with a committed romantic partner were elicited (Study 1). Based on the prominent themes associated with breaking up, measures were designed to test a unique integrative framework for understanding and predicting romantic relationship dissolution (Study 2). This integrative framework is largely based on the theory of reasoned action (Fishbein & Ajzen, 2011) and the theory of interpersonal behavior (Triandis, 1977), elaborated to include select factors important in goal setting literature (Bagozzi & Warshaw, 1990; Gollwitzer, 1999). Results from a path analytic test of the integrative framework highlighted that attitudinal, affective, and social factors were particularly relevant for understanding and predicting intentions for romantic relationship dissolution. In all, the evidence gathered relating to the integrative framework contributes to our understanding of romantic relationship dissolution intentions and behavior. Furthermore, the integrative framework advances theoretical considerations for behavioral intention models, while also providing insights for behaviors and research regarding romantic relationships.
Intense Emotion Reactions Predict Enhanced Well-Being and Adaptive Choices
(North Dakota State University, 2020) Klein, Robert John
Existing evidence has linked individual differences in emotion reaction intensity to both enhanced and decreased psychological well-being. We propose that this contradiction is related to methodological shortcomings in some existing research. We present a novel emotion reactivity task capable of addressing these methodological shortcomings by continuously measuring the subjective intensity of individual emotion episodes with high temporal resolution. Four studies were conducted (total n = 499). In Studies 1, 2, and 4, participants continuously reported their emotions while viewing objectively pleasant or unpleasant images. Thousands of reaction intensities were coded using algorithms developed for this purpose. We expected that people showing more intense emotion reactions, regardless of valence, would report greater subjective well-being in the lab and in daily life. One reason that such situationally-congruent reactions might be beneficial is that that they enable more flexible situationally-appropriate behavior. In Study 3, participants were asked to rate their emotional responses to pleasant and unpleasant images. Following this, people choose a location for their Self avatar within a computerized environment that included one image of each valence. We expected that the tendency to report intense emotion responses to these images would predict both adaptive location choice and subjective well-being. Results confirmed most major hypotheses: more intense reactions to both positive and negative stimuli were predictive of greater subjective well-being in the lab and in daily life, and analogous reactivity patterns were associated with more flexible, adaptive avatar placement. The results suggest that a key feature of maladaptive emotion generation systems (and lower well-being) may not be overly intense reactions as has been suggested, but a failure to flexibly adapt emotion output to match changing circumstances.
Investigating the Mechanism Driving Near-Tool Visual Biases
(North Dakota State University, 2020) McManus, Robert Ryan
Previous research has shown that when observers hold a tool, they experience action-oriented visual biases in the area around this tool that are similar to visual biases that exist around the hands. Some researchers have theorized this effect is due to the tool being incorporated into the body schema following active tool use, while others argue that this effect may simply be due to the tool’s visual salience. The goal of the present study was to test these competing explanations of near-tool visual biases. In the first experiment, participants completed a target detection task under one of three conditions: 1) while holding a small rake next to one side of a monitor, preceded by an active object retrieval task; 2) while holding a rake next to a monitor, preceded by a passive looking task; or 3) with the rake placed next to a monitor by a researcher, preceded by a passive looking task. Participants detected targets near the rake faster than targets far from the rake in the first two conditions, but no target detection facilitation was seen in the third condition. Participants in Experiment 2 held a small rake next to a monitor after an active object retrieval task, but a paper shield blocked the tool from view, eliminating its visual salience. While the pattern of near-tool target detection facilitation did not significantly differ between shielded and unshielded conditions, the shield did reduce the magnitude of the near-tool effect. Taken together, these results suggest that near-tool effects cannot be driven by the visual presence of a tool alone, but they also indicate that a period of active use may not be necessary to introduce visual biases near tools.
Longitudinal Examination of Sleep and Chrononutrition
(North Dakota State University, 2022) Veronda, Allison Christine
Chrononutrition (i.e., circadian timing of food intake) offers promising opportunities to improve weight management strategies, but many fundamental aspects of chrononutrition are still unknown. While research to date has suggested that unhealthy chrononutrition behaviors are linked to weight gain, chrononutrition preferences are markedly understudied, and research has not yet determined whether chrononutrition preferences and behaviors are variable or stable over time in the natural environment. Potential mechanisms underlying chrononutrition’s impact on weight are still being explored. Recent evidence suggests that weight gain is the result of an imbalance of energy consumption and expenditure that is influenced by sleep duration. Though short sleep duration may undermine weight loss efforts, lead to increased preference for energy-dense foods, and even alter chrononutrition, chrononutrition’s role in energy balance has been less studied. The purpose of the present online study was therefore to examine chrononutrition, sleep duration, and body mass index (BMI) in the natural environment, over time, in a sample of healthy, non-shift working adults. Participants completed a series of measures online and self-reported their body weight and height three times, approximately every six months, for one year. This longitudinal study showed that chrononutrition preferences were largely stable over time, while chrononutrition behaviors were more variable over the study period. Results also showed that, contrary to our hypotheses, chrononutrition was not a significant predictor of later BMI, and chrononutrition did not mediate the relationship between sleep duration and later BMI. This study provided a novel examination of fundamental aspects of chrononutrition, knowledge of which may be vital for the development of obesity prevention and treatment strategies.

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