Psychology Doctoral Work

Permanent URI for this collectionhdl:10365/32403

Browse

Now showing 1 - 20 of 36

School Counselors' Use of Movement in Small Group and Individual Counseling Sessions
(North Dakota State University, 2024) Geinert, Amy
Although there is a research base for incorporating movement into teaching and classroom lessons, there currently is a lack of research on incorporating movement into school counseling practices. The present mixed methods exploratory study aimed to identify school counselor attitudes, beliefs, and practices regarding the use of movement in individual and small group counseling sessions. A concurrent embedded strategy was utilized to survey practicing school counselors in the United States. By sharing requests through the ASCA Member Community and state school counselor association communications, study participants were invited to complete an anonymous survey online. Study participants indicated they find incorporating movement useful in individual and small group sessions. Although participants self-report higher levels of knowledge on incorporating movement into counseling sessions at schools, most participants had not received any training on the topic. Recommendations include providing training for practicing school counselors and school counselors-in-training regarding how to incorporate movement into sessions and its benefits. Focus of training should also include advocacy efforts and how to address identified barriers.
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.
Neural Synchrony and Asynchrony as Mechanisms for Perceptual Grouping and Segmentation
(North Dakota State University, 2010) Clarke, Aaron
The question of whether neural synchrony has functional significance for cortical processing has been an issue of contention in the recent scientific literature. Although the balance of evidence now seems to be favoring a vie,v that synchrony does indeed play a significant functional role, this role's mechanisms and its behavioral consequences have not been fully elucidated. In this research I add to the growing body of evidence in favor of a significant functional role for neural synchrony in cortical processing. By leveraging a modified version of Cheadle, Bauer, Parton, Muller, Bonneh and Usher (2008)'s psychophysical paradigm and through experiments of own design, I find evidence suggesting that when contrast oscillations serve as inputs to the visual system, the system produces behavior that may be more synchronous than the stimulus or less synchronous than the stimulus depending on whether or not the oscillations occur on elements of a common object or on elements of separate objects respectively. The current paradigm has the potential to test behavioral manifestations of the underlying neural dynamics that heretofore were largely thought to be confined to physiological measures. Furthermore, I provide a biophysical model that predicts this behavior and other related electrophysiological findings.
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.
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.
Shared Nostalgia: Moving From an Individual to an Interpersonal Approach to the Study of a Social Emotion
(North Dakota State University, 2021) FioRito, Taylor Anne
Nostalgia is a common, bittersweet experience described as a sentimental longing for the past. Past research has found nostalgia to be a social emotion that increases feelings of social connectedness and motivates social engagement. Despite the prevalence of people reminiscing in conversations, few studies have studied nostalgia in a social setting. Thus, this research examined an uncharted area of nostalgia: shared nostalgia. The current work defines shared nostalgia as an experience in which nostalgia is transmitted to at least one other person or exchanged between two or more people. Study 1 investigated the prevalence and affective nature of shared nostalgia and found it is a bittersweet and common experience, even more so than reflecting on nostalgic memories individually. Based on the findings of Study 1, Studies 2-4 examined the potential social connectedness function of collaborative nostalgia, a type of shared nostalgia. Study 2 found that the desire for collaborative nostalgia is associated with high emotional closeness, emotional distance, and temporal distance to social relationships, suggesting it generally concerns a desire to connect with others. Indeed, the relationship between emotional distance and the desire for collaborative nostalgia was mediated by a motivation to connect. Studies 3 and 4 experimentally tested the relationship between collaborative nostalgia and temporal and emotional closeness. Although the manipulations failed to support the presented hypotheses, exploratory analyses provide interesting insights into shared nostalgia. In all, shared nostalgia is a crucial addition to the nostalgia literature that warrants further investigation.
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.
Measuring Infant Emotion Regulation within the Still Face Procedure: A Novel Approach to Assessing Regulation Development in the Context of Prenatal Maternal Stress
(North Dakota State University, 2021) Bagne, Angela Grace Beach
A growing body of literature demonstrates that prenatal maternal stress (PNMS) can influence infant and child outcomes across developmental domains. The timing of PNMS exposure may be particularly important, and late PNMS has predicted poorer emotion regulation outcomes in infancy and childhood. Behavioral indicators and measures of emotion regulation have differed widely in the existing PNMS literature, however. Additionally, despite the well-established use of the Still Face Procedure (SFP) to assess emotion regulation and infant-maternal interactions in the regulatory process, it has not been used within the context of PNMS. In the current research, the SFP was used in conjunction with a novel measurement of infant and maternal behaviors developed to assess infant emotion regulation in the context of maternal behavior and PNMS. A total of 100 infant-mother dyads were observed and coded during three, two-minute play episodes and two, two-minute Still Face episodes of the SFP via video recording. Both reinforcing (e.g., soothing/comforting) and non-reinforcing (e.g., punitive) maternal behaviors predicted numerous infant regulatory behaviors within the context of mostly early PNMS. In addition, late PNMS was found to differentially affect two regulatory behaviors based on infant sex.
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.
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.
The Theory of Planned Behavior and Sleep Opportunity: An Ecological Momentary Assessment of Intra-Individual Variability
(North Dakota State University, 2020) Mead, Michael Phillip
Insufficient sleep duration is associated with poor physical and mental health outcomes, and many Americans report that they are not meeting sleep duration recommendations. Many individuals choose to restrict their own sleep, yet little is known about the source of this sleep deficit. Recent research efforts have used the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) to predict sleep health behavior. However, this research is limited in that it fails to measure volitional sleep behavior and focuses exclusively on between-person differences. This study addressed these limitations by using an intensive longitudinal design to test how constructs of the TPB relate to nightly sleep opportunity. Healthy college students (N=79) completed a week long study in which they completed 4 ecological momentary assessment signals per day that measured their attitudes, perceived norms, perceived behavioral control (PBC), and intentions relating to their nocturnal sleep opportunity. Participants wore an actiwatch each night of the study to measure their sleep opportunity. Analyses revealed between- and within-day variability of attitudes, perceived norms, PBC, and intentions. Further, there were significant between- and within-day trajectories of these constructs. Mixed linear models demonstrated that both intentions and PBC were significant predictors of subsequent sleep opportunity, and that PBC was the strongest predictor of future intentions. The between-and within-day patterns of these constructs highlight important considerations for their measurement, and provide insight into the potential refinement of sleep promotion efforts. Results also demonstrate that within-person changes in PBC and intentions predict subsequent sleep opportunity, demonstrating the need for a daily framework when using the TPB to predict sleep health behavior.
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.
Psychological Stress, Stress Reactivity and Blood Glucose Metabolization During Pregnancy
(North Dakota State University, 2020) Strahm, Anna Marie
Gestational diabetes mellitus impacts between 3-10% of pregnancies, and increases the risk of pregnancy complications and lifelong health effects for mother and child (Bellamy, Casas, Hingorani, & Williams, 2009; Ross, 2006; Ryser Rüetschi et al., 2016). About half of cases occur without an evident risk factor (American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), 1994; Dode & Santos, 2009). The present study was designed to examine possible psychophysiological connections linking psychological stress and stress reactivity, the magnitude of an individual’s response to stress, to blood sugar metabolization during mid-pregnancy between 24-28 weeks gestation. Participants were recruited from Sanford Health in Fargo, where patients underwent routine Oral Glucose Tolerance Testing (OGTT) a diagnostic assessment in which higher results indicate less blood sugar metabolization. They also completed a Virtual Trier Social Stress Task while psychological and physiological markers of stress reactivity were assessed. Additionally, maternal stress and stress reactivity were assessed using psychosocial questionnaires. There was support for proposed psychophysiological connections, including models in which positive associations between OGTT and maternal stress and anxiety were moderated by psychological stress reactivity. Results suggest that both the presence of stress and a women’s responses to that stress are influential over blood glucose metabolization during pregnancy. Continuing research in this area may have implications for improving outcomes of women at higher risk of GDM and other adverse pregnancy and perinatal outcomes.
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.
Perceived Burdensomeness: Exploring Potential Vulnerability Factors
(North Dakota State University, 2019) Saxton, Brandon T.
Suicide affects hundreds of thousands of people around the world each year. Despite many coordinated efforts to address this problem, in multiple domains, these numbers have risen over the last decade. The Interpersonal Theory of Suicide is a relatively recent theory that has received considerable attention and investigation. Perceived burdensomeness is one of the constructs from this theory. The belief that you are a burden on others is a robust predictor of suicidal ideation and, to a less understood extent, suicidal behavior. To my knowledge, few studies have looked at the factors that lead to perceived burdensomeness. This study was conducted to begin to address this gap in the literature. Attributional style, hopelessness, socially-prescribed perfectionism, and self-esteem were identified as potential vulnerability factors for perceived burdensomeness. One hundred twenty individuals were surveyed about these constructs and perceived burdensomeness. Participants were also asked to read three vignettes based on interviews with individuals with lived experiences related to suicide attempts. Following each vignette, participants were asked to report the level of perceived burdensomeness that they anticipated that they would feel in that situation as an additional analogue measure of perceived burdensomeness. It was found that attributional style, socially-prescribed perfectionism, and self-esteem predicted current levels of perceived burdensomeness. Self-esteem was the only variable that predicted analogue levels of perceived burdensomeness, beyond current levels of depression. This exploratory study has the potential to contribute to the literature by guiding and informing future research related to better understanding or reducing perceived burdensomeness.
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.
The Structure of Goals: Using Cybernetic Theory to Understand Behavior and Functioning
(North Dakota State University, 2011) Moeller, Sara Kimberly
While self-determination researchers emphasize the importance of pursuing internally motivated goals for self-regulation, cybernetic theorists instead highlight the structural features of goal systems and the manner in which such structural features should facilitate controlled behavior in daily life. However, it was our intuition that a consideration of both these literatures might best explain self-regulatory processes in daily life. Along these lines, we conducted two studies in which we measured the degree to which a person's goals are organized in hierarchical manner with respect to their intrinsic versus extrinsic properties. In Study 1, we found that individuals with hierarchical goal structures were less likely to experience increased motivation to quit following frustrating events. Consistent with this pattern, in Study 2 we found that negative feedback concerning goal progress adversely affected only those without hierarchical goal structures. Implications of these findings for perspectives on self-regulation are discussed, as well as potential new directions for testing cybernetic concepts within human functioning.
Modeling Approach Motivation in Terms of Perceptual Biases Involving Appetitive Stimuli
(North Dakota State University, 2011) Ode, Scott Byrum
Accumulating evidence suggests a potential relationship between approach motivation and perceptual enhancement. The current investigation was undertaken with the goal of exploring the causes of the phenomenon as well as implications for personality. Below, a model is introduced to help explain the causes and consequences of relations between approach motivation and perceptual size. Two studies are then presented testing a number of assumptions made by the model. In Study 1 (n = 78), state-related variations in approach motivation were manipulated with the intent of sensitizing the perceptual system to appetitive stimuli. It was predicted that such sensitization would result in greater size estimations. In Study 2 (n = 123), size overestimates were used to assess relations between daily events and outcomes. It was hypothesized that individual differences in size estimations for appetitive words (relative to neutral words) would predict daily motivations, emotion, and behaviors, as well as reactivity to daily events. In addition, several individual difference variables ostensibly related to dopamine activity were assessed in both studies and entered as moderators of the degree to which size overestimations varied by stimulus type. Many of the hypotheses were not supported, but size overestimations did, as hypothesized, moderate relations between positive events and goal-related motivation.
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.

Browse

Recent Submissions