NSF/REU Grant 2001-2002 Winners
Psi Chi is pleased to announce the 2001-02 winners of Psi Chi's new NSF/REU Grants. The six winning students conducted research during the summer of 2002 at institutions participating in the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) program. Each of the winning students received $5,000 to fund a 10-week stay to conduct research at the participating REU institution.
- Kelli Beede, Westminster College (MO)
Neuronal Activity as a Function of Stimulus Direction and Disparity in Areas V1 and MT of the Macaque Visual Cortex
Abstract, Bio
- Alfredo Castro, University of Texas at San Antonio
Aversive Learning in Human Participants: Comparing Delay and Trace Conditioning
Abstract, Bio
- Bernadette Cogswell, George Mason University (VA)
- Virginia Coryell, Indiana University Bloomington,
Effect of Birth Fluid on Paternal Responses of Adult Male Spiny Mice (Acomys cahirinus)
Abstract, Bio
- Christian T. Elvey, St. Lawrence University (NY)
Indentification of Peptide Content in Isolated Neurohypophysial Terminals
Abstract, Bio
- Elizabeth Majka, Beloit College (WI)
The Influence of Power and Gender on Communication Strategies
Abstract, Bio
Neuronal Activity as a Function of Stimulus Direction and Disparity in Areas V1 and MT of the Macaque Visual Cortex
Kelli Beede
Westminster College
The ability to perceive color, motion, depth, and many other visual cues is important to the life and survival of most animals. However, the mechanisms by which the visual system detects and signals these cues are not fully understood. Binocular disparity is one way in which changes in 3-D environmental stimuli are captured. The different views of each eye provide information about the location and depth of objects in our surroundings. Likewise, the ability to differentiate between varying directions contributes to our 3-D vision of the world. Past research has shown that individual neurons show selectivity for certain directions in environmental stimuli, as well as certain disparities. The present study examines the hypothesis that neurons in areas V1 and MT of the visual system are selective, not only for separate directions or disparities, but also for the combinations and interactions of the two. Preliminary results of single neuron recordings from the visual system of one rhesus macaque support the interaction hypothesis.
Kelli Beede currently attends Westmin-ster College in Fulton, Mo., and plans to graduate in May 2003 with a bachelor's degree in psychology and with having completed the majority of the classes she needs for entry into medical school. Ms. Beede is the vice-president of Westmin-ster's Psi Chi chapter and is also vice-president of Alpha Chi. After graduation she plans to work with her degree and finish a few classes while she studies for the MCAT and applies to medical programs. Ms. Beede's future goal is to be a cardiac surgeon.
Aversive Learning in Human Participants: Comparing Delay and Trace Conditioning
Alfredo Castro
University of Texas at San Antonio
In delay conditioning, an unconditioned stimulus (US) is presented at the end of a conditioned stimulus (CS) so that they overlap temporally. In trace conditioning, there is a temporal gap between the offset of a CS and the onset of a US. CS+ occurs when the CS is paired with the US. CS - occurs when the CS is never paired with the US. The study investigated delay conditioning and the startle response. It tested the hypothesis that during delay conditioning the startle response should be greater for CS+ than CS - in both acquisition and extinction. The study served as a pilot for a larger study that will include both trace and delay conditioning, as well as an alcohol/no-alcohol manipulation. Participants were 11 people (5 women and 6 men), ranging in age from 19-26 years (M = 22.89, SD = 2.20). Criteria for participants included not having visual or hearing impairment, not smoking, and not consuming alcohol or caffeine prior to participation. Participants viewed a monitor looking at a circle (CS+) or a triangle (CS - ). At 300 ms before the shape disappeared, a startle probe released a 50-ms static burst in participant's ears. This burst was repeated 3 s after the shape changed to a fixation point. Three s later, the static burst was released again, and then again 30-40 s later. Using an EEG cap and EMG electrodes, researchers recorded physiological measures (e.g., brain waves, blink heart rate, and skin conductance response) at onset of startle to 600 ms following startle and compared mean measurements of the peaks across trials. The experiment contained three phases: baseline, acquisition, and extinction. A t test was used to analyze the data. The independent variables were blink response, trials, type of stimulus, and startle. The dependent variable was the height of the startle - response peaks. The results partially supported the hypothesis. The startle response was greater for CS+ than CS - during the acquisition phase but not the extinction phase. This may be due to participant's awareness of the stimulus. Researchers will make adjustments to the experimental procedures and further explore the extinction phase.
Alfredo Castro joined the military immediately after high school, where he pursued the position of counselor guardian. Because the U.S. Army does not permit counselors to carry weapons, the military provides guardian soldiers for counselors. In order to qualify as a guardian, Mr. Castro received training in counseling soldiers on issues such as suicide, rape, depression, and death--in addition to basic combat training. While working with a counselor, he gained a wealth of knowledge about human suffering and social support. Moreover, Mr. Castro attended a 10-month program and earned an appointment to West Point. Mr. Castro states that being a cadet was a pivotal point in his life, partly because he learned so much about the human psyche under pressure. In lieu of continuing a successful military career, Mr. Castro decided to pursue his interest in psychology. At the beginning of his junior year at the University of Texas at San Antonio, he enrolled in the Honors College. In addition, Castro began an independent study on stress with Dr. Christyn Dolbier, assistant professor of psychology. Castro reports that as his mentor and thesis advisor, Dr. Dolbier continues to hone his laboratory skills and research methods, and that he is lucky to be in a one-to-one collaboration with a professor. His thesis title is "The Relationship of Cognitive Appraisal and Physiological Arousal to Performance." The purpose of the research was to examine the psychological/physiological relationship to performance--before, during, and after a laboratory stressor (math task).
Effect of Birth Fluid on Paternal Responses of Adult Male Spiny Mice (Acomys cahirinus)
Virginia Coryell
Indiana University
The mechanisms facilitating paternal care of adult male spiny mice are poorly understood. We investigated the effects of experience and expectancy on infant-directed behavior and asked whether the presence of birth fluid on a newborn's skin augments paternal behavior in adult male spiny mice. Responses to novel newborns bearing birth fluid and to clean neonates were assessed in 4 groups of adult male mice varying in paternal experience and expectant state: Non-Experienced Non-Expectant, Non-Experienced Expectant, Experienced Non-Expectant, and Experienced Expectant. Paired t tests indicated that Experienced Expectant males spent significantly more time licking, handling, contacting, and lying on the newborn after it was coated with birth fluid, p < .03. Experienced Non-Expectant, Non-Experienced Expectant, and Non-Experienced Non-Expectant males were unaffected by the presence of birth fluid on pups. An ANOVA conducted for each of the infant-directed behaviors assessed indicated that adult males did not show group differences in paternal responses when the newborn was clean or coated with birth fluid. This appeared to be due to the variability in the paternal responses within each of the groups. These data indicate that experience, expectancy, and birth fluid may be important factors underlying individual differences in paternal responses of adult male spiny mice.
Virginia Coryell presently attends Indiana University and is enrolled in the Bachelor of Science program, pursuing a major in psychology and a minor in philosophy. Ms. Coryell is also in the Liberal Arts and Management program, which is an interdisciplinary certificate program integrating a liberal arts major, specialized training in business, and a range of extracurricular activities. She plans to graduate in May 2004.
Ms. Coryell is a recipient of the Indiana University Faculty Award (2000-2002) and a Indiana University Grant (2000-2002), and was included on the Indiana University Dean's List (2002). She is a member of the National Society of Collegiate Scholars, as well as three honor societies: Psi Chi, Alpha Lambda Delta, and Phi Eta Sigma.
Ms. Coryell current interest is the manifestation of abnormal behaviors (anxiety, antisocial, etc.). She plans to attend graduate school in clinical psychology. In the future, she would like to conduct research and have a clinical practice.
Indentification of Peptide Content in Isolated Neurohypophysial Terminals
Christian T. Elvey
St. Lawrence University
Two distinct types of nerve terminals exist in the neurohypophysis. These terminals have been found to secrete 2 neuropeptides: arginine vasopressin (AVP) and oxytocin (OT). An ELISA assay was optimized to detect neuropeptide content of individual isolated terminals in an effort to correlate neuropeptide release with the electrophysiological behavior of individual terminals. AVP could be detected at levels as low as 0.5 pg per terminal, but attempts to develop a similar sensitivity for OT assays were unsuccessful. Given the high sensitivity of the AVP assay, it was assumed that any terminals not showing AVP contained OT. Control experiments were conducted to ensure none of the experimental or storage conditions affected the sensitivity of the assay. Terminals were collected from both rat and mouse neurohypophyses by aspirating them into glass micropipettes and then freezing them prior to assaying. The size and apparent color of the terminals were recorded and compared to measured neuropeptide content. Compared to the rat, the mouse neurohypophysis contained fewer terminals, which were smaller and contained less than half as much neuropeptide (2.48 pg and 1.09 pg, respectively). Approximately 65% of all rat terminals contained AVP, compared with only 32% from the mouse. It was previously hypothesized that terminals that appeared green with phase-contrast optics were more likely to be vasopressinergic, whereas those that appeared red were likely oxytocinergic. This study found a stronger correlation between darker terminals of both colors and AVP. Only a weak correlation was found between size and neuropeptide content in rat terminals. Comparison of electrophysiological results with identified AVP terminals showed a strong correlation (80%) between lack of opioid inhibition of calcium currents and presence of AVP.
Christian Elvey is a senior neuroscience major at St. Lawrence University. Mr. Elvey started out at St. Lawrence as a psychology major, but when the university approved the neuroscience major at the beginning of his junior year, it was "a perfect fit," allowing Mr. Elvey to study the psychology that he was interested in along with the biology he enjoyed and needed for medical school. Mr. Elvey is currently working on his senior honors project, which involves immunohistochemical staining for neurons and glial cells in the rat brain stem. He is also an active member of Omicron Delta Kappa, the national leadership honor society, and Circle K, an international community service organization. Mr. Elvey recently finished writing the psychology department newsletter for the fall semester along with a fellow Psi Chi member. He is currently in the process of applying to medical school, which he hopes to start in the fall. If possible, he also hopes to return to the lab at the University of Massachusetts this summer to finish the project he worked on last summer.
The Influence of Power and Gender on Communication Strategies
Elizabeth Majka
Beloit College
Participants' intentions to give advice or to offer sympathy in a hypothetical problem situation were evaluated in order to tease apart the role of gender and power in communication. By speaking into a tape recorder and indicating verbal response intentions on several Likert-type scale items, participants (N = 88) responded to a hypothetical boss or coworker (target vignette person) after reading a brief vignette explaining the target vignette person's work-related problem. Results indicated that men and women showed no significant differences in their intentions to give advice or to offer sympathy. High-power individuals, however, were more intent on giving advice, whereas low-power individuals were more intent on offering sympathy. In addition, male participants intended to show significantly more sympathy when responding to a female vignette target person. Results illustrate the need for empirical investigations of popular notions of gender-linked communication strategies.
Elizabeth (Liz) Majka is a senior psychology major at Beloit College in Beloit, Wis. Ranked first in her graduating class, she holds membership in Psi Chi and Phi Beta Kappa, was a participant in the 2001 APA Summer Science Institute, and was a spring recipient of Beloit College's Walter Van Dyke Bingham Award for excellence in psychology. In addition to assisting Professor Suzanne Cox with her developmental research on children born preterm, Liz spent her junior year conducting independent research in the realm of health psychology by combining message framing techniques and visual prompts to promote water consumption on her college campus. Her senior year promises to be busy with a psychology honors thesis and various presentations at psychology conferences. Liz plans to take a year off after college to travel and to gain additional research experience. With an ultimate desire to teach at a small liberal arts school and to develop social intervention programs, she plans to apply to PhD programs in social, clinical, or health psychology. In her free time, Liz enjoys running, cooking, movies, and playing with her two pet rats, Raju and Dink.