NSF/REU Grant 2003-2004 Winners
Psi Chi is pleased to announce the 2003-04 winners of Psi Chi's NSF/REU Grants. The three winning students conducted research this past summer 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. The 2003-04 grant winners were, listed alphabetically:
- Jessica B. Raub, Stetson University (FL)
Developmental Differences in Continuous Recognition Memory: An fMRI Study of Medial Temporal Lobe Function
Abstract, Bio
- Jessica Nicole Schiltz, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Mothers' Influences: The Relationship Between Parenting Styles, Scaffolding, and Children's Mathematics Performance
Abstract, Bio
- Robin Elaine White, Texas Lutheran University
The Effects of Corners of a Room on Blocking in the Morris Water Maze
Abstract, Bio
Developmental Differences in Continuous Recognition Memory: An fMRI Study of Medial Temporal Lobe Function
Jessica B. Raub
Stetson University (FL)
Explicit memory systems demonstrate clear developmental and age-related improvements across childhood, raising questions regarding the development of temporal lobe structures thought to underlie explicit memory in adulthood. To assess developmental differences in medial temporal lobe function, adults and eight-year old children completed a continuous recognition memory task thought to rely on a hippocampal-based explicit memory system while functional neuroimaging data were acquired. Significant activation of the hippocampus and surrounding cortices was found during the continuous recognition memory task in both children and adults. Concrete stimuli produced greater activation than did abstract stimuli in the hippocampus and medial temporal lobe cortices in data pooled across age groups. This effect, however, was driven by significant bilateral hippocampal activation in children, suggesting a developmental difference in which children have a more difficult time encoding abstract stimuli. New stimuli produced significantly greater activation than did old stimuli in the hippocampus and fusiform gyrus, suggesting that the hippocampus is involved in the encoding of new stimuli, but not the retrieval of old stimuli, for both children and adults.
Jessica B. Raub currently attends Stetson University in DeLand, Florida and plans to graduate in May 2005 magna cum laude with a BS in psychology and biology. On the Dean's List for academic excellence, Ms. Raub is also a member of Beta Beta Beta, the National Honor Society for Biological Sciences, and the president of Stetson University's Psi Chi chapter. Since March 2003, she has gained valuable experience as a research assistant to Dr. Camille King investigating the effects of the cross-regeneration of gustatory nerves on central nervous system activation and taste reactivity behaviors in rats. Ms. Raub is currently applying to PhD programs in cognitive neuroscience and plans to begin her doctoral studies in fall 2005.
Mothers' Influences: The Relationship Between Parenting Styles, Scaffolding, and Children's Mathematics Performance
Jessica Schiltz
University of Wisconsin-Madison
This study addresses the interactions between mothers' self-reported authoritative or authoritarian parenting styles, their scaffolding behaviors, and children's subsequent performance on a math task. Previous research has shown that authoritative parenting is associated with positive school achievement. In addition, positive scaffolding behaviors have been linked with greater tutoring success. In this study, authoritative parenting is self-reported on Block's Child-Rearing Practices Report. Scaffolding measures are derived and elaborated from previous research by Rogoff and Pratt et al. The highest level completed successfully on Hyde's Math Homework Task measured children's math performance. The results indicated that authoritative parents were significantly better at matching their teaching to the child's zone of proximal development. However, no significant differences were found between parenting types for children's math performance.
Jessica Schiltz is currently a senior majoring in psychology with a certificate in religious studies. She plans on graduating in May 2005. For the past year, Ms. Schiltz has been working in a psychology lab for the Math and Moms Project. In addition to her schoolwork, she has a four-year-old son who keeps her very busy and smiling constantly. Her interests focus on developmental psychology, specifically child and adolescent development. She plans to take a year off to gain more field experience and to prepare for graduate school. Her future plans are to obtain a PhD or PsyD in clinical psychology and practice in either a school or community setting.
The Effects of Corners of a Room on Blocking in the Morris Water Maze
Robin E. White
Indiana University
The Morris water maze is a 1.52 M diameter pool containing a platform submerged just below the surface of the water that an animal must find using beacons and/or landmarks in order to escape the water. The current study addressed associative blocking in a water maze situation using rats as subjects. Associative blocking occurs when a rat learns an initial cue, often a proximal beacon, to find a platform but fails to learn subsequent cues, often distal landmarks, added to the room. Although several studies have found evidence supporting the occurrence of blocking, some studies have found facilitation in the form of improvement in learning about the second set of cues by the early training.
The purpose of the current experiment was to further examine the determinants of blocking versus facilitation in a water maze situation. It was hypothesized that the corners of the room may have contributed to the facilitation of learning the distal room cues that occurred in previous studies. Two similar studies, differing only in type of beacon, were used in this experiment. The first study used a less salient, displaced hanging beacon and the second study used a more salient pole beacon that protruded from the platform. Neither blocking nor facilitation of room cues was observed in either study. However, evidence suggests that salience of the beacon has some effect on preference of cues used to locate the platform. Rats that were trained with the displaced beacon (less salient) seemed to prefer to use room cues, while rats that were trained using the pole beacon (more salient) preferred to use a hanging beacon, similar in shape to the pole beacon, to locate the platform.
Robin E. White is currently an undergraduate student at Texas Lutheran University in Seguin, Texas. She is a double major in psychology and mathematics and will be graduating in May of 2005. After graduation, she plans to pursue a doctorate in psychology in the field of animal behavior and then teach psychology in a university setting. Ms. White is currently participating in an internship working with chimpanzees and is also doing research with humans pertaining to handedness and self-directed behaviors.
Ms. White plays the clarinet in the Texas Lutheran University Concert Band, is vice-president of the local chapter of Alpha Chi, a national honor society, and is on the Provost's List for academic performance.