Psychology Department
Ohio Undergraduate Psychology Conference
The conference program follows:
Welcome to Ohio Dominican College for the 13 th annual Ohio Undergraduate Psychology Conference. The conference is sponsored by a consortium of Ohio colleges and universities to provide a platform for undergraduate psychology majors to present their original research papers in a public forum. The conference was initiated by John Carroll University in 1987 and is traditionally held on the next-to-last Saturday in April. Host sites are selected on a rotating basis from member institutions. Student presentations are 10 minutes in length followed by a brief question and answer session of 2-3 minutes. All papers accepted reflect student generated empirical research. Student papers are welcome from nonmember institutions. Information from past conferences may be found at http://www.ursuline.edu/acadaff/psych/oupc/index.htm.
Next year's conference will be held at the College of Wooster .
PAPER SESSION 1 ( 9:00-10:00 , Erskine 320)
9:00 OBSERVATIONAL RESEARCH ON THE MATING OF A MALE AND FEMALE BONOBO, PAN PANISCUS, PYGMY CHIMPANZEE: AT THE COLUMBUS , OHIO ZOO. Kathleen Martin, Capital University .
This is a study of observational research of the mating process between two bonobos, Toby and Lucy, conducted at the Columbus Zoo. Toby is at an age when he should have an offspring and he does not. The concern by the animal technicians at the zoo was that since Toby hadn't mated yet, he may have some problems with mating. The primary goal of the observations was to record Toby's behavior toward the female bonobos to determine whether or not he would continue to have difficulty mating. I obtained my data from indoor and outdoor observations using a notepad, video camcorder, and tape recorder. I have included journals of my research into this paper. It shows that over a time Toby became more social and did indulge in sex. Keeping Toby in a confined area with two females helped him socially but failed to generate offspring as was the original purpose of the zoo keepers.
9:15 FEMALE PHEROMONES ATTENUATE INTERMALE AGGRESSION IN RATS. Jana Schrock and Dominic Costanzo. Muskingum College .
Sixty-two sexually naive Long Evans male rats either received sex experience or did not. The following day half of the subjects in each group were given access to the pheromone of a novel estrous female for one hour, and the other did not. On the next day, a ten minute encounter with a novel male intruder was recorded. While the two-days prior sexual experience dramatically elevated aggression, the subsequent encounter with an estrous female odor decreased inter-male frequency and duration of biting, offsetting the sex-induced enhancement of aggression.
9:30 INFLUENCE OF SOCIAL STATUS ON A CONDITIONED TASTE AVERSION IN RATS. Emily DeGarmo, Muskingum College .
The relationship between social status, CS preexposure, and test delay was considered in an examination of a conditioned taste aversion (CTA) in rats. After preexposure to the CS (apple juice) a CTA was established by IP injections of LiCl in dominant and subordinate males. Using a two-tubed test and a comparison with nonpreexposed controls, the dominant subjects were found to learn more slowly, and over time they demonstrated a weakening, while subordinates showed a strengthening of the aversion. It is suggested that the influence of social status on learning in animals may be comparable to the relationship of character traits to human learning.
9:45 THE EFFECTS OF VARIABLE MANIPULATION: A TEST OF OPTIMAL FORAGING THEORY. Ryan Mihely, Aaron Brown, Kristen Bowes, Jason Dean, April Lech, Shelly Quarles,Charity Novena, Jessica Broadwater, Nicole Cecil, Susanne Deal, DeErik Green, Tory High, Aldjia Kelly, Beth Klein, Wayne Kurtz, Amy Meyers, Kristan Webb, and Tony Bontrager, Capital University.
Optimal Foraging Theory states that an organism will forage from the food source that offers the most food while expending the least amount of energy. By using a radial-arm maze, one can produce a testing environment that resembles the den of a rat. By manipulating the conditions inside the arena, one can change the foraging behavior of the animal. Twenty-four naïve male rats were given the opportunity to forage from various conditions in the maze. Effort, magnitude of reinforcement, and type of reinforcement were manipulated. Results show main effects for effort, type of reward and amount of reward. Our hypothesis that rats would prefer the low effort, sweet, large reward was supported. Implications of these findings for Optimal Foraging Theory and for future research are discussed.
PAPER SESSION 2 ( 9:00-10:00 , Erskine 321)
9:00 Recall of Script, Atypical, and Unusual Actions in Script-based Restaurant Stories: Evidence for Script Disruption . Jeremiah A. Schumm, Matthew A. Bakos, and Brad Engle Wright State University
The effects of script story length and action type on recall of actions from script-based restaurant stories were examined. Participants read one of four script-based restaurant stories. The four story conditions were full script, half script, atypical, and unusual. Replicating past esearch, participants within the atypical group intruded more script actions than atypical actions. The atypical and unusual groups demonstrated poorer recall than the full script group. Results suggested that atypical and unusual actions disrupted script processing.
9:15 EFFECTS OF INTERVENING INFORMATION ON EYEWITNESS ACCURACY AND CERTAINTY. Resa Whipkey, John Carroll University
This study investigated the effects of intervening information on accuracy and certainty in eyewitness testimony. It was hypothesized that incorrect intervening information would cause the greatest amount of inaccuracy in reporting and the greatest amount of uncertainty. Participants (Ps) viewed a videotaped crime, then received correct intervening information, incorrect intervening information, or non-intervening information. Ps then answered a questionnaire and were instructed to respond based on what they had viewed. As predicted, the incorrect intervening information caused the greatest amount of inaccurate responses. However, certainty ratings did not vary significantly between conditions. These results support past theory and provide further evidence to suggest that eyewitness testimony is often both inconclusive and inaccurate.
9:30 THE EFFECTS OF RETROACTIVE AND PROACTIVE INTERFERENCE ON THE SUSCEPTIBILITY OF MEMORY. Romie M. Daher, Ursuline College .
The effects of retroactive and proactive interference on the susceptibility of memory were tested. Thirty subjects were asked to read two different narratives, each one page in length. The narrative order was alternated for each subject. The participants were then tested on their accurate recall of detail from each of the narratives. The accurate number of correct relevant, irrelevant, and not applicable questions from the two narratives was measured. The results were not congruent with the theory that information encoded first will be more susceptible to misleading information than information encoded afterwards. These findings suggest that there is no proactive or retroactive effect in memory when testing the susceptibility of misleading information.
9:45 THE EFFECTS OF GENDER, METHOD OF PRESENTATION AND INTEREST ON RECALL. Julie A. Gavran , Ohio Dominican College .
Material using a male and a female protagonist (within- subjects) was presented either in text form or in a film clip (between subjects) to 20 males and 20 females, ages 18-25. After participants either saw the audiovisual presentation or read the corresponding transcript, they were given a questionnaire to assess interest in each of the two scripts followed by a surprise recall test on the material. The overall correlation between interest and recall was positively correlated. The repeated analysis of variance showed a main effect for material, a material X presentation interaction, and a three-way interaction. The data show that interest affects subsequent recall and method of presentation (audiovisual) enhances this effect in males.
PAPER SESSION 3 ( 9:00-10:00 , Erskine 323)
9:00 PERCEIVED SUCCESS OF MEN AND WOMEN IN INTERRACIAL RELATIONSHIPS: SOCIAL MOBILITY OR SELLING OUT? Sarah C. Geiger, Ohio Dominican College , Michele G. Alexander, Ohio State University at Mansfield .
The present study was designed to investigate the perceived success of individuals in interracial relationships. Two hypotheses, "social mobility" and "selling out," were compared by having 125 male and female participants view slides of mixed-race or same-race couples and report their perceptions
of the potential future success of both partners in the couples. Results indicate that members from lower-status groups (i.e., black women, black men and white women) are perceived with less potential success when in mixed-race than when in same-race relationships. Perceived success of white men is not affected by the partner's race. Results are more consistent with the selling out than the social mobility perspective.
9:15 SOCIAL-COGNITIVE BIASES TOWARDS MONO-RACIAL AND HETEROSEXUAL RELATIONSHIPS: A SOCIALLY ACCEPTABLE SCHEMA. Michael S. Lewis, Ohio Dominican College .
Past research has indicated that individuals make inferences about others based on race, sex, and age stereotypes. However, other individuating information (e.g., is married) may influence people's adherence to such stereotypes. The goal of the present study is to demonstrate that people use stereotypes and to examine how individuating information affects their use. Forty undergraduates were presented with pairs of biographies and were told that the two people described were involved in a romantic relationship. Each biography was stereotyped for race and sex although neither was mentioned explicitly. Individuating information resulted when two stereotyped biographies mismatched relationship stereotypes (e.g., biracial and homosexual couples). After reading each biography participants were asked to select a picture that might match the person described. Data confirm that people do categorize individuals into stereotypes based on sex and race. The hypothesis that subjects would put individuals into a heterosexual relationship despite stereotypical information indicating that both individuals are male or female was confirmed. The hypothesis that subjects would put individuals into a mono-racial relationship despite stereotypical information indicating that one individual is white and the other black was not observed. Therefore, it is concluded that ubjects have a socially acceptable schema bias towards heterosexual relationships, which means they are likely to fit a relationship into a heterosexual context because it socially acceptable to do so.
9:30 GENDER STEREOTYPING OF SPORTS BY COLLEGE STUDENTS. Faith Pressnell, Muskingum College .
People classify certain sports as male sports and certain ones as female sports. This is surprising because both men and women are involved in sports. The purpose of this study is to investigate the way people classify different sports today relative to a decade earlier. Thirty male and thirty female college students took a survey ranking 44 sports on a Likert Scale. These data will be compared to results reported by Csizma, Wittig, and Schurr (1988). I expect to find that even though there is a trend towards equality, there are still some sports that are stereotyped as either masculine or feminine.
9:45 GENDER AND VOICE. Britannie Fairman & Professor Linda Smolak, Kenyon College .
This study is to examine the reliability, validity and similarities of three measures of voice in gender groups. Three measures of voice were compared (Jack & Dill's Silencing the Self Scale, 1992, Harter's Voice Scale, 1998, Siegel's Multidimensional Anger Inventory Anger-in and Guilt Sub scales, 1985). A sample of college psychology students was used. Voice is defined by Gilligan as a gendered construct. Measures of this construct should indicate significant gender differences. It was predicted that if the measures were measuring voice (Gilligan, 1993) then patterns of significant correlations would differ across gender groups. Significant correlations and gender differences in the correlation on voice scales and sub scales were reported. These differences did not appear on all t-tests of gender scores. The results indicate weak internal consistency of the measures. It was concluded that these measures are demonstrating a differential pattern by gender, when analyzed using correlational statistics. Also, the three scales used in the present study appear to be related to one another. However, although significant, the correlations are not strong. The results are inconclusive in determining if the measures are accurately assessing Gilligan's voice construct.
PAPER SESSION 4 ( 9:00-10:00 , Erskine 326)
9:00 CHILDREN CAN BE A MOTIVATION FOR SUCCESS. Heather L. Elliott, Ursuline College .
People with strong achievement motivation are generally self-confident individuals who are at their best taking personal responsibility in situations where they control what happens to them. This experiment studied the importance of having children as a motivating factor for success. The hypothesis is that a person with children will have a stronger incentive to achieve in school than students who are childless.
The subjects consisted of eighty-four undergraduate students. The Revised Achieving Tendency Scale was the instrument used to assess the subject's achievement level. The results of the Tendency scale were matched with their information from a personal information survey. Even though the means of the two groups were in the predictable direction, there was no significant difference between the two groups. The results from this experiment could have some important implications for organizations which use goal setting programs to help persons succeed.
9:15 CLAIMED SELF-HANDICAPS, TEST PERFORMANCE, AND ANXIETY. Julia Schmidt, Mercedes Campos, & Susan Borgmann, Wittenberg University .
People often use self-handicaps in order to reduce concerns of an embarrassing failure. By creating an excuse for failure, people are looked upon favorably whether the final outcome is success or failure. The purpose of the experiment was to see if excuse-making helped to improve performance. High self-handicappers who claimed a self-handicap significantly outperformed both high trait self-handicappers not provided with the opportunity to claim a self-handicap and low self-handicappers. Thus, having an excuse can actually help people perform better on a skill-based task.
9:30 THE OVERJUSTIFICATION EFFECT: DOES REWARD UNDERMINE INTRINSIC MOTIVATION. Sharon Edelman, John Carroll University .
On the surface, rewarding people for doing a task might seem to increase their motivation to do that task once more. However, the overjustification effect predicts otherwise. The participants were randomly assigned to either a reward or non-reward condition. The participants each worked on an initial set of match-stick puzzles and were given a reward if in that condition. The participants were then left alone to work on their choice of either more match-stick puzzles or other "hands-on" puzzles. Participants in the Non-reward condition spent more time on match-stick puzzles and worked on more match-stick puzzles than in the Reward condition. Participants in the Non-reward condition compared to the Reward condition also showed more intrinsic motivation to work on the second set of match-stick puzzles. These findings suggest that rewarding the performance of an already enjoyable task decreases interest and engagement in that activity.
9:45 EFFECTS OF AUDIENCE GENDER ON PERFORMANCE. Melissa Kolbe, Joan Coates, Suzanna Sabol, Angel Aikens, & Brooke Rober, Wittenberg University .
People want to make favorable impressions on whoever is watching their performance. We hypothesize that performing in front of an opposite sex audience will lead to greater levels of anxiety and stress and thus a decline in performance. We had participants perform a verbal task in front of either an audience of the same sex or the opposite sex. We found that audience gender significantly affected performance. Audience gender and how critically the performer believes the audience to be affects performance.
PAPER SESSION 5 ( 10:15-11:00 , Erskine 320)
10:15 THE EFFECTS OF MEDITATION ON TEST TAKING ABILITY. Brian Tyers, Baldwin-Wallace College.
The effect of a short session of meditation was tested for its efficacy in boosting scores on a timed math test. 156 subjects were randomly assigned to meditating or non-meditation groups and then issued pre- and post-tests. Both meditating groups performed better than non-meditating groups but only significantly for one of the test orders. Findings support the hypothesis that meditating subjects will perform better on the multiplication test, though the results were confounded by test order.
10:30 THE EFFECTS OF EGO THREAT, SELF-ESTEEM, AND STABILITY ON PERSISTENCE. Angie Gottschalk, Tracy Faulkner, & Bill McKinley, Wittenberg University .
Levels of self-esteem were investigated with respect to persistence on an unsolvable task after an ego threat. Participants were randomly assigned to an ego threat condition or a control condition. An unsolvable task was used to measure persistence. We found a three-way interaction between self-esteem type, stability, and ego threat on persistence. We conclude that people with unstable low and stable high self-esteem persisted longer when an ego threat was present, whereas people with stable low or unstable high self-esteem persisted more when the ego threat was absent.
10:45 Depth of Processing and Task Complexity: Exploring the Mediation and Moderation of Goal Orientation Effects On Performance . Brad A. Chambers & Debra Steele-Johnson, Wright State University .
The current study examined processes through which goal orientation affects performance. Task complexity was hypothesized to moderate the relationship between goal orientations and performance, and depth of processing was hypothesized to mediate the effects of goal orientations on performance. One hundred sixty-three undergraduates participated in a 2 (task goal orientation vs. ego goal orientation) X 2 (simple vs. complex) X 3 (trial blocks) study. We assessed subjects' performance on a computerized version of the board game Mastermind. Results revealed a significant interaction between goal orientation and task complexity on performance, and depth of processing partially mediated goal orientation effects on performance. Additional research is warranted to examine further the role of depth of processing.
PAPER SESSION 6 ( 10:15-11:00 , Erskine 321)
10:15 Degrading and Aggressive Sexual Language: The Influence of Gender and Fraternity Membership . Lonnie Manns, Kelly Brandow, and the Psychology 83 class at Kenyon College .
Previous research has shown that there are gender differences in the expression of sexual attitudes and behaviors in the realm of sexuality that reflect male control and female subordination. It was predicted that this would be evident in the sexual language people used. Seventy-one college women and 79 men (33 fraternity members) were asked to indicate what terms they used to refer to male genitals, female genitals, and copulation when talking with either a romantic partner, a mixed-gender group of friends, or a group of friends of the same gender. It was found that males used more degrading sexual language to refer to female genitals, and more aggressive terms for copulation than did females, particularly when other men were present. In addition, fraternity men were more likely to sexually degrade female genitals than men not in a fraternity.
10:30 EFFECTS OF CONCEPTUAL ANALYSIS BASED ON CONTENT ACCEPTABILITY IN AN UNPRIMED WORD CONSENSUS TASK. Angelina Spencer, Ursuline College .
The hypothesis states that socially unacceptable words are not exclusively erotic, and that we apply favorable or unfavorable judgments to words when we process word meanings in conceptual analysis. Twenty-one participants rated words as favorable or unfavorable on a computer screen, as quickly as possible. This two-part experiment included a pilot study, which collected normative data on lists of words. There was a significant difference in reaction time between favorable and unfavorable words, and significant differences in reaction times for the eight unfavorable categories. These findings suggest that traditional beliefs about word decisions need to be further explored.
10:45 The Use of Degrading Sexual Language: Perceptions of "Appropriateness" for Women vs. Men . Maggie Fielding, Kelly Brandow, and the Psychology 83 class at Kenyon College .
In previous class research we found that men used more degrading and aggressive sexual language than did women. The purpose of the present study was to see if such language was more acceptable for men to use than women, and to see what effect such language has on perceptions of a person who is the object of the degradation. It was found that in an audiotaped conversation of either a male-male or female-female pair of friends talking about the casual sex one of them had the night before, a more degrading conversation led to less liking.
PAPER SESSION 7 ( 10:15-11:00 , Erskine 323)
10:15 THE FRAMING OF POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE INFORMATION IN HIGH AND LOW RISK SITUATIONS. Angela M. Turner, John Carroll University .
The framing of information affects the choices that people make in everyday situations. This phenomenon can change the way people rate certain information and situations. The effects of information frame and level of risk on participants' thoughts and associations were examined. It was hypothesized that positive framing would lead to more favorable associations than negative framing. Level of risk in the situation (low or high) was also examined. Participants were given 4 situations, 2 low risk, and 2 high risk. Half the participants received positively framed situations and half received negatively framed situations. Results revealed more favorable thoughts associated with positively framed information compared to negatively framed information. There were also more favorable thoughts associated with low risk situations than high risk situations. Information frame and level of risk both effect judgments and decisions.
10:30 THE IMPACT OF THE GENERATION EFFECT ON THE MNEMONIC DEVICE OF LOCI. Meredith Frey, Ursuline College .
What makes the mnemonic device of loci effective? In an attempt to provide an answer to this intriguing question, thirty subjects were asked to memorize three lists of ten words each, all concrete nouns, using one of two variations on the method of loci. Subjects in one condition were given the locations they must use to aid in memorization, while subjects in the other condition were asked to generate their own locations. Responses were scored based on mean percentage of words correctly recalled, where order was unimportant. There was a significant effect of generation on mean percentage of words correctly recalled. The results have helped to explain why the mnemonic technique of loci was more effective than other devices.
10:45 THE GENERATION EFFECT WITH MATHEMATICAL SEQUENCING ERROR. Kristin Sasaki, Ursuline College .
The generation effect on memory was investigated with a within-subjects study that measured the accuracy of recall of mathematical products on four levels; read, generate, erroneous, and quasi- false alarm. Thirty participants were visually presented multiplication equations, which they read aloud during the study phase. The study phase consisted of 30 multiplication equations with three conditions; read, generate, and erroneous. Following the study phase was a word association distractor task. At the end of the distractor task, participants were asked to recall the products of the initial mathematical equations. The results indicated that the accuracy of recall from read, erroneous, quasi-false alarm to generate was directly related to the amount of mental processing of the product. Significant differences between conditions; read and quasi-false alarm, read and generate, erroneous and generate, and quasi-false alarm and generate were found. These results suggest that when information is absent or known to be false, activation of semantic memory and additional mental processing of the stimulus occurs, increasing the accuracy of recall of the stimulus.
PAPER SESSION 8 ( 10:15-11:00 , Erskine 326)
10:15 AN ANALYSIS OF THE EFFECTS OF STRESS, COPING, AND GOAL INSTABILITY ON PROCRASTINATION IN COLLEGE STUDENTS. Sherry E. Haggins & Patricia Kaminski, Wittenberg University .
The relationship between academic procrastination, stress, maladaptive coping behaviors, and goal instability was investigated among 101 undergraduate students. The underlying hypotheses are that individuals who lack effective strategies for coping with stress are more susceptible to procrastination; and individuals who are goal unstable are prone to procrastinate, possibly because they lack a sense of purpose. Results from the four self-report instruments revealed a significant positive relationship between goal instability and procrastination. Negative coping behaviors were also found to correlate significantly with procrastination.
10:30 Faking the college adjustment scales. T ony Capra, Ashland University .
This study reported here investigated the effect of different instructional sets on the College Adjustment Scales (CAS). IN total, 54 participants were randomly assigned to be administered the CAS under one of the following three conditions: fake-good, fake-bad, or standard response set. It was hypothesized that differences will exist on all scales between the groups. Findings suggest that it was possible to fake-bad on all 9 scales of the CAS.
10:45 DESIGNING AN EFFECTIVE WEB-BASED INTRODUCTION TO COMPUTERS COURSE. Anthony D. Weaver Jr., Ohio Dominican College .
Distance education provides higher education an opportunity to expand classrooms beyond the traditional four walls. By using distance education, an academic institution can offer courses worldwide at any time. This freedom from time and space constraints makes distance education very attractive to institutions of higher education. Thus, many colleges and universities around the world are currently experimenting with or widely using forms of distance education to teach their courses. Ohio Dominican College is no exception as it has begun early distance education experiments by supplementing traditional classroom courses with online material. The first fully online course at Ohio Dominican College was an introduction to computers course offered fall semester 1998. Using existing Internet protocols, this course was an effective solution for the implementation of a distance education curriculum. It is expected that the college will use this course as a model to offer future courses via online instruction.
PAPER SESSION 9 ( 10:15-11:00 , Erskine 315)
10:15 The Effects of Alcohol and Alcohol Expectancy on Amusement in Group Settings . Trina Andresen, College of Wooster .
The experiment separates pharmacological and expectancy-related effects of alcohol on amusement. Participants were 27 College of Wooster students, 10 males and 17 females, ages 21 to 23. Groups of 3 participants filled out questionnaires which measured their alcohol expectancy in relation to its effects on amusement. They were served either a control, placebo, or alcohol drink (2ml 80 proof vodka / kg body weight). During a cartoon captioning activity they were videotaped and later rated, using a behavioral checklist for amusement by a pair of raters. Participants gave self-ratings of amusement. Amusement levels were expected to be highest for those with high expectancy scores in alcohol and placebo groups. High or low expectancy significantly affected amusement ratings among alcohol and placebo groups, F (1,17) = 9.748, p < .05. There was a significant interaction between condition and low/high expectancy on self-rated amusement, F (1,21) = 7.695, p< .01. Results partially supported the hypotheses.
10:30 HOSTILE MASCULINITY AND SEXUAL AGGRESSION: A META-ANALYTIC REVIEW. Carrie Wright, Kenyon College .
Previous research and theory suggest that males who are sexually aggressive are high in "hostile masculinity." The purpose of the present study was to combine the research on this topic in a meta-analytic review. Thirty-one articles were examined that compared the personality traits of sexually aggressive males and non-aggressive males. The studies included statistics which were converted to effect sizes (d values) and represented the differences in the means of sexually aggressive men and men in the control group. The effect sizes for all the personality constructs were positive, which means sexually aggressive men scored higher on scales, with the most significant results being anger, and the constructs of dominance and power. Results were consistent with the idea that traditional gender roles support the existence of sexual aggression; it is proposed that some males express hostility, dominance, and anger towards women through sexual aggression.
10:45 ATTRIBUTING RESPONSIBILITY IN A "JUST WORLD". Marcie L. Slusarczyk, John Carroll University .
The purpose of this study is to examine the attribution of responsibility for aggressive behaviors. Thirty-four participants (Ps) read eight separate situations which independently varied in severity (severe vs. non-severe) and ambiguity (structured vs. ambiguous). Ps then rated the attribution of responsibility for each outcome on 4 separate scales. It was hypothesized that: a) that structured situations would yield greater attribution of responsibility than ambiguous situations, b) severe situations would yield greater attributions of responsibility than non-severe situations and, c) structured-severe situations would yield the greatest attribution of responsibility. In addition, it was predicted that, in general, internal locus of control Ps would attribute greater attributional responsibility than external locus of control Ps. The results supported the first 3 hypotheses, but no differences were found for locus of control.
KEYNOTE ADDRESS ( 11:10-12:00 , Erskine Hall, Little Theatre)
Minds, Models, and M&M's: Representational Capacities of the Chimpanzee by Sarah Boysen, Ph.D., The Ohio State University
About Dr. Boysen: Dr. Boysen received her Ph.D. in 1984 from The Ohio State University. Her current research interests are animal cognition, with particular interest in the acquisition of counting abilities and numerical competence in nonhuman primates, cognitive development in the great apes, including attribution, self-recognition, and intentional behavior, and social behavior and tool use in captive lowland gorillas. Collaborative research with Gary Berntson includes the application of non-invasive psycho-physiological measures to attention and cognition in primates, and cardiac indices of visual and auditory recognition in the great apes. Boysen is currently Consulting Editor for the Journal of Comparative Psychology.
Selected Publications :
Boysen, S.T., & Berntson, G.G. (l985). Visual evoked potentials in the great apes. Electroen. lin.Neurophysiol., 62, 150-153.
Boysen, S.T., & Berntson, G.G. (1986). Cardiac correlates individual recognition in the chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes). Journal Comparative Psychology, l00, 2l-324.
Boysen, S.T., & Berntson, G.G. (1989). Numerical competence in a chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes). Journal of Comparative Psychology, 103, 23-31.
Boysen, S.T., & Berntson, G.G. (1989). Conspecific recognition in the chimpanzee: Cardiac responses to significant others. Journal of Comparative Psychology, 103, 215-220.
Boysen, S.T., & Berntson, G.G. (1990). The emergence of numerical competence in the chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes). In S.T. Parker & K.R. Gibson (Eds.), Language and intelligence in animals: Developmental perspectives. Cambridge University Press.
Povinelli, D.J., Nelson, K.E., & Boysen, S.T. (1990). Inferences about guessing and knowing by chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes). Journal of Comparative Psychology, 104, 203-210.
Boysen, S.T. (In press) Pongid pedagogy: The contribution of human/chimpanzee interaction to the study of ape cognition. In H. Davis & D. Balfour (Eds.), The Inevitable Bond: Examining Scientist-Animal Interaction. Cambridge University Press.
Boysen, S.T., & Capaldi, E.J. (Eds.) The emergence of numerical competence: Animal and human models. Hillsdale , New Jersey : Lawrence Erlbaum Pub. In press.
PAPER SESSION 10 ( 1:00-2:00 , Erskine 320)
1:00 THE EFFECTS OF GROUP MEMBERSHIP ON PROTECTIVE INTOLERANCE. Cara West, John Carroll University .
The purpose of the present research is to provide further evidence for a new self-esteem protection strategy called Protective Intolerance, the tendency to be intolerant of one's own negative characteristics in others. Participants rated thirty personality characteristics as positive or negative and chose their own most negative characteristics. Participants then read scenarios including personality descriptions and assigned a penalty to either an ingroup or outgroup person in the scenario. Preliminary analysis provides evidence that Protective Intolerance is directed more toward outgroup members than toward ingroup members, therefore maintaining self-esteem through group membership.
1:15 THE EFFECT OF THE COHESION OF EXISTING VS. NASCENT GROUPS ON GROUP POLARIZATION AND CHOICE SHIFTING. Jodi Glading, John Carroll University .
Participants completed five questions from the Choice Dilemma Questionnaire (CDQ; Wallach & Kogan, 1961) three times to assess how group cohesion affects group polarization and choice shifting. First participants completed the CDQ as individuals, then in groups, and then again as individuals. Groups either consisted of members who had previous experience working together (ROTC or Varsity basketball team) or members that had no previous experience working together. The Inventory of Individually Perceived Group Cohesiveness (IIPGC; Johnson, 1975) assessed levels of perceived group cohesiveness. There was no significant difference between the groups for either group polarization or choice shifting. The IIPGC showed that the groups did not differ in the amount of perceived cohesiveness.
1:30 Relationship between level of religiosity and an individual's overall life satisfaction. Amber Medlin, Baldwin-Wallace College .
The proposed hypothesis is that the higher the level of religiosity a person possesses, the higher his or her overall life satisfaction will be. The participants were tested for self-satisfaction, coping ability and technique, and religiosity. Measures used to asses these were the Tennessee Self Concept Scale, modified version (Fitts, 1964), Coping Strategy Indicator (Amirkhan, 1990), and Religiosity Scales, modified version (Faulkner & DeJong, 1965) respectively. A significant relationship was not found between religiosity and self satisfaction in either a Pearson Correlational Analysis or Analysis of Variance (ANOVA). A significant relationship did occur, however, between grade point average and life satisfaction and between grade point average and religiosity. Future research needs to retest the existing hypothesis using more sensitive measures for religiosity and life satisfaction.
1:45 DEATH ANXIETY IN CHRISTIANS AND ATHEISTS. Lisa Ashcraft, Bluffton College .
This study was undertaken to test the relationship between strength of belief and death anxiety in two different belief/faith systems: Christianity and atheism. This research hypothesized that persons with strong religious or non-religious beliefs or faith and persons with weak beliefs/faith would have lower anxiety about death. Those persons with moderate beliefs/faith would have a higher level of death anxiety. Eighty-two college students who each belonged to either an atheist-oriented organization or to a Christian organization were given a Belief Survey designed to measure strength of belief and were also given the Death Anxiety Scale which measures fear of death. Correlation analyses were performed to check for the expected curvilinear relationship. Results indicated several significant negative correlations, but no curvilinear relationships were found. An interpretation of the results is discussed, along with difficulties with the study, including problems with the population and the measurement scales.
PAPER SESSION 11 ( 1:00-2:00 , Erskine 321)
1:00 THE EFFECTS OF SPEECH AND MUSIC INTERFERENCE ON COGNITIVE TASK PERFORMANCE. Marissa Cirincione, Natalie Taylor, Erika Walker, and Traci Whitthorne, John Carroll University .
There is sufficient evidence to suggest that background noise, particularly television noise, has an adverse effect on the ability to complete cognitive tasks. This study of 60 undergraduate students from John Carroll University examines the effects of two types of television background noise, talk shows and music videos. Participants were randomly assigned to complete word search puzzles under one of four conditions: talk shows played at a high decibel level (80db), talk shows at a low decibel level (70db), music videos at a high decibel level and music videos at a low decibel level. Contrary to prior research, participants in this study were not significantly affected by either type of interference, or decibel level (high vs. low); nor was there an interaction between the two. These findings suggest that television does not adversely effect cognitive performance, when performance is defined as the ability to complete word search puzzles.
1:15 VERBAL DISCRIMINATION AS A FUNCTION OF MAJOR AND FAMILIARITY WITH WORD LIST. Kristin Lynch, Muskingum College .
It has been shown that subjects can more easily discriminate between terms that are not familiar then terms that are familiar. Sixty-four juniors and seniors majoring in education or business participated. A verbal discrimination list of ten pairs of terms was presented to each subject. One-half of the subjects were given a list of terms based on their major and one-half were given a list of based on the other major. A pilot study was done to determine that the major terms were familiar to the major and not to the non-major. Data is still being collected in the study.
1:30 THE EFFECT OF POSITIVE VS. NEGATIVE MOOD AND INTERFERENCE ON SERIAL RECALL. Maria E. Rach, John Carroll University
This study focused on the effect of negative mood inducement, positive mood inducement, and interference on serial recall. It was predicted that interference will be disruptive on serial recall and less numbers would be recalled. It was also predicted that a negative mood inducement would be more disruptive than a positive mood inducement. Participants were induced into either mood and had to recall 7-digit numbers that were displayed on a computer screen one at a time. Half of the trials had interference and half did not. Positive word interference was used for the positive group and negative word interference was used for the negative group. The findings showed that there was a difference for serial recall between interference and no interference. For negative inducement, there was no difference between interference and no interference, but for positive inducement, recall was greater in the absence of interference.
PAPER SESSION 12 ( 1:00-2:00 , Erskine 323)
1:00 ACCURACY OF TEST PREDICTION AND TEST PERFORMANCE. Eric Krause, Hiram College .
Introductory psychology students predicted their performance on a multiple-choice vocabulary test. Students were asked to predict the level of their performance on individual test items as well as on the entire test. The results showed a strong positive correlation between students' ability to accurately predict individual item performance and students' ability to score high on Introductory Psychology examinations. A correlation between students' ability to accurately predict entire test performance and students ability to score high on Introductory Psychology examinations was found to be significant. Both the abilities to predict test performance as well as individual item performance were correlated heavily with GPA. Implications of these findings are discussed within the framework of metacognition.
1:15 PRESCHOOLERS' MINDREADING ABILITY: METACOGNITVE CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF THEORY OF MIND. Beryl Brown, Ohio Dominican College .
This study explored the relationship between metacognition (MC) and the development of an organized theory of mind (ToM). Sixty-four children ranging from 2;11-5;0 completed measures of MC, ToM, vocabulary (PPVT), and their understanding of the appearance-reality distinction. It was hypothesized, based on previous research, that age and level of vocabulary would be correlated with false belief understanding. Furthermore, MC was hypothesized to be a prerequisite for ToM development. Thus, three groups of children were expected to be identified: 1) those who do not pass either task, 2) those who pass MC but not ToM, and 3) those who pass both MC and ToM. A fourth group passing ToM but not MC was not expected given the hypothesis that MC is a prerequisite. ANOVAs revealed age effects for all tasks--older children performed better than the younger ones. Intercorrelations between tasks were all significant at p < .01 and a partial correlation between metacognition and ToM controlling for age, vocabulary, and appearance-reality understanding was significant at p < 01. In addition, a chi-square analysis revealed the predicted developmental pattern where children passed MC before passing the ToM tasks.
1:30 THE DEVELOPMENT OF A SCALE TO MEASURE AGGRESSION IN CHILDREN. Sara L. Weisenbach, Greta M. Hochstetler, Patricia L. Kaminski, Kristin S. Coons, Sarah E. Flinn, Bill J. Schroeder, and Lisa Sewell, Wittenberg University.
The Child Aggression Scale (CAS) is a rating scale to be used with an assessment of parent-child interaction. The current study aims to assess the reliability and validity of the CAS. The construct of aggression has been reduced to different components by various theorists and researchers. These components are active and passive, physical and verbal, and relational and overt. The CAS allows researchers to rate each component of aggression. Three types of reliability will be assessed: 1) interrater reliability, 2) internal consistency, and 3) stability. Interrater reliability will be calculated using both Kappa and intraclass coefficients. Coefficient alphas will be calculated to measure internal consistency. Pearson r will indicate the stability of the CAS over time. Construct validity will be demonstrated through convergent validity and discriminant validity. Concurrent criterion-related validity will be assessed by the ability of the CAS to differentiate between children from "aggressive" and "not aggressive" subject pools.
1:45 DISCREPANCIES BETWEEN CENTERS AND PARENTS PERCEPTIONS ON WHAT IS CONSIDERED QUALITY IN CHILD CARE. Bethinee Snyder, Muskingum College .
The purpose of the study was to allow child care centers and parents to express what they feel is considered important in a child care program, so that there can be better accommodations and communication in the child care setting. Identifying importance of quality factors was tested using a Likert Rating Scale of importance. Nine participating child care centers in the Muskingum county area were randomly selected from a phonebook. Each participant was given a survey via child's mailbox and teacher's mailbox. Each survey had a cover letter, a rating scale from 1 to 5, (1 representing extremely unimportant and 5 representing extremely important) with 10 characteristics of quality care to be rated, and a demographics page was included. The surveys are currently being collected and entered into the SPSS computer program.
PAPER SESSION 13 ( 1:00-2:00 , Erskine 326)
1:00 RELATIONSHIPS: THE LEVELS OF INTIMACY, PASSION, AND COMMITMENT. Angie Mick, Baldwin-Wallace College .
This study assessed the differences between long distance and geographically close love relationships. The main variables of concern were the levels of intimacy, passion, and commitment. The sample used was comprised of 90 upper class undergraduate students (66 females and 24 males) from a small liberal arts college who were involved either in a long distance love relationship or a geographically close love relationship. The participants were administered The Sternberg Triangular Love Scale and a Demographic and Relationship Characteristics questionnaire. It was hypothesized that the levels of intimacy and commitment in long distance love relationships have a tendency to be significantly higher than the levels in geographically close love relationships. An independent samples t-test for the components of intimacy, passion, and commitment in respect to the types of relationships was examined. The results proved to be inconclusive to the proposed hypothesis, indicating that there is no statistically significant difference between long distance relationships and geographically close relationships based on the components: intimacy, passion, and commitment.
1:15 The factors that intensify passionate love. Rachel Shutt & Andrea Lengyel, Ashland University .
The purpose of the study was to determine the relationships, if any, between gender, length of relationship, marital status of biological parents, and rating of relationship with opposite sex parent, and the mean Passionate Love Scale score (Hatfield & Sprecher, 1986) using a college sample. Passionate love is defined as " a state of intense longing for union with another and is associated with fulfillment and ecstasy," Hatfield & Walster, 1978, p. 9). The Passionate Love Scale was administered to 42 volunteer introductory psychology students. It was hypothesized that no difference in mean Passionate Love scores exists between males and females. The results did support this hypothesis. It was further hypothesized that there is a positive relationship between the length of a relationship and the score on the Passionate Love Scale. The results suggested that a weak positive relationship exists. This evidence supports the findings in previous research by Hatfield and Sprecher. Additional hypotheses were also examined.
1:30 The effects of sensory therapy on children with special needs at the Hattie Larlham Foundation. Tamara N. Muchiarone and Katie Smith, Hiram College .
A study of the effects of three types of therapies (hydrotherapy, pet therapy, and multisensory therapy) on the responses of children with severe disabilities was conducted at the Hattie Larlham Foundation. Seventeen children in hydrotherapy, eleven in multisensory, and eight in pet therapy were observed in the therapy sessions. The responses given by the children were rated on two scales. The Satisfaction scale, developed by Hattie Larlham, rated the responses on an overall scale for each therapy. These data were compared using a Kruskal-Wallis test, kw(2)= 4.23, p=.12, showing no significance between the three therapy types and Satisfaction scores. The second scale, developed by the researchers, was the Behavioral Observation (BO) scale. This scale rated the responses over time throughout each therapy session. A Kruskal-Wallis test was run on the average of these scores, kw(2)=3.38, p=.18, also showing no significance between the three therapies and the BO scores. A Wilcoxon test was run on the first and last score given in each therapy, w(1)=-.6143, p=.55 (multisensory), w(1)=0.68, p=.51 (pet therapy), and w(1)=-2.18, p=.04 (hydrotherapy). This tells us that there is no significant difference between each therapy (overall), but hydrotherapy has a significant difference the longer the child is in the hydrotherapy session.
