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Show 106 THE SENIOR THESIS PROGRAM IN THE DEPARTMENT OF PSYCHOLOGY Message from the Director The Senior Thesis Program in the Department of Psychology is a selective three-semester program intended to give undergraduate psychology majors the opportunity to pursue an independent research project in collaboration with a Psychology faculty mentor. As the Psychology department greatly values a commitment to research and the excitement and knowledge that it produces, it is our goal to involve the undergraduate students as much as possible in this process. We are extremely proud of this year's senior thesis students, who have accomplished significant research goals and truly deserve recognition for their achievement. The students begin the program in the spring semester by learning about advanced research methods and exploring potential research laboratories, developing a research idea, and completing the first semester with a thesis proposal. The following year is dedicated to several important aspects in the research process including ethical considerations in research, collection and analysis of data, and scientific writing. This final year culminates in the completion of the thesis and the presentation of heir work in a departmental poster session. This year, we are pleased to join the growing community of undergraduate researchers by presenting the Psychology Senior Thesis students' abstracts in the University of Utah Undergraduate Research Abstracts Journal. Sarah Creem-Regehr THE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH 107 SENIOR THESIS PROGRAM Kendrick P. Allen Lisa Diamond PERCEPTION OF POWER AND RESPECT IN SAME-SEX COUPLES Much previous research on heterosexual couples has found that individuals who have substantial power and influence in their relationships, and who enjoy considerable respect from their partners, tend to report higher relationship satisfaction. Little is known, however, about the way in which per-ceptions of power and respect are related to one another, and whether they have distinctive patterns of correlation with other measures of social status and with individuals' relationship quality. Another unanswered question is whether the dynamics of power and respect differ for same-sex couples, due to their socially marginalized status. We assessed relationship satisfaction, perceptions of power and respect, actual division of labor and influence, and multiple measures of social status in a sample of 10 Lesbian couples and 7 Gay male couples. We found notably different patterns of findings for respect versus power. Respect was related to relationship satisfaction and also to the individuals' high social standing in the eyes of the partner's family. Perceptions of power were unrelated to perceptions of respect, and they were strongly associated with influence over decision making (although not house-hold labor). These findings suggest that in same-sex couples, power and respect are separate interper-sonal phenomena with potentially separate determinants. Kendrick P. Allen (Lisa Diamond) Department of Psychology University of Utah 108 SENIOR THESIS PROGRAM SPRING 2009 GENDER DIFFERENCES IN THE SELF AND DEFENSIVE BEHAVIOR This study reviewed literature on male and female gender traits regarding defensive styles and the differ-ent ways that men and women portray defensiveness. To gain knowledge about defensiveness and gen-der, we used personality traits that are specific to gender. To assess women's defensive styles, we looked at unmitigated communion, the extreme focus on others and a lack of focus on the self, rejection sensi-tivity, an anxious expectation, perception, and overreaction to rejection, and self-monitoring, having sen-sitivity to cues in a situation which indicate what self-presentation is appropriate and what is not. To assess men's defensive styles, we looked at unmitigated agency, an extreme focus on the self and a lack of focus on others, self-handicapping, creating or claiming an obstacle prior to a performance to provide an excuse for possible failure, and narcissism, a lack of empathy for others and a grandiose self-image. We also reviewed literature on self-esteem and how self-esteem affects defensive styles. We analyzed the current literature on defensiveness, self-esteem, and the specific personality traits stated above and found there is a difference in the way men and women show defensiveness. This study found that women are more likely to use defensive styles which include verbal aggression, submitting to verbal or physical abuse to maintain relationships, hostile withdrawal, and direct hostility. In contrast, men are more likely to use defensive styles which include less emotional expression, acting cold towards others, hostile behavior such as slamming doors and yelling, acting arrogantly, and hostile actions. Heather Anderton (Frederick Rhodewalt) Department of Psychology University of Utah Heather Anderton Frederick Rhodewalt THE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH 109 SENIOR THESIS PROGRAM THE ROLE OF THE DORSAL HIPPOCAMPUS IN OBJECT RECOGNITION Recognition of a previously experienced object is split into two processes supported by separate neurological structures: feature familiarity (supported by the lateral entorhinal cortex) and context rec-ollection (supported by the medial entorhinal cortex). A third, distinct structure is believed to then integrate information from the lateral and medial sections of the entorhinal cortex during encoding and retrieval in regards to object recognition. The current study hypothesizes the dorsal section of the hippocampus as the integrating structure. To test this hypothesis, six rats with dorsal hippocampal lesions created using ibotenic acid were run through two tasks: an exploration task and a learning task. Each task separately tested the animals' capability as regards feature familiarity, context recollection, and the integration of these two processes. Results for the exploration task indicated a deficit in context and integration, but facilitation in feature as compared to previous control data. Results for the learning task showed a deficit in feature and integration but no difference from controls for context. Thomas Blakemore (Raymond Kesner) Department of Psychology University of Utah Thomas Blakemore Raymond Kesner 110 SENIOR THESIS PROGRAM SPRING 2009 THE ROLE OF DORSAL CA3 RECURRENT COLLATERALS IN CUE-INDUCED PATTERN COMPLETION LEADING TO RELAPSE INTO DRUG TAKING AND DRUG SEEKING BEHAVIORS In the context of drug addiction, relapse is defined as the return to drug seeking and drug taking behav-ior after a prolonged period of abstinence. Relapse is a serious problem that still requires extensive research in order to generate sufficient knowledge of the mechanisms that mediate it. Often, the role of craving is cited as a primary motivating factor for relapse. One possible mechanism that could support this observation is known as pattern completion, a process wherein presentation of an incomplete stim-ulus complex reinstates the complete, previously learned pattern. It has been proposed that during retrieval of information, the dorsal CA3 recurrent collaterals of the hippocampus play a major role in retrieving complete previously learned patterns in the face of an incomplete stimulus complex input to the hippocampus (pattern completion). Support for the operation of a pattern completion process is based on a spatial pattern completion task in which the effects of naloxone injections into the dorsal CA3 sub-region of the hippocampus revealed impairment of pattern completion in the presence of vary-ing numbers of available cues. We used a variant of the conditioned place-preference task in which the number of available cues was parametrically adjusted to assess the role of pattern completion in cue-induced reinstatement of drug-seeking behavior and to determine whether disruption of pattern com-pletion secondary to infusion of naloxone into the dorsal CA3 region disrupts cue-induced reinstate-ment. Results indicate that naloxone will disrupt the reinstatement (preference for cocaine conditioned cues over saline conditioned cues) for one cue, but not for all four cues, suggesting a significant impact on pattern completion within the dorsal CA3 region. Jascha Kennedy Clark (Raymond Kesner) Department of Psychology University of Utah Jascha Kennedy Clark Raymond Kesner THE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH 111 SENIOR THESIS PROGRAM CHILDREN'S SOCIAL PERSPECTIVE TAKING ABILITY: INTRA- AND INTER-GROUP DIFFERENCES IN TWO ECONOMICALLY AND CULTURALLY STRATIFIED AMERICIAN COMMUNITIES Children's narratives of their memory for a series of fictional events involving conflict between friends was examined for social perspective coordination ability, the number of events in which they recalled the self and the friend as a victim, the number of words used to report the self and friend as victim by event, use of self and friend emotion words, positive and negative emotion words, and justification of the unfriendly behavior. Correlations were run to examine interrelations between these variables. A measure of social competence was included to examine if perspective-taking ability was related to the children's overall level of social competence. Nine- to 11- year old children from two diverse U. S. com-munities (Caucasian, n=32 and American Indian, n = 37) heard two stories involving mutual conflict between friends with the first story told from the participant's perspective and the second story told from the friend's perspective. Children from both groups followed similar trends with marked increases in level of perspective-taking ability and inclusion of words to describe the friend's emotions accompa-nied by a decrease in the number of words included to describe their own emotions from Story 1 to Story 2. Children with higher levels of perspective taking ability recalled themselves as a victim in fewer events, and recalled the friend as a victim in more events, than children with lower levels of perspec-tive- taking ability. The American Indian children used more negative emotion words on average than the Caucasian children in their recall of both Story 1 and Story 2. Perspective-taking ability was only related to overall level of social competence in the American Indian community such that children with higher levels of perspective-taking ability overall had parents who rated them as having higher levels of social competence than children with lower levels of perspective-taking ability. Andrea Kalvesmaki (Monica Tsethlikai) Department of Psychology University of Utah Andrea Kalvesmaki Monica Tsethlikai 112 SENIOR THESIS PROGRAM SPRING 2009 PRIMED PREVIOUS INFORMATION AND INDECISIVENESS IN DECISION-MAKING PROCESS This study examined how priming affects indecisive individuals' recall of previous memory in the deci-sion- making process. It was hypothesized that indecisive individuals who are positively primed will make faster decisions compared to indecisive individuals who are primed otherwise (negative, ambigu-ous, or not primed) because positive priming is more likely to facilitate decision-making (Kahneman et al, 1992). It was further expected that indecisive individuals who were primed ambiguously would perform worse on recall than those indecisive individuals primed otherwise, or even than their decisive counter-parts who were ambiguously primed. That is, individuals tend to avoid ambiguity (e.g., avoid taking an unfamiliar direction while driving) and if exposed to an ambiguous situation, they are more likely to seek ways to move out of it even if it makes negative consequences more likely by increasing risk (Kahneman et al, 1992; Tversky & Craig, 1995). Forty six participants filled out four questionnaires to measure their levels of indecisiveness, read an article about the University of Utah, and then completed a distractor task followed with the final tasks that measured recall of the facts from the initially presented article. The results obtained did not support the hypotheses. However, these results yielded an intriguing finding that overall recall was worse for the decisive group compared to the indecisive individuals. In addition, participants who were recruited via the Departmental Mass Testing procedure and who took the Indeci-siveness Scale (IS: Frost & Shows, 1993) twice (once at the Mass Testing and the other at the lab session) and yielded results suggesting that indecisiveness was not a stable trait suggesting a state interpretation of indecisiveness. These findings demonstrate that priming can have an impact on the decision-making process; however, how it affects depend on one's state of mind at the time of decision-making rather than a trait towards ambiguity. Yoshihiro William Karino (Frank Drews) Department of Psychology Yoshihiro William Karino University of Utah Frank Drews THE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH 113 SENIOR THESIS PROGRAM COMING TO KNOW THYSELF: SELF-CONCEPT CLARITY AND GREATER COMPLEXITY IN NARRATIVE PROCESSING OF SELF-DISCREPANCY? The purpose of this study was to identify correlates linking self-concept clarity to narrative construction of self-discrepant events. To that end, we examined variables related to language usage, coherence, and self-statements coded from short narratives of a time when participants thought they had acted in a way that was unlike them. The narratives of 56 introductory psychology students were analyzed by computer programs and trained raters to ascertain correlations among dozens of measures. Research on the relation of the self-concept and autobiographical narratives has seldom explored the role of claims people make about themselves in the context of those narratives. Even less work has examined self-assertions and self-oppositions and their effects on the structure of the self-concept. Understanding self-statements in the context of small stories should illuminate the everyday process of identity construction through narratives. Generally, relationships were not significant but the pattern of findings suggested potentially more complexity with high self-concept clarity, and the pattern of self-statements was differentially linked to self-assertion and self-opposition. Scott J. Smith (Monisha Pasupathi) Department of Psychology University of Utah Scott J. Smith Monisha Pasupathi |