Department of Psychology

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https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14078/12

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Absolute pitch in boreal chickadees and humans: exceptions that test a phylogenetic rule
(2010) Weisman, Ronald G.; Balkwill, Laura-Lee; Hoeschele, Marisa; Moscicki, Michele; Bloomfield, Laurie L.; Sturdy, Christopher B.
This research examined generality of the phylogenetic rule that birds discriminate frequency ranges more accurately than mammals. Human absolute pitch chroma possessors accurately tracked transitions between frequency ranges. Independent tests showed that they used note naming (pitch chroma) to remap the tones into ranges; neither possessors nor nonpossessors were accurate at octave (pitch height) naming. Boreal chickadees discriminated frequency ranges less accurately than other birds; they tracked reward across several lower frequency ranges but failed at frequencies over 4000 Hz. The results revealed the error of describing species differences solely in terms of their discrimination of frequency ranges. Exceptions to the rule disappear when the rule is restated in terms of underlying mechanism: birds are superior to mammals in the ability to use absolute pitch height perception to discriminate pitches and ranges of pitches.
Abuse histories and attributions of sexual offenders
(2011) Jung, Sandy; Carlson, Elizabeth; Jung, Sandy
The current study is an exploratory study examining the relationship between the abuse histories of 89 sexual offenders and the constructs of locus of control, sexual attitudes, general empathy, and denial. Of the 89 offenders, 14.6% were sexually abused, 13.5% physically abused, and 9% both sexually and physically abused, with 61.5% having no abuse history. Analyses indicated that motivation to change was higher for abused versus non‐abused offenders, and that those who were sexually abused had significantly more cognitive distortions about children than those who experienced physical abuse. Although no differences emerged in locus of control scores, our findings indicated that physically abused offenders were more able to take on the perspective of others than those who have not experienced physical abuse. The findings provide several avenues to pursue in examining the longstanding effects of abuse in the thinking and cognitions of sexual offenders.
Academic procrastination: the pattern and correlates of behavioural postponement
(2006) Powell, Russell A.; Howell, Andrew J.; Watson, David; Buro, Karen
Using a series of computer-based assignments, we examined whether students’ submission patterns revealed a hyperbolic pattern of temporal discounting, such that few assignments are submitted far ahead of the deadline and submission of assignments accelerates at an increasing rate as the deadline becomes imminent. We further examined whether variables related to self-regulation – namely, self-reported procrastination, implementation intentions, say-do correspondence, and perceived academic control – correlated with behavioural postponement. Results revealed strong behavioural evidence of temporal discounting, especially among those who identified themselves as procrastinators. Among the self-regulation measures, only say-do correspondence consistently correlated with procrastination.
Acute fluoxetine exposure alters crab anxiety-like behaviour, but not aggressiveness
(2016) Hamilton, Trevor; Kwan, Garfield T.; Gallup, Joshua; Tresguerres, Martin
Aggression and responsiveness to noxious stimuli are adaptable traits that are ubiquitous throughout the animal kingdom. Like vertebrate animals, some invertebrates have been shown to exhibit anxiety-like behaviour and altered levels of aggression that are modulated by the neurotransmitter serotonin. To investigate whether this influence of serotonin is conserved in crabs and whether these behaviours are sensitive to human antidepressant drugs; the striped shore crab, Pachygrapsus crassipes, was studied using anxiety (light/dark test) and aggression (mirror test) paradigms. Crabs were individually exposed to acute doses of the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor, fluoxetine (5 or 25 mg/L), commonly known as Prozac®, followed by behavioural testing. The high dose of fluoxetine significantly decreased anxiety-like behaviour but had no impact on mobility or aggression. These results suggest that anxiety-like behaviour is more sensitive to modulation of serotonin than is aggressiveness in the shore crab.
Affective blindsight in the absence of input from face processing regions in occipital-temporal cortex
(2017) Striemer, Christopher; Whitwell, Robert L.; Goodale, Melvyn
Previous research suggests that the implicit recognition of emotional expressions may be carried out by pathways that bypass primary visual cortex (V1) and project to the amygdala. Some of the strongest evidence supporting this claim comes from case studies of “affective blindsight” in which patients with V1 damage can correctly guess whether an unseen face was depicting a fearful or happy expression. In the current study, we report a new case of affective blindsight in patient MC who is cortically blind following extensive bilateral lesions to V1, as well as face and object processing regions in her ventral visual stream. Despite her large lesions, MC has preserved motion perception which is related to sparing of the motion sensitive region MT+ in both hemispheres.
Alexithymia, dissociation, and social desirability: investigating individual differences in the narrative content of false allegations of trauma
(2008) Peace, Kristine; Bouvier, Kristen
This study examined the potential influence of alexithymia, dissociation, and social desirability on the narrative features associated with truthful and fabricated traumatic events. Participants (N = 291) wrote narratives describing both genuine and fabricated traumas and completed scales measuring individual differences. Alexithymia was associated with less plausible reports (independent of veracity) and differential reporting of emotional details between narratives. Higher levels of dissociation were related to less coherent and plausible reports, and less contextual detail in fabricated reports. Further, coherence and plausibility ratings fluctuated between low, moderate, and high social desirability groups. These results suggest that individual difference factors are important considerations in the forensic assessment of the veracity of trauma reports.
The amnestic agent anisomycin disrupts intrinsic membrane properties of hippocampal neurons via a loss of cellular energetics
(2019) Scavuzzo, C. J.; LeBlancq, M. J.; Nargang, F.; Lemieux, H.; Hamilton, Trevor; Dickson, C. T.
The nearly axiomatic idea that de novo protein synthesis is necessary for long-term memory consolidation is based heavily on behavioral studies using translational inhibitors such as anisomycin. Although inhibiting protein synthesis has been shown to disrupt the expression of memory, translational inhibitors also have been found to profoundly disrupt basic neurobiological functions, including the suppression of ongoing neural activity in vivo. In the present study, using transverse hippocampal brain slices, we monitored the passive and active membrane properties of hippocampal CA1 pyramidal neurons using intracellular whole cell recordings during a brief ~30-min exposure to fast-bath-perfused anisomycin. Anisomycin suppressed protein synthesis to 46% of control levels as measured using incorporation of radiolabeled amino acids and autoradiography. During its application, anisomycin caused a significant depolarization of the membrane potential, without any changes in apparent input resistance or membrane time constant. Anisomycin-treated neurons also showed significant decreases in firing frequencies and spike amplitudes, and showed increases in spike width across spike trains, without changes in spike threshold. Because these changes indicated a loss of cellular energetics contributing to maintenance of ionic gradients across the membrane, we confirmed that anisomycin impaired mitochondrial function by reduced staining with 2,3,5-triphenyltetrazolium chloride and also impaired cytochrome c oxidase (complex IV) activity as indicated through high-resolution respirometry. These findings emphasize that anisomycin-induced alterations in neural activity and metabolism are a likely consequence of cell-wide translational inhibition. Critical reevaluation of studies using translational inhibitors to promote the protein synthesis dependent idea of long-term memory is absolutely necessary. NEW & NOTEWORTHY Memory consolidation is thought to be dependent on the synthesis of new proteins because translational inhibitors produce amnesia when administered just after learning. However, these agents also disrupt basic neurobiological functions. We show that blocking protein synthesis disrupts basic membrane properties of hippocampal neurons that correspond to induced disruptions of mitochondrial function. It is likely that translational inhibitors cause amnesia through their disruption of neural activity as a result of dysfunction of intracellular energetics.
An analysis of electroencephalogram (EEG) with machine learning
(2024) Emery, Jesse; Phan, Nhi; Jime, Isra; Cobzas, Dana; Hassall, Cameron
Our capstone project was done in collaboration with Dr. Cameron Hassall from the Psychology department at MacEwan University. Our data was based on one of Dr. Hassall’s papers on “Task-level value affects trial-level reward processing” (Hassal, C, 2022), where he wanted to determine if the Anterior Cingulate Cortex was responsible or involved in decision making. To determine this, a task sequence was carried out 427 times using 12 participants over a 52 minute period. While the participants completed these tasks, brain activity was being measured using an electroencephalogram (EEG). For our project, the goal was to train a machine learning model to accurately classify an EEG event after training on past events. In greater detail, we focus on the brain signal when the participant hit the left or right button in response to the stimulus which are colored shapes.
Analysis of the potential behavioral impact of methanol when used as a solvent: Dataset from zebrafish (Danio rerio) behavioral research
(2021) Hamilton, Trevor; Szaszkiewicz, Joshua; Krook, Jeffrey T.; Burggren, Warren
Toxicants are commonly administered to experimental organisms using solvents as vehicles. One common vehicle for dissolving toxicants is methanol (CH3OH), a solvent which on its own is capable of altering physiology and behavior high concentrations. This dataset describes behavioral results in zebrafish (Danio rerio) individually exposed to methanol (0.25%, 2.5% vol/vol), or control water, for 30 min prior to behavioral testing. Zebrafish were placed into an open field arena to examine locomotion and zone preference, which was recorded and quantified with motion-tracking software (EthoVision XT). Time spent in the outer (“thigmotaxis”) zone of the arena is a proxy for increased anxiety-like behavior in zebrafish. Additionally, a novel object was placed into the center of the arena to quantify relative increases in boldness/exploration between the methanol and control groups. There were no differences in time spent in any zone of the arena or distance travelled between either group, in either test.
Androgynous and undifferentiated differences in attributions of female success
(1981) Gackenbach, Jayne; Taylor, Melanie
Studies using unipolar models of sex role identity in conjunction with an attributional approach to female achievement prediction have found that androgynous women tend to consider ability to be a more feasible explanation for success than do either feminine or undifferentiated women. Androgynous, masculine, feminine and undifferentiated males and females (N=73) attributed reasons for female success to three types of cues: male-dominated, female-dominated, and exclusively female achievement areas. For external attributions, there were no differences among males, but feminine females were more likely than androgynous or masculine females to externally attribute female success. For internal attributions, feminine females were less likely than feminine males to use internal attributions across cues, while undifferentiated females were more likely than undifferentiated males to internally attribute across cues. Androgynous and masculine men and women reacted exactly opposite to each success activity. Results suggest that sex, sex role identity and situational variations occur in the prediction of female achievement behaviors.
The anti-epileptic actions of neuropeptide Y in the hippocampus are mediated by Y2 and not Y5 receptors
(2005) El Bahh, Bouchaïb; Balosso, Silvia; Hamilton, Trevor; Herzog, Herbert; Beck-Sickinger, Annette; Sperk, Günther; Gehlert, Donald; Vezzani, Annamaria
Neuropeptide Y (NPY) potently inhibits glutamate release and seizure activity in rodent hippocampus in vitro and in vivo, but the nature of the receptor(s) mediating this action is controversial. In hippocampal slices from rats and several wild-type mice, a Y2-preferring agonist mimicked, and the Y2-specific antagonist BIIE0246 blocked, the NPY-mediated inhibition both of glutamatergic transmission and of epileptiform discharges in two different slice models of temporal lobe epilepsy, stimulus train-induced bursting (STIB) and 0-Mg2+ bursting. Whereas Y5 receptor-preferring agonists had small but significant effects in vitro, they were blocked by BIIE0246, and a Y5 receptor-specific antagonist did not affect responses to any agonist tested in any preparation. In slices from inline image mice, NPY was without effect on evoked potentials or in either of the two slice seizure models. In vivo, intrahippocampal injections of Y2- or Y5-preferring agonists inhibited seizures caused by intrahippocampal kainate, but again the Y5 agonist effects were insensitive to a Y5 antagonist. Neither Y2- nor Y5-preferring agonists affected kainate seizures in inline image mice. A Y5-specific antagonist did not displace the binding of two different NPY ligands in WT or inline image mice, whereas all NPY binding was eliminated in the inline image mouse. Thus, we show that Y2 receptors alone mediate all the anti-excitatory actions of NPY seen in the hippocampus, whereas our findings do not support a role for Y5 receptors either in vitro or in vivo. The results suggest that agonists targeting the Y2 receptor may be useful anticonvulsants.
Are cognitive distortions associated with denial and minimization among sex offenders?
(2012) Nunes, Kevin L.; Jung, Sandy
Although there has been much speculation about the relationship between cognitive distortions and denial/minimization, little research on the subject is available. The authors conducted secondary analyses on existing data sets to further examine the degree of association between various measures of cognitive distortions and denial/minimization among child molesters (Sample 1, n = 73; Sample 2, n = 42; Sample 3, n = 38) and rapists (Sample 1, n = 41; Sample 3, n = 14). Meta-analysis of the findings from Samples 1, 2, and 3 indicated that greater endorsement of cognitive distortions about sex offending in general was significantly associated with greater denial/minimization of one’s own guilt and deviance (r = .24), harm to one’s own victims (r = .32), one’s need for treatment (r = .21), and responsibility for one’s sex offenses (r = .16). Although correlated, cognitive distortions and denial/minimization, at least as typically measured, are distinct constructs.
Are memories for sexually traumatic events "special"? A within-subjects investigation of trauma and memory in a clinical sample
(2008) Peace, Kristine; Porter, Stephen; Brinke, Leanne ten
According to a long-standing clinical tradition, sexually traumatic experiences are processed and recalled differently from other experiences, often leading to memory impairment. In this study, we compared the characteristics of traumatic memories for sexual violence and two other types of emotional experiences. N=44 women recruited from a local sexual trauma agency were asked to recall and describe three autobiographical events: sexual abuse/assault, a non-sexual trauma, and a positive emotional event. The characteristics of the three memory types were compared on both subjective and objective measures. Further, the potential influences of level of traumatic impact and dissociation were assessed. Results indicated that memories for sexual trauma were not impaired or fragmented relative to other memories. Instead, memories for sexual trauma were associated with a remarkably high level of vividness, detail, and sensory components. Further, high levels of traumatic impact were not associated with memory impairment. Implications for the ongoing traumatic memory debate are discussed.
Are the alarm calls of North American red squirrels (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus) functionally referential?
(2009) Digweed, Shannon; Rendall, Drew
North American red squirrels are a small-bodied and solitary-living species that faces a diversity of predators and produces two different variants of alarm calls in response to them. Recent studies have yielded conflicting interpretations of the predator-specific and functionally referential nature of these alarm call variants. We undertook a systematic set of playback experiments to quantify the responses of red squirrels to alarm calls produced by other squirrels during encounters with different predators. The experiment was designed to test a core requirement of functionally referential alarm calls, namely that different alarm call types induce distinct and functionally appropriate escape responses in listeners. Results indicated that squirrels registered and responded to alarm calls produced by others; however, their responses were not differentiated according to the type of alarm call they heard and thus did not provide evidence that the different alarm call variants hold any predator-specific, referential value. These outcomes are discussed in light of complementary work on alarm call production in red squirrels and broader aspects of this species’ life history in an effort to better understand the necessary and sufficient pressures promoting the evolution of referential call systems in animals.
Assessing young children’s musical enculturation: a novel method for testing sensitivity to key membership, harmony, and musical metre
(2012) Einarson, Kathleen M.; Corrigall, Kathleen; Trainor, Laurel J.
Western adults with no formal music training have implicit knowledge of the tonal and metrical structure of music within their culture (Hannon & Trehub, 2005; Tillmann, Bharucha, & Bigand, 2000; Trainor & Trehub, 1992), but little research has explored the developmental trajectory of these abilities. Here we test Western preschool children's knowledge of Western key membership and harmony. We also test their ability to perceive simple metrical structures typical of Western music and to complex meters common in some foreign, but not Western, musical systems (London, 1995).
Assessment and recovery of visually guided reaching deficits following cerebellar stroke
(2023) Robles, Chella M.; Anderson, Britt; Dukelow, Sean P.; Striemer, Christopher
The cerebellum is known to play an important role in the coordination and timing of limb movements. The present study focused on how reach kinematics are affected by cerebellar lesions to quantify both the presence of motor impairment, and recovery of motor function over time. In the current study, 12 patients with isolated cerebellar stroke completed clinical measures of cognitive and motor function, as well as a visually guided reaching (VGR) task using the Kinarm exoskeleton at baseline (~2 weeks), as well as 6, 12, and 24-weeks post-stroke. During the VGR task, patients made unassisted reaches with visual feedback from a central ‘start’ position to one of eight targets arranged in a circle. At baseline, 6/12 patients were impaired across several parameters of the VGR task compared to a Kinarm normative sample (n=307), revealing deficits in both feed-forward and feedback control. The only clinical measures that consistently demonstrated impairment were the Purdue Pegboard Task (PPT; 9/12 patients) and the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (6/11 patients). Overall, patients who were impaired at baseline showed significant recovery by the 24-week follow-up for both VGR and the PPT. A lesion overlap analysis indicated that the regions most commonly damaged in 5/12 patients (42% overlap) were lobule IX and Crus II of the right cerebellum. A lesion subtraction analysis comparing patients who were impaired (n=6) vs. unimpaired (n=6) on the VGR task at baseline showed that the region most commonly damaged in impaired patients was lobule VIII of the right cerebellum (40% overlap). Our results lend further support to the notion that the cerebellum is involved in both feedforward and feedback control during reaching, and that cerebellar patients tend to recover relatively quickly overall. In addition, we argue that future research should study the effects of cerebellar damage on visuomotor control from a perception-action theoretical framework to better understand how the cerebellum works with the dorsal stream to control visually guided action.
The association between presentence risk evaluations and sentencing outcome
(2015) Jung, Sandy; Ennis, Liam; Brown, Kelsey; Ledi, Denise; Jung, Sandy
Presentence risk evaluations are routinely submitted to judges prior to sentencing with the goal of guiding treatment recommendations and informing sentencing decisions. Empirical research has yet to examine this association. In the present study, the correspondence between presentence risk evaluations and sentencing outcomes was explored using the files of 165 offenders who had completed LSI-R, LS/CMI, and/or HCR-20 protocols. We found that sentencing outcome was associated with risk assessment scores, particularly from the Level of Service Measures. This study's findings suggest that presentence risk evaluations have a strong association with the sentencing decisions of the judiciary, suggesting that sentencing procedures may reflect evidence-based practice.
Associations between length of music training and reading skills in children
(2011) Corrigall, Kathleen; Trainor, Laurel J.
Previous research has found that music training in childhood is associated with word decoding, a fundamental reading skill related to the ability to pronounce individual words. These findings have typically been explained by a near transfer mechanism because music lessons train auditory abilities associated with those needed for decoding words. Nevertheless, few studies have examined whether music training is associated with higher-level reading abilities such as reading comprehension, which would suggest far transfer. We tested whether the length of time children took music lessons was associated with word decoding and reading comprehension skills in 6- to 9-year-old normal-achieving readers. Our results revealed that length of music training was not associated with word decoding skills; however, length of music training predicted reading comprehension performance even after controlling for age, socioeconomic status, auditory perception, fullscale IQ, the number of hours that children spent reading per week, and word decoding skills. We suggest that if near transfer occurs, it is likely strongest in beginning readers or those experiencing reading difficulty. The strong association in our data—between length of music training and reading comprehension—is consistent with mechanisms involving far transfer.
Asymmetrical sample training produces asymmetrical retention functions in feature-present/feature-absent matching in pigeons
(2004) Grant, Douglas; Blatz, Craig
Pigeons were trained in a matching task in which samples involved presentation of a white line on a green background (feature-present) or on an otherwise dark key (feature-absent). After asymmetrical training in which one group was initially trained with the feature-present sample and another was initially trained with the feature-absent sample, marked retention asymmetries were obtained. In both groups, accuracy dropped precipitously on trials involving the initially trained sample and remained high on trials involving the sample introduced second in training. It was concluded that asymmetrical training encouraged a single-code/default strategy in which only the sample trained initially was coded. Consistent with this conclusion, changing attributes of either sample reduced accuracy to a greater extent in pigeons initially trained with that sample than in pigeons for which that sample was introduced second in training.
At home research project: lucid dreaming exercises and questionnaire
(1987) LaBerge, Stephen; Gackenbach, Jayne
A number of techniques facilitate lucid dreams. One of the simplest is asking yourself many times during the day whether or not you are dreaming. Each time you ask the question, you should look for evidence proving you are not dreaming. The most reliable test is reading: read something, look away for a moment, and then read it again. If it reads the same twice, it is very unlikely that you are dreaming. After you have proven to yourself that you are not presently dreaming, visualize yourself in a lucid dream doing whatever it is you'd like. Also tell yourself that you want to recognize a real dream the next time it occurs. The way people usually recognize a dream is through unusual or bizarre occurrences. For instance, if you find yourself flying without visible means of support, you should realize that this only happens in dreams, and that therefore, you must now be dreaming.

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