Fourth Annual MCLA Undergraduate Research Conference

Thursday April 13, 2006

Posters:  Venable Gym

9:30-11:30 am

Poster 1

Title:  Can Rats Learn a Complex Task with Delayed Reinforcement?

Author:  Alex Charalambous

Faculty Advisor:  Dr. Tom Byrne, Psychology

While a great deal of research has been performed both on delayed reinforcement and acquisition of a complex task, there has been little exploration into the effect of delayed reinforcement on a complex task.  In this study, rats must learn to emit a behavior chain while learning to respond to a discriminative stimulus.  Using a two-room design, the travel time between the rooms will constitute delayed reinforcement of the successfully performed command chain.

Poster 2

Title:  The Benefits, Satisfaction, and Usefulness of Attaining a B.A. in Sociology

Authors:  Amelia Wood, Brendan McCarthy, Robin Guzzo, Julie Harkins, & Bonnie Schott

Faculty Advisor:  Dr. Diane Louise Balduzy, Sociology

A systematic, stratified, proportionate random sample was obtained from the population of sociology graduates who earned their undergraduate degree from M.C.L.A. between 1990 and 2005 (N=881). The survey was developed and designed to measure specific dimensions or benefits of the socio-demographic, factual, and attitudinal questions on gender, marital status, income, post-graduate schooling, employment, and relevance of the respondent's present occupation to the major.

Poster 3

Title:  The Effects of Gender and Sleep on College GPA

Authors:  Christine Barna, Karen Moisuk, & Jacob Stapledon

Faculty Advisor:  Dr. Maria Bartini, Psychology

Using a combination of questionnaires administered through an online survey tool, we examined the relationship between gender, sleep quality, and wake times with college GPA. We expected to find a significant difference between the wake times of males and females, a significant association between wake times and GPA, and a significant relationship between gender and GPA due to wake times.

Poster 4

Title:  Self Perception and Aggression as Predictors of Popularity in High School  Students

Authors:  Bill Maskell & David Crall

Faculty Advisor:  Dr. Maria Bartini, Psychology

The aim of our study was to examine how self perception and aggression predicted popularity. To observe this relationship, 404 highschool students were given questionnaires to evaluate their self perceptions and how well liked they were among their peers. The data were examined using a multiple regression analysis. No significant relationship was found between sociometric popularity and self perception or aggression, but there was a statistically significant relationship between self perceptions and perceived popularity.

Poster 5

Title:  Do Instructions Inhibit Learning without Awareness?

Author:  David Crall

Faculty Advisor:  Dr. Tom Byrne, Psychology

The purpose of this study is to test the hypothesis that problem solving instructions inhibit learning without awareness.   Two groups of undergraduate college students were tested on their ability to choose between two random words. The first group was told to a specific hypothesis.  The second group was simply asked to problem solve.  We anticipate that the second group will show more awareness of their learning. 

Poster 6

Title:  Learning Without Awareness: The Role of Cover Stories

Authors:  Angela Lacross, Alex Charalambous, Karen Moisuk, Scott Greenberg, Wendy Passetto, Melanie Somes, Christina Zepka, Monique Fletcher, and Heather Rudolph.

Faculty Advisor:  Dr. Tom Byrne, Psychology

This study was designed to see if volunteers can learn without awareness due to simple reinforcement.  Our original design utilized an herbal-supplement cover story.  Due to a lack of learning, we have changed our cover story.   Subjects are now asked to decipher reverse speech.  In the former scenario, reinforcement was delivered for choosing double-lettered words in two-word pairings.  In the current version, reinforcement is given for selecting words with a larger font size.

Poster 7

Title:  Gender Expectations and Homosexuality

Author:  Robert Huberdeau, Brandi Gillen, & Sarah Flint

Faculty Advisor:  Dr. Maria Bartini, Psychology

We examined the effect of sexual orientation on scores on the Bem Sex Role Inventory (BSRI). Data were collected from college students through an online resource known as Survelum. The students completed the BSRI and some additional questions posed by the researchers about their sexual orientation, the importance of their sexual orientation, and the strength of it. These data are expected to show increasingly androgynous characteristics for self identified homosexual participants.

Title:  The Mathematical Modeling for Ideal Gymnastic Vault

Author:  Bridget Gormalley

Faculty Advisor:  Dr. Alla Kucher, Math & Andrew Miller (Berkshire Community College)

I investigated mathematically how changes from ideal vault techniques affect the trajectory of athletes’ center of mass. I generated an optimal trajectory regression curve from real data from the 2000 Olympics. From this model I concluded that deviations from the ideal position do not affect the curvature. Experiments show that these deviations decrease scoring. This is registered by regression line residuals. I plan to mathematically analyze how velocity, acceleration, and energy are affected by deviations from ideal position.

Poster 9

Title:  Teaching Self-Management Techniques with Picture Schedules

Author:  Angela Lacross

Faculty Advisor:  Dr. Tom Byrne, Psychology

Self-care is one of the more difficult tasks to teach an autistic child.  The purpose of this experiment is to teach a bathroom self-care routine in order for the child to adequately prepare himself for school independently.  The experiment focuses on developing the child’s ability to follow a text/picture schedule independently and once mastered, teaching the parents how to implement the picture schedules themselves in order to refine the specific steps in the behavior chain.

Poster 10

Title:  Gender Differences in Relational and Overt Aggression in High School Students

Authors:  Stefanie Corl & Alix Seifert

Faculty Advisor:  Dr. Maria Bartini, Psychology

Adolescent behavior seems to generate questions as adolescence is quite a complicated period in one’s life. Bullying and aggression are important issues that affect adolescents. The difference between male and female aggression is also important to observe. Participants of the study included male and female students from all grades of high school who completed a self-report measure of overt and relational aggression.  Boys are expected to report more overt aggression whereas girls should report more relational aggression. 

Poster 11

Title:  FINS (Foster families In Need of Secondary support)

Author:  Jodi Browning & Billie Poirot

Faculty Advisor:  Prof. Myles Whitney, Sociology and Dr. Tom Byrne, Psychology

FINS (Foster families In Need of Secondary support), co-developed by two MCLA students, is a support/activity group.  The purpose of the program is to offer support to latency age foster children who have either been placed in foster care or who have been adopted by a foster parent(s).  The group provides children with two forms of support in two different settings:  a support group setting consisting of check-in, disclosure, and feedback periods and an activity group setting consisting of speakers and special interest activities, which deal with the children’s interests, such as music sports or academics.  During the program the children are also evaluated based on whether they participated in the activity, whether they liked the activity and their behavior during group.  The children’s goal setting was also evaluated.  The goals of the program will be presented.

Poster 12

Title:  Microscopic Comparison of Wild Type Arabidopsis thaliana and AT-DPL1 Mutants Deficient in Long Chain Base Phosphate Lyase

Author:  Meagan Snide

Faculty Advisor:  Dr. Ann Billetz, Biology and Dr. Daniel Lynch, Nancy Piatczyc (Williams College)

Sphingolipids are components of eukaryotic cells.  Recent studies have suggested that sphingolipids called Long Chain Base Phosphates (LCBPs) may play an active role in signaling and regulation in plants.  Arabidopsis thaliana plants lacking the genes coding for LCBP lyase, labeled “DPL1 mutants”, were observed macroscopically and microscopically for phenotypic differences indicating physiological variances from wild type plants.  The presence of membranous whorls and irregular chloroplast membranes in DPL1 plant cells indicated imminent death at the cellular level.

Poster 13

Title:  Access to a Running Wheel does not Decrease Performance under a Progressive Ratio-Schedule

Authors:  Alicia Girgenti & Jennifer Bo

Faculty Advisor:  Dr. Tom Byrne, Psychology

Activity anorexia occurs when rats exposed to a running wheel and a restricted feeding schedule exhibit extreme amounts of motor activity coupled with an apparent loss of interest in food.  Previous studies have allowed simultaneous access to the running wheel and food.  In the current study, food was available under a progressive-ratio schedule at times when the wheel was absent.  Although we documented substantial wheel running, the motivation for food remained.

Poster 14

Title:  College Student’s Attitudes toward the Death Penalty

Author:  Alicia Girgenti & Scott Greenberg

Faculty Advisor:  Dr. Maria Bartini, Psychology

Research indicates that both the defendant and victim’s race appear to be significant predictors of death sentences. Participants completed an online survey posted on the Survelum website. The surveys included a demographic data page, Capital Punishment Attitude Questionnaire, Thurstone Capital Punishment Attitude Scale, Racial Bias Scale, and a vignette, depicting a fictional murder case. The participants read one of four possible offender-victim dyads: white offender- black victim, white offender-white victim, black offender-black victim, or black offender-white victim. We hypothesized that respondents would be more likely to give the death penalty to perpetrators whose victims are white than those whose victims are black. Significant results could have important judicial and legislative implications.

Poster 15

Title:  The Grapes of Wrath...an Analysis of Yeast

Author:  Sarah Martin & Elizabeth Lewis

Faculty Advisor:  Dr. Ann Billetz, Biology

The purpose of this research is to identify native yeast populations used in wine making. Samples were obtained from grapes, blueberries, and pears from Joe Dzbenski’s home in Adams, MA.  Streak plates were prepared of known and collected samples. Once the cultures had grown the DNA was isolated and amplified using polymerase chain reaction (PCR). An Agarose gel was run and the samples were subjected to restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis to compare results of the unknown to the known samples, thereby determining the genus and species of yeast present.

Poster 16

Title:  The Utility of Likeability, Moral Justification, Commonality, and Stability of Aggressive Traits as Predicting Individuals’ Endorsement of Aggression.

Author:  Brendan Gaesser

Faculty Advisor:  Dr. Maria Bartini, Psychology

Profuse research has been conducted concerning individuals’ attitudes of aggression. In the present study, a series of vignettes and questions were developed to assess participants’ attitudes. We attempted to identify participants’ specific attitudes concerning characters actions that were predictive of individuals’ omnibus endorsement of aggression.  To do this, a standard multi-regression analysis will be conducted to determine the predictive power of participants’ judgments concerning likeability, moral justification, commonality, and stability of aggressive traits.

Poster 17

Title:  Implicit Attitudes and the Perception of Morality and Stability of Aggression

Author:  Scott Greenberg, Sigourney Wendt, Brendan Gaesser, & Marina Berman

Faculty Advisor:  Dr. Maria Bartini, Psychology

Papers:  Campus Center 324A & B

2:00 pm-3:00 pm

Paper 1:  2:00-2:25 pm

Title:  Semantic Priming with Taboo Words

Authors:  Brendan Gaesser & April Tovani

Faculty Advisor:  Dr. Tim Jay, Psychology

Priming effects for neutral and emotional words have been established.  However, no research has examined the priming effects of semantically related taboo words. We elucidated taboo priming effects using a conventional lexical decision task, containing taboo and neutral prime-target pairs with high, low, or no semantic relationships between pairs. Results indicated no main effect for word type (neutral, taboo), but a significant effect for semantic relationship (high, low, no).

Paper 2:  2:30-2:55 pm

Title:  Molecular and Biochemical Analysis of Native Yeast Populations from Lincoln and Adams, Massachusetts

Author:  Heather Davis

Faculty Advisor: Dr. Ann Billetz, Biology

Wine results from the alcoholic fermentation of must by yeast.  Identification of the yeast samples as to genus and species include morphological characteristics, fermentation studies, and molecular techniques (PCR and RFLP).  The goals of this project were to identify naturally occurring yeasts and to determine if they vary from region to region.  The yeast used was isolated from Turtle Creek Winery in Lincoln, MA and a small vineyard in Adams, MA. 

Keynote Address:  Campus Center 324A & B

3:30 pm-4:30 pm

Andrea Vansickel received a B.A. in Psychology from MCLA in 2003.  She is currently a doctoral candidate in the Behavioral  Neuroscience and Psychopharmacology program at the University of Kentucky.  She has published her research in numerous peer-reviewed journals.

Stimulant drugs and cigarette smoking:  Is there a link?”

Tobacco smoking is a significant public health concern and is the leading cause of preventable death in the United States. Stimulant medications such as d-amphetamine and methylphenidate are commonly used to treat Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and are often abused within specific populations.  Stimulant medications increase cigarette-smoking behavior when administered acutely.  Although there is a known link between cigarette smoking and both ADHD and stimulant abuse, the underlying nature of this relationship is unknown.  One potential explanation is that there is a behavioral pharmacologic interaction between nicotine and other stimulants.  The current research plan is designed to address the underlying processes involved in stimulant-induced increases in cigarette smoking.  The main objective is to use behavioral measures to understand the putative pharmacological mechanisms underlying stimulant-induced increases in cigarette smoking behavior.  The result of this work could have important clinical implications for the treatment of persons with ADHD or stimulant dependence that also smoke.