Psychology
The Clever Hans Effect Seen Through Pupil Dilation
Presenter(s): Gilana Pikover, Dehua Liang, Akima Connelly, Nate Everett, Laura Castellanos, Kayla Ghodsi
Advisor(s): Dr. Amir Raz, Dr. Uri Maoz
Clever Hans, a horse in the late 1800s and early 1900s, was reported to be able to do basic arithmetic and perform other cognitive tasks. However, after extensive research, German biologists at the time, Oskar Pfungst and Carl Stumpf demonstrated that the horse was able to detect unconscious micro-movements that the person asking the question, and especially its trainer, would make. Hence, only if the person asking the question knew the answer to the question and the horse could see the person, the horse could tap his hoof enough times to count towards the correct answer. The Clever Hans phenomenon highlighted the existence of subtle, unconscious cues for communication. It also served to highlight the importance of double-blind studies. The proposed study consists of two stages. During the first stage, the Clever Hans phenomenon will be recreated. Subjects will be asked a basic arithmetic question, and then hear taps that the subject counts until it reaches the correct answer. The questions are addition and subtraction, with answers ranging from one to ten. Pupillometry is used to track the subject’s pupillary change during this process, looking specifically at pupillary changes that suggest anticipation and tension towards the answer, and then the ease of that tension. The experimental process uses no visual information, except a fixation point for subjects to look into, to reduce the risk of pupillary change due to external stimuli. In the second stage, this pupillary data will be used to train a machine learning program that will learn to identify the subtle, involuntary, pupil movements that are unconscious to the subject. By only looking at pupil dilation data, the program will be able to determine the answer to a math question that the participant is thinking about, using the same process from the first part of the study without the program having any previous knowledge of the answer to the question asked.
Presenter(s): Gilana Pikover, Dehua Liang, Akima Connelly, Nate Everett, Laura Castellanos, Kayla Ghodsi
Advisor(s): Dr. Amir Raz, Dr. Uri Maoz
Clever Hans, a horse in the late 1800s and early 1900s, was reported to be able to do basic arithmetic and perform other cognitive tasks. However, after extensive research, German biologists at the time, Oskar Pfungst and Carl Stumpf demonstrated that the horse was able to detect unconscious micro-movements that the person asking the question, and especially its trainer, would make. Hence, only if the person asking the question knew the answer to the question and the horse could see the person, the horse could tap his hoof enough times to count towards the correct answer. The Clever Hans phenomenon highlighted the existence of subtle, unconscious cues for communication. It also served to highlight the importance of double-blind studies. The proposed study consists of two stages. During the first stage, the Clever Hans phenomenon will be recreated. Subjects will be asked a basic arithmetic question, and then hear taps that the subject counts until it reaches the correct answer. The questions are addition and subtraction, with answers ranging from one to ten. Pupillometry is used to track the subject’s pupillary change during this process, looking specifically at pupillary changes that suggest anticipation and tension towards the answer, and then the ease of that tension. The experimental process uses no visual information, except a fixation point for subjects to look into, to reduce the risk of pupillary change due to external stimuli. In the second stage, this pupillary data will be used to train a machine learning program that will learn to identify the subtle, involuntary, pupil movements that are unconscious to the subject. By only looking at pupil dilation data, the program will be able to determine the answer to a math question that the participant is thinking about, using the same process from the first part of the study without the program having any previous knowledge of the answer to the question asked.
Men With Higher Levels of Testosterone-Linked Traits Report Greater Dating Confidence
Presenter(s): Skye Sakashita
Advisor(s): Dr. David Frederick
Sexual selection theory posits that women prefer men with testosterone linked traits such as muscle tone (Frederick & Haselton, 2007) and voice pitch (Puts, 2006). What effect do these preferences have on men's mating strategies and confidence during courtship? We expected that men who perceive themselves to be more masculine than average and who are more satisfied with these traits will have higher dating confidence.
Childhood Levels of Optimism Linked to Adult Physical Activity Participation
Presenter(s): Natalie Moorhead, Danielle Zahn, Marina Carr
Advisor(s): Dr. Julia Boehm
Physical activity is important in maintaining a healthy lifestyle, however, as individuals age, participation in physical activity tends to decline. Thus, it is important to determine factors that promote physical activity across the lifespan. Research has shown that adults with higher levels of optimism tend to engage in more physical activity than those who are less optimistic. However, substantially less is known if optimism in childhood is longitudinally associated with physical activity in adulthood. We hypothesized that children with higher levels of optimism would participate in more physical activity in adulthood compared to their less optimistic peers. Data were from the 1958 British Birth Cohort, a longitudinal study in which 11-year-old participants wrote about how they imagined their life at age 25. Essays were coded by two raters for the presence of psychosocial resources, including optimism. Physical activity was self-reported at age 33 by asking participants if they regularly participated in any of 11 specific activities and, if so, how often they took part in any of the activities. The original responses were recoded into four physical activity frequency categories: rarely, low frequency, medium frequency, and high frequency. Ordinal logistic regression analyses (N = 4,708) determined the association between childhood optimism and frequency of physical activity in adulthood. Models were first unadjusted and then controlled for sex, child financial hardship, and child cognitive ability. In the unadjusted model, higher levels of childhood optimism were significantly associated with greater physical activity in adulthood (b = .06, 95% CI = .005, .11). In the fully-adjusted model, the association persisted but the confidence interval was slightly wider (b = .05, 95% CI = -.005, .10). This study is one of the first to suggest that childhood optimism may be associated with physical activity in adulthood. Early-life interventions focusing on strengthening optimism may be beneficial for the maintenance of physical activity throughout adulthood.
Mode of Delivery and Infant Cognitive Development
Presenter(s): Madison Olson
Advisor(s): Dr. Laura Glynn
The rate of nonindicated cesarean births is increasing each year within the United States. Although cesarean delivery can function as a life- saving intervention, emerging evidence suggests that it may also be associated with deleterious developmental consequences for the child. Here we test the hypothesis that mode of delivery is associated with cognitive development during infancy. 229 pregnant women were recruited and their infants’ cognitive development was assessed at 6, 12 and 24 months with the Bayley Scales of Infant Development. Medical charts were reviewed by obstetric nurses to determine prenatal medical risk and birth outcomes, including mode of delivery. Infants who were delivered vaginally (n = 163) exhibited better performance on the mental development index of the Bayley at 6, 12, and 24 months (M= 98.56, 96.20, and 98.79 respectively) compared to those delivered by cesarean (n =66 ; M= 94.38, 89.64, 90.83 respectively; all F’s > 7.97 and all p’s < .005). These group differences remained even after consideration of potential covariates and third variable explanations in ANCOVA models including: 1. Whether the birth was spontaneous or induced 2. Length of gestation 3. A range of demographic factors including maternal age, socioeconomic status and postpartum depressive symptoms. The benefits of cesarean delivery when medically indicated are undisputed. However, these findings suggest that in the case of nonindicated cesarean delivery, practitioners should carefully consider the potential short and long-term costs and benefits of this intervention.
Gamma Frequency Sound and Perceptual Binding Ability
Presenter(s): Vincent Aurigemma
Advisor(s): Dr. Tara Gruenewald, Eunice Choi
Past research has indicated the potential therapeutic benefits of low frequency sound for pain management and reduction of disease related symptoms. Low frequency (40 Hz) sound is believed to activate gamma wave activity in the brain which has previously been linked to enhancement of cognitive performance on tasks that require the use of perceptual binding to discriminate between objects and the basic shapes that they consist of. While studies have indicated that gamma wave activity is involved in tasks that require perceptual binding, there has been no research directly linking gamma frequency sound and perceptual binding abilities. The aim of this research is to facilitate a closer investigation of the relationship between exposure to low frequency sound and perceptual binding performance. In a first study, Chapman University students participated in an online experiment in which they were randomly assigned to listen to a 40 Hz tone or silence. Following the listening period, participants completed a brief assessment of perceptual binding ability. Data collection is ongoing, but it is expected that analyses will further illuminate whether low frequency sound exposure can enhance perceptual binding performance, which is an important ability for navigating activities of daily life.
Narcissism, Loneliness, and Social Relationships
Presenter(s): Janessa Chase
Advisor(s): Dr. Tara Gruenewald, Eunice Choi
There has been much research examining the relationships between human interactions and psychological well-being. Previous studies have examined how one’s perception of loneliness, the quality and quantity of their social relationships, and their levels of narcissism may impact their psychological well-being (PWB). Such research has demonstrated that PWB is negatively correlated to loneliness, positively correlated to positive social relationships, and has a curvilinear relationship to narcissism. The current study sought to examine how these factors associated with PWB relate to one another. More specifically, the current research examined 1) whether people who are more narcissistic are less lonely, 2) whether people who are more narcissistic have fewer positive relations, and 3) how each of the seven facets of narcissism are related to both loneliness and positive relations. It is hypothesized that narcissism scores will be negatively correlated with loneliness and curvilinearly related to positive relations. Loneliness is also expected to be negatively correlated with positive relations. Participants were college aged young adults who completed an online survey which included the UCLA loneliness scale, Narcissistic Personality Inventory, and positive relations subscale of the Ryff PWB Scale. Data collection is ongoing, but it is expected that the proposed analyses will provide insight into the relationships between narcissism, loneliness, and positive relations, and may ultimately contribute to knowledge of how increase PWB.
The Effects of Luxury in Social Media on Mental Health
Presenter(s): Elena Ruffo
Advisor(s): Dr. Tara Gruenewald, Eunice Choi
Social media use is associated with higher levels of upwards social comparison which is linked with negative mental health outcomes like poor body image, negative affect, depression, and anxiety. However, there is limited research on the types of content on social media that generates such upwards social comparison. The current study aimed to address this by examining how viewing luxury photos on social media may stimulate more upwards social comparison and in turn, negative affect, depression, and anxiety. Participants will include college- aged adults who will complete an online survey experiment in which they are randomly assigned a set of Instagram photos of luxury stimuli (designer fashion, luxury cars, expensive real estate) or a set of abstract art photos. Following viewing the luxury stimulus (Luxury photos) or the non-luxury stimulus (artwork photos) participants completed assessments of social comparison and self esteem. Then participants completed assessments of depression and anxiety. Data collection is ongoing but the analysis will test whether luxury social media exposure induces upwards social comparison and decreases self esteem. We will also examine whether these processes are associated with individual's levels of anxiety and depression. This research will provide a greater understanding of the implications of social media use and its effects on young adult mental health.