Psychological Science

Transcription

1 7-7:15 p.m. The Effects of Virtual Reality Media on Physiological Arousal Margaret Rittler The present study investigates whether people experience greater physiological arousal interacting with Virtual Reality (VR) media than they do when viewing a video presentation. Participants included approximately 20 male and female undergraduate Belmont University students recruited from an introductory psychology course. After attaching finger electrodes to measure pulse and galvanic skin response, all participants participated in a 4-minute mediation program using VR in order to establish a baseline measure of their heart rate and galvanic skin response. After the meditation program, p. articipants were randomly assigned to either participate in an emotional VR experience (08:46 a 9/11 incident game) or watch a normal video of the same 9/11 game experience. The results are expected to show that exposure to the VR experience will cause greater arousal response than exposure to a similar video experience. This study will lead to a better understanding of the effects of experiencing virtual reality as a presentation medium. 7:15-7:30 p.m. Investigating Cognitive Dissonance and the Big Five Personality Traits Alex Gumucio Research has shown that cognitive dissonance, which is mental discomfort caused by inconsistent attitudes, values, beliefs or behaviors, may be related to specific personality traits (Murray, Wood, & Lilienfeld, 2012). The current study sought to explore this relationship using a cognitive dissonance task and the Big Five personality traits. Approximately 36 male and female Belmont students completed the 50-item version of Costa and McCrae s (1992) NEO-PI- R as a measure of the Big Five personality traits. They also completed an abacus task of moving beads for seven minutes to elicit boredom. Participants were randomly split into two groups, High and Low Choice. The High Choice group was asked to tell the following participant (actually a confederate) that the task was enjoyable. The Low Choice group was instructed to tell the participant (confederate) the abacus task was enjoyable. After talking to the participant, 1

2 indicated how enjoyable they found the abacus task. Higher positive ratings indicated higher levels of cognitive dissonance experienced. The High Choice group should rate the abacus task as being more enjoyable than the Low Choice group. Those with higher levels of conscientiousness, agreeableness, and neuroticism should experience higher levels of dissonance. Those with higher levels of extroversion and openness to experience should show lower levels of dissonance. This study is important because it is a step towards better understanding cognitive dissonance, which has recently been explored as a method for various interventions programs such as smoking and eating disorders. 7:30-7:45 p.m. Ego Depletion and Risk Taking: Do You Dare Risk It? Lauren Weaver Previous research has suggested an important relationship between ego depletion and risk taking. Ego depletion is the idea that you only have a limited resource from which you can draw selfcontrol. Previous research suggests that those with little self-control or those with high levels of ego depletion are more likely to make risky decisions (Imhoff et al., 2014). Research suggests that those with little self-control or those with high levels of ego depletion are less likely to make risky decisions (Unger & Stahlberg, 2011). Approximately 40 Belmont University introductory psychology students were asked to complete a 10-item self-control measure. They were then asked to complete a Stroop task in either a high ego depletion group, where the color names never matched the colored lettering (e.g. blue appeared in red lettering) or a low ego depletion group, where the color names always matched the colored lettering (e.g. blue appeared in blue lettering). Each participant then participated in an online dice task to measure risky decisionmaking levels. It is expected that those with a high degree of ego depletion or low self-control scores or both will lead to more risky taking behaviors. We are faced with risky decisions every day and this study will lead to a better understanding of the impact of self-control on those decisions. 7:45-8 p.m. Wilderness Therapy: The Effect Accomplishment and Serenity on Mood Scarlet Sanders 2

3 Wilderness Therapy (WT) is a humanistic based therapy in which a small group of clients accompany a therapist and 3-4 field leaders for a weeklong backpacking trip. While research has supported its effectiveness, there is little research on why it is effective. The present study examines two facets of WT that are thought to have a role in its success: task accomplishment and serenity. Participants included approximately 30 Belmont undergraduate students; each was randomly assigned to 1 of 4 conditions: accomplishment and serenity, accomplishment and no serenity, no accomplishment and serenity, or no accomplishment and no serenity. For the serenity/no serenity conditions, participants spent 5 minutes in a corresponding virtual reality. The serenity group experienced a tranquil Japanese garden while the no serenity group experienced an eerie abandoned school. For the accomplishment/no accomplishment conditions, participants completed an anagram task and either received positive or no feedback. The accomplishment group was told that their score was very high while the no accomplishment group was told only their score with no feedback. It is expected that the accomplishment and serenity group will have the highest improvement in mood while the serenity only group will have the second highest improvement in mood. This research is important because although WT overall has shown high success rates, the experience could be further enhanced by discovering the most essential elements and emphasizing them. 8-8:15 p.m. The Effects of Auditory and Visual Modalities on Working Memory Sammie Gould Chang (2009) found that those who read and listened simultaneously to text remembered 10% more than those who only listened. Michael, Keller, Carpenter, and Just (2001) discovered that the total amount of brain activation was significantly greater in auditory conditions rather than in visual conditions, which could be caused by additional storage related activity. Due to these findings, it is hypothesized that reading aloud will encourage more working memory retention than listening alone or reading silently, with reading silently being the least effective retention method. Around 30 Belmont University students currently enrolled in an introductory psychology course were tested, with an average age of 21 years. An auditory version and visual version of the Operation Span (OSPAN) task developed by Turner and Engle (1989) was used for experimentation. Participants were administered a practice trial in addition to 6 tested trials: 2 3

4 auditory only, 2 that were read aloud, and 2 that were read silently. Each trial either contained 6 or 9 questions each. It is expected that reading aloud will produce the most correct responses because of the use of both visual and auditory information. Understanding how people best retain information based on differences in modality could improve understanding of working memory and learning. 8:15-8:30 p.m. Mindfulness Meditation And Its Effectiveness On Anxiety Reduction Austin Arnold, Braxton Foster & Brianna Widmer Faculty Advisor: Linda Jones, Ph.D. Literature has suggested a connection between mindfulness and anxiety reduction (Tacón, A. M et. al, Zeidan, F., Martucci et. al, Hofmann, S et al, Toneatto, T et. al). In the present study, researchers again looked into this effect mindfulness meditation has on anxiety reduction. Researchers hypothesized that mindfulness meditation would decrease levels of stress reported by undergraduate students (ages 18-25). Participants were given a timed mathematical test in order to increase anxiety levels. Their blood pressure was recorded and they were given the State Trait Anxiety Inventory. They were then broken into 3 groups to test effectiveness of various methods of anxiety reduction: music-based, coloring-based, and guided mindfulness meditation. Participants were then given the Southampton Mindfulness Meditation Questionnaire and another blood pressure reading. 8:30-8:45 p.m. The Effect of Tone of Voice on Gaze Perception in Socially Anxious Individuals Bethany Strother, Sydne Richardson & Michael Rasile Previous research has suggested that both facial expressions and tone of voice play a role in our perception of social interactions. The present study looked at how tone of voice and facial expression influence gaze perception in socially anxious and normal individuals. Forty-five (23 women, 22 men) participants completed the Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale and then completed 112 trials while eye movement were monitored using eye tracking equipment. Participants viewed neutral and angry faces representing a variety of gaze deviations combined with both angry and neutral auditory stimuli for 600 ms each; they were then asked to report the direction 4

5 that the face was looking (to the right, left, or straight at the viewer). The eye-tracking program was used to track participant s responses and gaze behavior.. We expect that hearing an auditory stimulus in an angry tone rather than in a neutral tone will increase the likelihood that one feels the gaze of another is directed at oneself (i.e., increasing one s cone of gaze ). Similarly, we expect that seeing an angry facial expression rather than a neutral facial expression will increase this cone of gaze as well. We also expect that individuals that are high in social anxiety will exhibit more avoidance of eye contact than individuals that are low in social anxiety. This study hopes to add to the existing literature on the relationships between top-down processing in social perception and expand on our current understanding of gaze perception. 8:45-9 p.m. Investigating the Relationship Between Circadian Rhythms and Social Desirability Kayla Evans, Bianca Flury, Sydney Omweg & Hannah Ninness Faculty Advisor: William Bailey, Ph.D. Every human is on a circadian rhythm cycle, usually lasting hours. However, every individual has their own unique cycle, depending on environmental and biological variables (DeYoung et al., 2007). Both circadian rhythms and social desirability are related problems in the workplace throughout the world. Workaholism not only plays an important role in workplace aggression (Balducci, Cecchin,. Fraccaroli & Schaufeli, 2012) but it can also lead to burnout (Andreassen, Ursin, & Eriksen, 2007) or death due to overwork. The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between social desirability and circadian rhythms. We hypothesized that participants who have an eveningness type circadian rhythm schedule will have a lower social desirability perception while participants who have a morningness circadian rhythm schedule will have a higher social desirability perception. Forty-one undergraduate students ranging in age from 18 to 40 years enrolled in an introductory psychology course completed The Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale (Marlowe & Crowne, 1961) and The Morningness- Eveningness Questionnaire (Horne & Ostberg, 1976). Several correlations will be used to analyze the results from the data of the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale and Morningness-Eveningness Questionnaire. Analysis of the data is expected to show a positive correlation between social desirability and circadian rhythms. 5