The Impact of Stroop Interference and the Simon Effect on Implicit Association Test Performance

The implicit association test (IAT) is a method used to examine associations individuals make between concepts and evaluations (Greenwald & Banaji, 1995). The typical finding with the IAT is that RTs are faster when the concepts and evaluations share the same response key. While the IAT has been used to examine a variety of associations, factors influencing these associations are still under consideration. For instance, Klauer et al. (2010) examined aspects of cognitive control in the IAT. They included measures related to switching mental sets, inhibition of responses, and working memory capacity. They found that switching between mental sets was related to IAT performance. In this experiment, participants completed a Simon task, Stroop task, and the flower-insect IAT. Participants showed typical Simon effect and Stroop interference. IAT results were consistent with Greenwald, McGhee, and Schwartz (1998). While covarying Simon performance had no impact on the IAT, covarying Stroop performance did reduce the size of associations found between flowers and insects across conditions. These results suggest that the ability to inhibit one response in favor of another contributes to IAT findings

Atlanta Symphony Orchestra

The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra returns to Kennesaw State University to tackle classical symphonies by two big personalities and feature KSU\u27s own as soloist. The spirit of 18th-century composer Franz Joseph Haydn hovers over this concert led by conductor Carlo Rizzi. 20th century Russian Sergei Prokofiev pays homage to Haydn in his nimble and puckish Classical Symphony while Beethoven, a cantankerous student of Haydn, echoed the master in his sunny and explosively exuberant Symphony No. 2 one hundred years earlier. Elizabeth Koch Tiscione, ASO Principal Oboe and KSU Artist-in-Residence, solos in Mozart\u27s Oboe Concerto.https://digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu/musicprograms/2060/thumbnail.jp

The Adult Dramaturgy of Youth Hockey: The Myths and Rituals of the “Hockey Family”

Over the past 20 years, parent involvement in youth sports has changed significantly. Parents are increasingly involved in their child’s sport: encouraging them to participate year round, attending all practices and games, investing thousands of dollars, and often telling the coach how to coach the team. Because of this time and financial commitment, parents now take on their own role in their child’s sport. In this exploratory study, I looked at parental behavior and the relationship bonds made through youth hockey. The research was conducted in a Midwest town with both the local youth hockey program and High School Hockey program. Fifteen participants were researched, including: Athletic Directors, coaches, and parents. Throughout this dissertation, a dramaturgical lens is utilized to analyze sports parents’ behavior. Parents use hockey as a stage where the child learns life skills necessary for his future. They see practice as the rehearsal and the game as the performance. Parents rely on the coaches to teach the life lessons in the front stage, and parent’s follow-up on these lessons in the backstage. When things do not go as the parents have scripted, they lose their dramaturgical focus and go off-script behaving inappropriately. Parents and coaches must work together to co-direct the life lessons they want the athletes to take away from their sports participation. By clearly understanding each other’s roles, parents and coaches can more effectively work together. Coaches’ and parents’ expectations are analyzed in this research, providing a better understanding of the expectations each group has of each other. Parents have changed their focus from activities for their own enjoyment to focusing on their child’s activities. The level of commitment required of hockey parents approximates the level of commitment required by sects and cults. The social connections parents make through their membership in a “hockey family” is formed and social capital is created. This close-knit group contains many of the same characteristics of benign cults. By analyzing the data using religious and cult terminology, the dynamics of the “hockey family” is seen in new ways

KSU Wind Ensemble featuring Elizabeth Koch-Tiscione, oboe

KSU School of Music presents KSU Wind Ensemble featuring Elizabeth Koch-Tiscione, oboe.https://digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu/musicprograms/1147/thumbnail.jp

KSU Wind Ensemble with Elizabeth Koch Tiscione, oboe and guest composer Roger Zare

The KSU Wind Ensemble presents a concert featuring the works of Jacob, Zare, Nelson, Persichetti, and Sousa. They are joined by guest composer Roger Zare, whose piece Ocean of Undiscovered Truth will be performed by KSU Faculty Member and Principal Oboe of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Elizabeth Koch Tiscione.https://digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu/musicprograms/2298/thumbnail.jp

Atlanta Chamber Players

KSU School of Music presents Atlanta Chamber Players.https://digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu/musicprograms/1213/thumbnail.jp

Computational analysis of genetic interaction network structures and gene properties

University of Minnesota Ph.D. dissertation. July 2017. Major: Computer Science. Advisor: Chad Myers. 1 computer file (PDF); viii, 155 pages.Cellular systems are responsible for many complex tasks, such as carrying out cell cycle phases, responding to intra- and extra-cellular conditions, and resolving errors. Through analysis of biological networks, researchers have begun to describe how cells coordinate these processes by means of modularity and between-process connections. However, descriptions of this network-based cellular organization often do not incorporate the diverse characteristics and individual behaviors of the genes that compose it. Knowledge of gene properties and their relationships with biological network evolution is crucial for a complete understanding of cellular function, and investigation in this area can lead to general principles of biology that apply to many species. This dissertation will describe analyses of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae (baker’s yeast) genetic interaction network that connect gene topological behavior with various physical, functional, and evolutionary properties of genes. Genetic interactions occur between paired genes whose simultaneous mutations produce unexpected double-mutant phenotypes, which are indicative of a range of functional relationships. Because genetic interactions can be identified genome-wide in high-throughput experiments, their networks are comprehensive and unbiased representations of function to which we can apply computational methods that search for structure-function relationships. We begin by exploring the association between a set of gene properties and gene genetic interaction (GI) degree. Here, we build a decision tree model that sorts genes based on a set of properties, each of which has a correlation with GI degree, and accurately predicts GI degree. We show that our model, trained on S. cerevisiae, is also accurate for a very distant yeast species, Schizosaccharomyces pombe, demonstrating that the rules governing gene connectivity are well conserved. Finally, we used predictions from the model to identify gene modules that differ between the two yeast species. Next, we further characterize hub genes through an investigation of pleiotropy, the phenomenon of a single genetic locus with multiple phenotypic effects. Pleiotropy has typically been described by counting organism-level phenotypes, but a characterization based on genetic interactions can capture details about cellular processes that are buffered by the cell and never manifest in single mutant cellular phenotypes. For this analysis, we use frequent item set mining to discover GI modules, which we annotate with high-level processes, and use entropy to measure the functional diversity of each gene’s set of containing modules, thus distinguishing between genes whose functional influence is limited to very few bioprocesses and those whose roles are important for varied cellular functions. We identified a number of gene and protein characteristics that differed between genes with high and low pleiotropy and discuss the implications of these results regarding the nature and evolution of pleiotropy

Fairview Cancer Rehab Program Outcomes and Effectiveness: a Pilot Study

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: One million people in the United States of America are diagnosed with cancer each year. Many cancer patients are surviving and managing residual effects of cancer, including, but not limited to pain, muscle weakness, depression, anxiety, fatigue and decreased activity tolerance. The purpose of this study is to initiate data compilation to determine the effectiveness and outcomes of the Fairview Cancer Rehabilitation program. METHODS: Participants included 7 patients with a wide variety of cancer diagnoses who were consecutively recruited from Fairview Cancer Rehabilitation program. This program included physical and/or occupational therapy targeted to each patient’s individual impairments. Outcome measures included FACIT-Fatigue, Short-Form Health Survey (SF-12), Six-Minute Walk Test (6MWT), Timed Up and Go (TUG), bilateral grip strength, Numerical Pain Rating Scale (NPRS) and a follow-up survey inquiring about current health status, activity level and pain rating. Outcome measures were administered within the first 2 physical therapy visits and re-administered at time of discharge. The follow-up survey along with the SF-12 were mailed to each participant at 2 months post discharge. Since the number of subjects included in this study was low, changes in scores were examined for trends. RESULTS: The participants ranged in age from 24 to 66 years with an average age of 51.4 ± 14.3 years. Patients participated in an average of 9.6 physical therapy visits ranging from 4-17 visits. Patients participated in an average of 3.1 occupational therapy visits, ranging from 0-12 visits. Mean FACIT-F, SF-12 physical and mental composite scores, 6MWT, TUG scores, bilateral grip strength and NPRS demonstrated impairments at initial evaluation and demonstrated improvement at post-intervention assessment. SF-12 mental composite scores and NPRS continued to improve from the post-intervention to follow-up measures. CONCLUSION: Patients with cancer and cancer survivors are living with a variety of side effects. This pilot study supports the effectiveness of Fairview Cancer Rehabilitation program in improving patient’s quality of life and functional abilities. Further research is indicated with a larger sample size and increased follow-up time.

Does DTC advertising affect physician prescribing habits?

Direct-to-consumer advertising (DTCA) is associated with both higher fidelity to minimum treatment recommendations for depression and higher prescribing levels of antidepressants for depression and adjustment disorder (strength of recommendation [SOR]: B, small randomized controlled trial [RCT]). DTCA is also associated with higher prescribing rates for osteoarthritis, allergies, and hyperlipidemia (SOR: C, time-series analyses). No changes in prescribing rates have been noted for hypertension and benign prostatic hyperplasia (SOR: C, time-series analyses). Physicians often accommodate requests for DTCA medications (SOR: C, 4 surveys). In some cases, they wouldn't have considered such prescriptions for other similar patients (SOR: C, 3 surveys)