Aging in Multisensory Integration

Multisensory integration is the simultaneous processing of multiple sensory inputs into a single percept. The current study aims to further the understanding of multisensory integration across development and the individual contributions of visual and auditory information. Integration was observed using the Sound-Induced Flash Illusion task. In the first experiment, young children, young adults, and older adults participated in a variant of the Sound-Induced Flash Illusion, and found that auditory input had a stronger effect on visual processing than vice versa, and this effect increased with age. Experiment 2 used a similar version of the Sound-Induced Flash Illusion task on young adults, but half of the stimuli were lowered to just above threshold to test if weakened auditory and visual stimuli could account for increased multisensory integration in older adults. It was observed that lowering intensity to above threshold resulted in decreased integration effects. The findings of the current study support auditory dominance literature and the modality appropriateness hypothesis and have implications for many tasks that require the processing of multisensory information.No embargoAcademic Major: Psycholog

Analyzing Public Opinion: The Citizens Response to the 2015 Migration Crisis in the Balkans

The migration crisis of 2015 brought an unprecedented number of migrants to Europe, as they fled from the political, economic, and institutional instability of the Middle East and Northern Africa. European countries have been specifically challenged by this most recent migration crisis due to their geographic location, as well as the unrelenting demands of support and assistance in restarting their lives in a more stable region of the world by hundreds of thousands of migrants. Italy and Greece have been main destinations of migration to Europe, but the entire Southern European region has been involved by the influx of migrants crossing external borders. This paper will analyze how the Balkans region, in particular, has been affected by the migration crisis, and what policies and support has been given to asylum seekers. The cases of Bulgaria, Serbia and Macedonia have been selected to show the differences in migration support in European Union member states and non-European Union member states in the Balkan region. By specifically looking at public opinion polls concerning migration in these three countries, the paper analyzes the contributing factors of European Union membership, security concerns, and populism to account for the differences in public opinion support for migration within Bulgaria, Serbia, and Macedonia

TRANSSACCADIC UPDATING AND FEATURE OVERWRITING

The present study investigated mechanisms of transsaccadic object updating. We have previously shown that the pre-saccadic representation of the saccade target object is overwritten by its post-saccadic representation when visual stability is established (Tas, Mordkoff, & Hollingworth, 2021). However, other studies have shown that the pre- and post-saccadic representations are instead integrated across saccades (e.g., Wolf & Schütz, 2015). An important difference between these studies was the task instructions. In our previous experiments, we asked participants to report either the pre- or the post-saccadic feature of the saccade target. However, studies which found integration effects asked participants to report the feature of the saccade target without specifying different states (pre-saccadic or post-saccadic) which may promote an integration mechanism. The present study tested this possibility. Participants executed a saccade to a colored disk. On half of the trials, the saccade target’s color was changed by 15° during the saccade. After each trial, participants were asked to report the color of the saccade target object by clicking on the corresponding color on a color wheel (integration block). Participants also completed two blocks where they saw the saccade target either only pre-saccadically or only post-saccadically. In the current study, when we tested the fit of the response distributions of the integration trials, finding that data were best explained by a single distribution of responses at the post-saccadic color value. We also tested whether integration trials resulted in better performance compared to the best of the pre-saccadic only (PreOnly) or post-saccadic only blocks (PostOnly). We found no evidence for cue integration: Color reports were not significantly more precise in the integration block compared to the best single performance. Together, these findings failed to show support for integration, but found support for overwriting in nearly 100% of the trials

Speak Up, Reach Out: A Suicide Education and Prevention Plan

Suicide is a caliginous topic that can be found in the headline of a magazine or in a passionate scene in a movie, but rarely is it discussed head-on due to a general discomfort and lack of knowledge. It is not a glamourous act of revenge or a testament of devotion, it is a final decision made by an individual that will, without a shadow of a doubt, intimately impact the lives of those around them as they long for answers to the questions that begin with “what if…”. The idea behind Speak Up, Reach Out is to provide members of a community with the knowledge needed to intervene in suicide completions while promoting camaraderie and unity in the pursuit to restore mental health. Through the analysis of mainstream movies, television shows, and music, in partnership with a consolidation of mental health articles from experts on suicidology, I have assembled a suicide education and prevention presentation targeted towards teenagers, young adults, parents and faculty members. The intent of this presentation is to clarify what suicide is and what it is not, dispense relevant statistics to debunk misconceptions about suicidal ideations, list warning signs and symptoms of suicidal activity, suggest proven prevention strategies, in addition to providing contact information to mental health resources for individuals, their students and their loved ones. It is essential that teens and young adults be aware that they are never alone regardless of where or who they are. In order to remind students and faculty at the University of Rhode Island of the resources available to them on campus for maintaining good mental health, this presentation has been added to the URI101 website as a tool for current and future generations to come

Mate poaching: Who is most likely to poach and why?

Scope and Method of Study: The purpose of these two studies was to determine who is more likely to mate poach and why. Study 1 was designed to identify what types of women are more likely to engage in mate poaching. It was predicted that women who possess negative relational attitudes would be more likely to engage in mate poaching behaviors. A second study was designed to investigate potential motives for mate poaching—self-esteem, appearance threats, and competition. Specifically, it was predicted that in an attempt to restore self-esteem, appearance-contingent women would be more likely to mate poach following a threat to their appearance self-esteem. Combined, these studies offer insight into the behavior of mate poaching.Findings and Conclusions: These two studies are unique because they offer novel insight into the motives and behaviors of the female mate poacher. In Study 1, I explored the question of who is most likely to mate poach by identifying a profile of a female mate poacher. Results suggest that she is most likely to be a single woman, who bases self-worth on having romantic relationships, and who would rather be "the mistress" as compared to "the wife being cheated on." She also possesses permissive sexual attitudes and other negative, relational attitudes. Furthermore, she is the woman who frequently engages in negative relational behaviors, and who believes there is nothing wrong with engaging in mate poaching tactics. These results are the first to provide such a detailed description of a female mate poacher.Study 2 attempted to explain an underlying mechanism for female mate poaching behaviors. It was predicted that an appearance threat would differentially affect appearance-contingent and appearance-noncontingent women's willingness to pursue an attached guy. Although my overall hypotheses were not supported, I argue that appearance contingency of self-worth and appearance threats may still be important underlying factors in female mate poaching, but issues with the study's prescreening and appearance threat procedures led to the lack of significant findings

Exploring depression in grandparents caring for orphans as a result of HIV/AIDS.

Masters Degree. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban.Background: In 2011 South Africa was home to 5,300,000 to 5,900,000 people living with HIV. An estimated 240,000 to 300,000 deaths due to AIDS occurred during this year, resulting in 2,000,000 to 2,300,000 orphans aged 0-17 years (UNAIDS, 2011). Grandmothers are increasingly recognised as African Heroes, as the ones looking after orphans and the sick, as primary care givers (Lewis, 2007). If depression is left untreated it can affect the grandparent’s health, as well as their ability to care for orphans. Aim: The aim of the study seeks to understand depression in grandparents as primary care givers to orphaned children and to explore factors that may contribute to depression. Method: This study used a qualitative, interpretive phenomenological research approach. Data was obtained through semi-structured focus group discussions using three focus groups with 4-5 participants. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the data. Results: Findings from the study suggest that a number of factors played a part in either precipitating or perpetuating depression in elderly caregivers of orphans. Socio economic status, namely a lack of food and income played a large role in the experience of depression. The results also point to social isolation and lack of support, as well as poor parenting skills as exacerbating factors. Conclusion: The literature review, along with the results of this study provides insights on how depression is experienced in elderly caregivers of orphans as well as contributing factors.. It is hoped that the results of this study will be useful in implementing effective interventions for grandparents of orphans in the future

Building an Equitable Surgical Training Pipeline: Leadership Exposure for the Advancement of Gender and Underrepresented Minority Equity in Surgery

Medical Schoolhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/170673/1/JessicaSantos-Parker_1.docxhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/170673/2/JessicaSantos-Parker_2.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/170673/3/JessicaSantos-Parker_3.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/170673/4/JessicaSantos-Parker_4.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/170673/5/JessicaSantos-Parker_5.pd

Assessment of stink bug feeding damage in Louisiana soybean: use of a no-choice feeding field protocol

Numerous arthropods are pests of soybean in the subtropical environment of Louisiana. The most important pod-feeding guild includes a complex of stink bugs (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae). One of these species, redbanded stink bug (Piezodorus guildinii [Westwood]), has emerged as a significant pest in Louisiana soybean. Currently, limited information is available describing soybean plant injury from this pest in the United States or compares injury relative to native stink bugs. Therefore, a field protocol was modified to assess injury to soybean seeds. Studies conducted in Louisiana during 2009-2011 used procedures to isolate the effects of infestation duration (24-96 h after infestation [HAI]) on seed injury at selected pod stages (R5-R6.5). In addition to redbanded stink bug; seed injury from brown stink bug, Euschistus servus (Say); and E. quadrator (Rolston) also was evaluated. For the infestation duration experiments, all injury to immature seed was significant between treatments (non-infested and infested pods). Injury to immature seed in R5.5 stage pods peaked (P=0.0102) by 72 HAI for redbanded stink bug. Injury to immature seed in R5 stage soybean pods peaked (P=0.0084) by 96 HAI for brown stink bug. For mature seed injury and weights significant differences (P\u3c0.0001) between non-infested and infested pods were detected for all species. A second experiment evaluated seed injury among pod stages (R5-R6.5). Immature and mature seed injury was not significantly different (P\u3e0.05) among pod stages for any species. Weights of mature seed were significantly lowest for redbanded stink bug (P=0.0177) and E. quadrator (P=0.0261) infestations during the R5 and R5.5 stages. Based upon mature seed weights similar levels of injury were produced by native infestations and caged stink bugs. Non-injured seed did not compensate for injured seed within the same pod. These results add to our understanding of stink bug-induced seed injury during selected pod stages and will allow further improvement to Louisiana soybean IPM recommendations

QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS OF SLIDE STEP DELIVERY IN HIGH SCHOOL BASEBALL PITCHERS

The purpose of this study was to quantify the kinetics, kinematics, and segmental sequentiallity during the slide step pitching motion in high school baseball pitchers. Eighteen participants [16.2 + 1.6 yrs; 76.9 + 12.2 kg; 178.2 + 7.2 cm] volunteered to participate. Kinematic data describing the kinematics and kinetics during the slide step pitching delivery were collected with an electromagnetic tracking system via the MotionMonitorTM and calculated as per ISB recommendations. Data were described at foot contact, maximum external shoulder rotation, ball release, and maximum internal shoulder rotation during the slide step delivery

A student affairs podcast as novel communication tool

Podcasts are prevalent within medical education, but not within medical student affairs. Our Office of Student Affairs (OSA) created a podcast focusing on topics relevant to the medical student experience. There have been over 20,000 downloads thus far. Survey responses and feedback have been positive and highlight the podcast’s utility as a communication tool, with 96% of respondents saying they would recommend this podcast to others. Given the mission of student affairs offices to advise, mentor, and educate students, a student affairs podcast is an exciting innovation for medical schools to consider