Using Interactive 3D Software to Create Manipulatable Human Figures for Body Perception Research

The poster presents the use of the DAZ3D program as a measurement tool for body size perception. When studying body schema, researchers often rely on human figure comparisons to examine body size perceptions. Often these figures are two-dimensional drawings or photos of human bodies. However, human bodies are three-dimensional. Previous research has shown the advantage of using three-dimensional changeable figures in assessing body size perception (Crossley, Cornelissen, & Tovee, 2012). We chose the DAZ3D program over other options (e.g., Body Visualizer) because it allows the user to rotate the figure in space (both depth and plane), convert manipulated figure measures to real life metrics (e.g., inches or centimeters), input real life metrics to create figures, and manipulate over 50 parameters of measurement consisting of both length and circumference. The downside to DAZ3D is that it can be confusing to set up and use. We explain how to use DAZ3D software effectively for use in body size perception research. We had participants use the DAZ3D software to represent their own body, allowing them to manipulate 17 body measurements. Our data suggests that participants can easily use the program and accurately represent their body size (their figure was compared to real life body measurements). Additionally, because DAZ3D has the ability to manipulate almost all aspects of the human figure (including parameters such as muscle mass), researchers will be able to make a more fine-grained analysis of distortions in body perception in both men and women

Reducing Stigma toward the Transgender Community: An Evaluation of a Humanizing and Perspective-Taking Intervention

Transgender (TG) individuals are an understudied group at high risk of experiencing discrimination and associated adverse mental health outcomes (IOM, 2011). Although many studies demonstrate that contact reduces negative attitudes toward out-groups, few studies have examined the link between contact and attitudes toward the TG community (Hill & Willoughby, 2005; Walchet al., 2012). This study represents one of the first attempts to understand how to effectively reduce stigma toward the TG community. Results indicate that education alone is not enough to change attitudes; in fact, there is some evidence that associating transgenderism with psychopathology may heighten stigma. Consistent with prior research on stigma towards the mentally ill, the current study suggests that both exposure to intimate media depictions of the “other” (Reinke et al., 2004) and perspective-taking (Mann & Himelein, 2008) could strengthen educational campaigns designed to combat stigma

The Influence of Sexual Assault and Fear of Crime on Judgments of Rational Discrimination

Female undergraduates rated the rationality of using gender stereotypes in several potentially dangerous situations. We tested whether sexual assault history and fear of crime moderated perceptions of the use of gender stereotypes in public and private settings. Primary results revealed differences in ratings among victims and nonvictims of sexual assault as a function of type of setting. Additionally, fear of crime increased ratings of rationality in nighttime public situations. The implications of these results are discussed in the context of the “rational discrimination” phenomenon (Khan & Lambert, 2001)

Effects of Body Shape on Literal Objectification: When Ideal May Be Less Than Ideal

Objectification, or the tendency to adopt an externalized view of self/other, is a ubiquitous process disproportionately affecting women (Fredrickson & Roberts, 1997). Recent work has examined literal objectification, defined as “any outcome in which a person is perceived as, or behaves, objectlike, relative to humanlike” (Heflick & Goldenberg, 2014, p. 225). Focusing on women’s physical appearance heightens literal objectification, including reduced perceptions of warmth, competence, and morality (Heflick et al., 2011). We investigated whether participants’ ratings of literal objectification vary as a function of body type. Seventy-one college women (Mage = 19.23) viewed three photos of women, manipulated to depict low, average, and high ideal body shapes. Participants rated the degree to which each woman possessed competence, warmth and morality, and their desire to collaborate on a group project with them. Average images were rated as significantly higher on warmth, morality, and collaboration desirability than high ideal and low ideal images, and marginally more competent than high ideal images. High ideal images were rated as significantly lower on warmth and marginally lower on collaboration desirability than low ideal images. Future research should extend this work to evaluate behavioral manifestations of literal objectification and explore what other factors might moderate these effects

Binding Free Energy Landscape of Domain-Peptide Interactions

Peptide recognition domains (PRDs) are ubiquitous protein domains which mediate large numbers of protein interactions in the cell. How these PRDs are able to recognize peptide sequences in a rapid and specific manner is incompletely understood. We explore the peptide binding process of PDZ domains, a large PRD family, from an equilibrium perspective using an all-atom Monte Carlo (MC) approach. Our focus is two different PDZ domains representing two major PDZ classes, I and II. For both domains, a binding free energy surface with a strong bias toward the native bound state is found. Moreover, both domains exhibit a binding process in which the peptides are mostly either bound at the PDZ binding pocket or else interact little with the domain surface. Consistent with this, various binding observables show a temperature dependence well described by a simple two-state model. We also find important differences in the details between the two domains. While both domains exhibit well-defined binding free energy barriers, the class I barrier is significantly weaker than the one for class II. To probe this issue further, we apply our method to a PDZ domain with dual specificity for class I and II peptides, and find an analogous difference in their binding free energy barriers. Lastly, we perform a large number of fixed-temperature MC kinetics trajectories under binding conditions. These trajectories reveal significantly slower binding dynamics for the class II domain relative to class I. Our combined results are consistent with a binding mechanism in which the peptide C terminal residue binds in an initial, rate-limiting step

Emojis Mean What?

Created in Japan in the late 1990s, emojis have gained popularity in text communication. Emojis are often added to text messages to give additional information or emphasis. However, if the emoji is unknown, missed, or misinterpreted, it can lead to confusion. Dr. Kay Livesay (associate professor of psychology at Linfield College) examines our understanding of the meanings of emojis and how they change our understanding of text communication

Sabbatical Leave Report

Created in Japan in the late 1990s (Davis & Edberg, 2015), emoji have recently been gaining popularity in text communication. Emoji evolved from emoticons (e.g., ;) ) but are far more varied and nuanced. Some have argued that emoji (like emoticons) emphasize the affect (e.g., humor, sadness, sarcasm) in a text communication (Stark & Crawford, 2015). However, the many factors that influence the interpretation of an emoji and its influence on text communication is not clear. Understanding emoji semantics is an important first step in understanding the influence emoji have on text communication. Research has previously defined emoji, however the total number of people interpreting any one emoji was small and they were primarily interested in cross-platform misconstrual (Miller et al., 2016). Our research focuses on the semantic meaning of emoji in isolation, followed by the influence these emoji have in context. Our pilot study had 100 participants (38% male, 62% female) interpret 42 popular emoji. We first had them describe the emoji and then asked them to briefly state what the emoji expressed to them. From these open-ended data we created a second experiment containing a multiple-choice survey asking new participants to choose which of five meanings best expresses a particular emoji. Additionally, we asked participants to rate how positive or negative the emoji was to them. The current data show that, like words, some emoji have very specific semantic representations while others are more ambiguous. These semantic representations are influenced by age and gender

The Influence of Verbal Ability on Mediated Priming

A set of analyses are presented that replicate the mediated priming effect (e.g., lion-stripes) using a naming latency task, and demonstrate that the mediated priming effect is influenced by individual differences in sensitivity to this priming effect. Previous research (Livesay & Burgess, 1998) has shown that stimulus differences are a major factor in whether or not mediated priming is obtained. The present research explores the influence of verbal ability on this effect. The primary finding is that individuals with low verbal ability are not sensitive to mediated word relationships, whereas, individuals with high verbal ability manifest a robust mediated priming effec