Psychological mechanisms responsible for the moderating effects of need for cognition on attractiveness stereotyping

This thesis focuses on the psychological mechanisms responsible for the moderating role of need for cognition (NFC) in attractiveness stereotyping. Attractiveness stereotyping refers to the tendency to attribute more positive characteristics to attractive than to unattractive individuals. Recent research has found that people high in NFC show less of this attractiveness bias. The present research used two approaches to test the hypothesis that NFC moderates the bias because persons higher in NFC have greater motivation and ability to engage in systematic thought processes. First it included measures to assess the types of thoughts that participants high and low in NFC engaged in while rating attractive and unattractive individuals. Second. it included experimental manipulations to vary participants‘ motivation and ability to think systematically when rating a target person. Results of the thought measures were generally consistent with the hypotheses. however. the experimental manipulations produced several unexpected findings

Event Related Electrical Potentials Recorded From The Brain Prior To The Initiation Of Speech

This research will explore the neurologic pathways that occur before the initiation of speech. The basis for this project and the research component will include the electrical potentials along the speech production pathway. The subjects will be given a target consonant-vowel (CV), and their speech production will be recorded simultaneously with their neural activity. We will be attempting to record the electrical signals from the cortex. Subjects will be neurotypical. Benefits of this research will include an increased understanding of normal neuro-electrical properties of the speech production pathway. The clinical benefit will include understanding variations from the norm with application to neuro-motor disorders

Large-Scale User Modeling with Recurrent Neural Networks for Music Discovery on Multiple Time Scales

The amount of content on online music streaming platforms is immense, and most users only access a tiny fraction of this content. Recommender systems are the application of choice to open up the collection to these users. Collaborative filtering has the disadvantage that it relies on explicit ratings, which are often unavailable, and generally disregards the temporal nature of music consumption. On the other hand, item co-occurrence algorithms, such as the recently introduced word2vec-based recommenders, are typically left without an effective user representation. In this paper, we present a new approach to model users through recurrent neural networks by sequentially processing consumed items, represented by any type of embeddings and other context features. This way we obtain semantically rich user representations, which capture a user's musical taste over time. Our experimental analysis on large-scale user data shows that our model can be used to predict future songs a user will likely listen to, both in the short and long term.Comment: Author pre-print version, 20 pages, 6 figures, 4 table

Effect of Carbon Supplementation on Denitrifying Bacteria in Woodchip Bioreactors

California’s agricultural sector is fundamental to the state’s economic growth and responsible for supplying a large portion of the country’s produce. An abundance of nutrient-rich irrigation is required to meet these high demands, and the resultant agricultural effluent is a source of increased nutrient content in California’s watershed and groundwater systems. This promotes eutrophication, and negatively impacts local ecosystems and human health. Effective remediation of waterways using bacteria in woodchip bioreactors can be achieved by maintaining the system within ideal conditions for productivity of the microbial populations. Bioreactor systems used wood chips to provide both substrate and a carbon source, and relied on insulated structures to maintain temperatures within the active range of the mesophilic bacteria. Corn starch was introduced to one system as a carbon supplement, as results had indicated the system was carbon-limited. A second bioreactor system acted as a control with no carbon supplement. Single pass and recirculatory experiments were conducted over a period of six weeks. More denitrification occurred in the experimental bioreactor than the control, suggesting corn starch serves as a viable carbon supplement to facilitate the metabolic processes of denitrifying bacteria

Effects of laboratory salmon louse infection on mortality, growth, and sexual maturation in Atlantic salmon

Elevated salmon louse infection pressure generated by salmon farming represents a major threat for wild Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar). This study explored the effect of salmon lice on mortality, and body and gonad growth in F1 wild Atlantic salmon. Mature males (jacks) and immature fish were either infected with two different louse infection intensities (LIIs, 0.08 or 0.35 lice g−1) or kept as uninfected controls. Fish maturation was thereafter environmentally stimulated in seawater, followed by transfer to freshwater for 38 d to simulate river ascendance. No females matured, while 99% of the initially immature males started puberty. Jacks had high, and immature and maturing fish low, seawater mortality, independent of lice. The parasites had an LII-dependent negative effect on growth in length, weight, and condition factor in seawater. In freshwater, after the lice had detached, fish that were previously infected in seawater had reduced growth in length but not weight when compared to the uninfected control. The parasites did not affect relative gonad size in any fish phenotypes. The present results show that Atlantic salmon has a complex, and unexplored, regulation of growth when recovering from lice infection under laboratory settings. Further, the results suggest that possible negative effects of salmon louse on reproductive success in Atlantic salmon is most likely governed by the reduced body size and condition. However, further work on possible effects of salmon louse on semen quality is encouraged.publishedVersio

Telling a trusted adult: Factors associated with the likelihood of disclosing child sexual abuse prior to and during a forensic interview

Background: Many child sexual abuse (CSA) survivors delay or withhold disclosure of their abuse, even when presenting for formal investigation interviews. Objective: This study examined factors that relate to the CSA disclosure process. Participants and Settings: Participants were CSA victims (N = 1,732) presenting to a Child Advocacy Center (CAC) for a forensic interview. Method: We tested a structural model to predict disclosure before and during a forensic interview using secondary data analysis. Results: Youth were less likely to disclose before a forensic interview if they witnessed domestic violence (β = -.233, p \u3c .05). Caregivers were less likely to believe the abuse allegation if the alleged perpetrator resided in the home β = -.386, p \u3c .05) and more likely to believe if the youth made a prior disclosure (β = .286, p \u3c .05). Youth were more likely to disclose during the forensic interview if they were older (β=.388, p \u3c .05), if the alleged perpetrator resided in their home (β=.209, p \u3c .05), if they disclosed prior (β=.254, p \u3c .05), and if their caregiver believed the allegation (β=.213, p \u3c . 05). The alleged perpetrator residing in the youth’s home (β=-0.082, p\u3c.05) and making a prior disclosure (β=0.060, p\u3c.05) were both indirectly associated with forensic interview disclosure through caregiver belief. Conclusions: Findings highlight the importance of the family context and caregiver belief in the disclosure process for youth involved in formal CSA investigations

Inquiries into Epistemologies and Ethics: Collaborative Knowledge Production in Cross-Generational Research

Die Autorinnen (Kulturanthropologinnen) erläutern die Produktivität des Zusammenspiels unterschiedlicher Wissenshorizonte und Kompetenzen in der Wissensproduktion im Rahmen von 'Studios'. Das wichtigste Prinzip ist der Austausch über die Erkenntnisse und Vorgehensweisen; im Diskurs werden Ideen formuliert, weiterentwickelt und überprüft. Die Autor*innen führen einige konkrete, erfolgreiche Projekte des Instituts auf, in denen Studierende, Nachwuchswissenschaftler*innen und Hochschullehrer*innen gemeinsam Themen erarbeitet haben. Es wird deutlich, dass sich aus dem Gesprächsbedarf und den sich daraus entwickelnden Auseinandersetzungen eine Dynamik entwickelt. Sie zeigen, dass über die Multiperspektivität die Komplexität der Forschungsgegenstände Berücksichtigung findet.The authors (cultural anthropologists) explain the efficacy of the combination of a variety of knowledge backgrounds and competences in the production of knowledge. The most important principle of the 'Studios' is the exchange of insights and procedures; ideas are being formulated, developed further and tested in discourse. The authors refer to several successful projects that have been carried out at the institute for which students, young researchers and senior researchers have concerted their input. It becomes clear that the need to communicate and the debates evolving from that develop a productive dynamism. The autors show that the multi-perspectivity and the complexity of the research objects are being addressed in these larger and heterogeneous research groups

Inquiries into Epistemologies and Ethics: Collaborative Knowledge Production in Cross-Generational Research

Die Kulturanthropologinnen Lina Franken, Lara Hansen, Samantha Lutz, Teresa Stumpf, Alejandra Tijerina García und Gertraud Koch erläutern die Produktivität des Zusammenspiels unterschiedlicher Wissenshorizonte und Kompetenzen in der Wissensproduktion im Rahmen von 'Studios'. Das wichtigste Prinzip ist der Austausch über die Erkenntnisse und Vorgehensweisen; im Diskurs werden Ideen formuliert, weiterentwickelt und überprüft. Die Autor*innen führen einige konkrete, erfolgreiche Projekte des Instituts auf, in denen Studierende, Nachwuchswissenschaftler*innen und Hochschullehrer*innen gemeinsam Themen erarbeitet haben. Es wird deutlich, dass sich aus dem Gesprächsbedarf und den sich daraus entwickelnden Auseinandersetzungen eine Dynamik entwickelt. Sie zeigen, dass über die Multiperspektivität die Komplexität der Forschungsgegenstände Berücksichtigung findet. Cultural anthropologists Lina Franken, Lara Hansen, Samantha Lutz, Teresa Stumpf, Alejandra Tijerina García and Gertraud Koch explain the efficacy of the combination of a variety of knowledge backgrounds and competences in the production of knowledge. The most important principle of the 'Studios' is the exchange of insights and procedures; ideas are being formulated, developed further and tested in discourse. The authors refer to several successful projects that have been carried out at the institute for which students, young researchers and senior researchers have concerted their input. It becomes clear that the need to communicate and the debates evolving from that develop a productive dynamism. The autors show that the multi-perspectivity and the complexity of the research objects are being addressed in these larger and heterogeneous research groups