Finishing the euchromatic sequence of the human genome

The sequence of the human genome encodes the genetic instructions for human physiology, as well as rich information about human evolution. In 2001, the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium reported a draft sequence of the euchromatic portion of the human genome. Since then, the international collaboration has worked to convert this draft into a genome sequence with high accuracy and nearly complete coverage. Here, we report the result of this finishing process. The current genome sequence (Build 35) contains 2.85 billion nucleotides interrupted by only 341 gaps. It covers ∼99% of the euchromatic genome and is accurate to an error rate of ∼1 event per 100,000 bases. Many of the remaining euchromatic gaps are associated with segmental duplications and will require focused work with new methods. The near-complete sequence, the first for a vertebrate, greatly improves the precision of biological analyses of the human genome including studies of gene number, birth and death. Notably, the human enome seems to encode only 20,000-25,000 protein-coding genes. The genome sequence reported here should serve as a firm foundation for biomedical research in the decades ahead

Examining age-related differences in knowledge updating in a categorized list-learning task

Distinctive encoding is the processing of unique item-specific information in the context of more general relational or organizational information. It enhances memory performance for both younger and older adults (Smith, 2006). The current work examined how adults use distinctive encoding to aid their free recall performance and whether task experience alters subsequent use of a distinctive encoding strategy. At study participants saw a series of five-item taxonomically categorized lists (e.g., FRUITS). They were first required to generate a category-consistent label (e.g., TASTY FRUIT). In the guided condition, they were then required to generate a single word representing either (1) another category-consistent characteristic (e.g., GROWS) or (2) a characteristic that distinguished a study target from the other items (e.g., FUZZY for the target KIWI). In the self-initiated condition, participants were allowed to select an encoding strategy on their own. After test, all participants completed a second study-test phase with self-initiated strategies. Younger adults initially rated distinctive encoding as more effective, relative to relational encoding, than did older adults, and this difference persisted after test experience, indicating an age difference in learning about the relative superiority of distinctive processing. Consistent with these ratings, distinctive encoding was implemented more so by unguided younger adults than older adults in phase 1. However, both strategy use and recall performance were similar across age and study conditions in phase 2. Both older and younger adults were capable of utilizing distinctive encoding effectively following task experience, although perceptions of strategic effectiveness did not always correspond to self-initiated study behaviors.PhDCommittee Chair: Christopher Hertzog; Committee Member: Audrey Duarte; Committee Member: Paul Verhaeghen; Committee Member: Ute Fischer; Committee Member: Wendy Roger

How Do Stimulus Difficulty and Amount of Delay Impact Judgments of Learning Made by Younger and Older Adults?

Color poster with text and charts.Learning is most effective when we monitor our progress and direct our efforts toward unlearned material. The concept of being aware of our learning is referred to as metacognition, and we are interested in what causes a change in judgements of learning (JOLs). Prior research has supported the idea that JOLs are more accurate predictors of learning when there is a delay between study and judgement. Additionally, a delay of at least 30 seconds has been found to increase the accuracy of JOLs. The delayed JOL effect is our primary focus, and in this study we investigated whether there is a change in accuracy between immediate JOLs and JOLs taken after either a 20-, 40-, or 60-second delay. UWEC undergraduates aged 18-25 years and “workers” on Amazon’s Mechanical Turk aged 57 years and older were compared in terms of their performance on a task administered using Qualtrics online survey software. They completed a paired-associate task, wherein individual paired-associates (e.g. APPLECART) were studied. For nonzero delays, study was followed by a distractor task involving the mental rotation of 3-D objects, where participants decided whether two objects were identical when one object may be slightly rotated. The normative difficulty of paired-associates was also manipulated within-subjects; pairs were either normatively easy, moderate, or difficult-to-learn. We hypothesized that JOLs would decrease in response to longer delays and greater difficulty. We also predicted that JOLs would decrease most following a 60-second delay in comparison to no delay and when comparing normatively easy and difficult-to-learn stimuli. Difficulty of stimuli was also expected to impact cued-recall performance more than size of delay. Lastly, we anticipated similar memory monitoring accuracy for younger and older adults in terms of both JOLs and post-test confidence judgements (CJs).University of Wisconsin--Eau Claire Office of Research and Sponsored Program

Younger and Older Adult Perceptions of Health-Related Risk

Color poster with text, images, charts, and graphs.Older adults (OA) are more likely to experience hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, and cardiovascular disease than are younger adults (YA). Likewise, older persons also often engage in more health preservation efforts (e.g. following a healthy diet and exercising). Although these patterns of behavior may lead to the conclusion that older adults perceive a larger risk toward their health than do younger adults, risk perception varies greatly—especially when predicting personal susceptibility to future illness. The current study used measures of risk perception and participant reports of physical activity to compare younger and older adults’ perception accuracy. We also examined the role of age-based stereotype threat in risk perceptions. If older adults are reminded of their age and their greater susceptibility to future illness due to their age, their mindset may be altered such that they experience an increased perception of disease-related risk compared to those in a control condition. We therefore hypothesize that older adults will report an overall increased perception of disease related risk, increased action self-efficacy, and greater motivation for health preservation than will younger adults, and this difference will be larger following older adults’ exposure to our age-based stereotype threat manipulation.University of Wisconsin--Eau Claire Office of Research and Sponsored Program

Examining a Potential Alcohol-Based Stereotype Threat on Memory Performance in Younger and Older Adults

Color poster with text, charts, and graphs.The activation of age-based stereotypes associated with cognitive decline has been shown too negatively impact the memory performance of older adults relative to conditions in which those stereotypes are not activated (Barber & Mather, 2014). The current study is an expansion of memory-based stereotype threat research in older populations targeting a possible alcohol-based threat on episodic memory performance assessed via the Deese-Roediger-McDermott (DRM) false memory task (Roediger & McDermott, 1995). Although this effect has been shown to impact younger adults’ inhibitory control (Pennington, Qureshi, Monk, & Heim, 2016), no studies have yet examined its impact on memory performance, and no studies have examined this phenomenon in older adults. Results are discussed in terms of the relative impact of each type of threat on memory performance within each age group.University of Wisconsin--Eau Claire Office of Research and Sponsored Program

How Does Stimulus Difficulty Impact Study Time Allocation in Younger Adults?

Color poster with text and tables.We expect to find relationships between item-specific restudy time and (1) a person’s memory of their past test performance (a recollection of getting an answer correct or incorrect previously); (2) participants’ impressions of item difficulty following an initial study attempt; (3) objective memory accuracy during an initial test (prior to restudy); (4) subjective memory test confidence; (5) objective response times to test stimuli; and (6) subjective response time estimates (i.e., how fast they think they responded to test questions).UW-Eau Claire Blugold Fellowship Program; University of Wisconsin--Eau Claire Office of Research and Sponsored Program

How Does Stimulus Difficulty Affect Study Time Allocation in Younger Adults?

Color poster with text and tables.Study time (ST) is defined as the amount of time (in seconds) an individual spends in the pursuit of learning new information. Decisions related to study time allocation reflect a person’s learning goals and perceptions of current performance. These perceptions, in turn, can potentially be influenced by multiple sources of information about one’s current state of learning, which are called metacognitive cues. Prior research has emphasized the powerful role of one cue, memory for past test (MPT), on subsequent learning behaviors. MPT reflects one’s remembrance of prior memory success or failure during a test. Newer research supports the roles of other metacognitive cues on ST in addition to that of MPT,7 such as: (1) assessments of item difficulty made after an initial study opportunity, (2) subjective memory response confidence during the first test, (3) objective response times during the first test, and (4) subjective response time estimates (how fast they think they responded to test questions). Previous research on ST allocation used stimuli of similar difficulty. The current work used both easy- and difficult-to-learn stimuli to clarify the relative importance of different metacognitive cues on ST decisions. We hypothesized that the relative impact of metacognitive cues on ST would differ such that some cues would be more predictive of study time than others (consistent with prior work) and these relative weights would also differ as a function of stimulus difficulty (novel to the current work).University of Wisconsin--Eau Claire Office of Research and Sponsored Program

How Do Traditional and Non-Traditional Students at UW-Eau Claire View School Policies Related to Class Performance?

Color poster with text, charts, and graphs.The goal of the current exploratory study was to become better informed about the potential disparities that exist between traditional and non-traditional students in terms of university and classroom policies implemented on campus. For example, attendance policies may place non-traditional students at a disadvantage given their often greater traveling distance.Blugold Commitment Differential Tuition Funds; University of Wisconsin--Eau Claire Office of Research and Sponsored Program

Assessing Students' Perceptions of the University Counseling Center : Through Video Presentation

Color poster with text and graphs.The present study investigated if student perceptions of university counseling services became more positive after viewing a video where fellow students shared their experiences with counseling services and if the associated perception change is stronger when the video is viewed in-person instead of online. It has been recognized that over 75% of the people in the United States who live with a mental illness do not seek help from a professional. This is especially concerning when we recognize that 75% percent of mental illnesses are diagnosed by the age of twenty‐four, which is when many college students are graduating. It has also been shown that the students who experience the most stress are also the least likely to utilize counseling services. We expect that a video that showcases fellow students’ positive experiences with counseling services will aid in breaking down some of the barriers related to stigma and under‐utilization of resources. It has been demonstrated that a video could help change attitudes surrounding counseling services, especially if the video is viewed repeatedly. However, past research has not examined if there was a difference between participants who watched the video online or in‐person. We expect that there will be, and those who view the video in‐person will experience a stronger change in positive perceptions of counseling services.University of Wisconsin--Eau Claire Office of Research and Sponsored Program

Using Intel’s Realsense Camera to Detect Emotion in Facial Expressions : A Validity Study

Color poster with text and images.Most researchers recognize six universal, basic human emotions: surprise, fear, disgust, anger, happiness and sadness (Busso et al., 2004). Researchers typically identify emotions through the coding of facial markers, speech (e.g., Busso et al., 2004), and physiological features (e.g., heart rate, skin resistance, blood pressure; e.g., Leon et al., 2007). However, these techniques require a substantial investment of time and effort. The current work examined the utility of Intel’s (2015) RealSense USB PC camera and accompanying software as a complement or replacement for these more intensive techniques. If the RealSense camera offers valid, reliable, and efficient ratings of participants’ facial expressions, current emotion research may be simplified and new research areas may more easily include emotional data.University of Wisconsin--Eau Claire Office of Research and Sponsored Program