Psychology Senior Integrated Projects

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This collection includes Senior Integrated Projects (SIPs, formerly known as Senior Individualized Projects) completed in the Psychology Department. Abstracts are generally available to the public, but PDF files are available only to current Kalamazoo College students, faculty, and staff. If you are not a current K College student, faculty, or staff member, email us at dspace@kzoo.edu to request access to this material.

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    Purring in Cats : A Conditioned Response to Pleasant Stimuli
    (1987-11-01) Mathews, Mary; Hutchinson, Ron
    In trying to link the purr response in cats to a form of positive affect, a cat was conditioned to purr upon presentation of a specific pleasurable stimulus. Over a 10 day period a female cat was trained to purr at the presentation of tunafish. The food was presented 4 times a day at 1 hour intervals for 7 days. As expected the duration of the purr response decreased as the procedure continued. An empty food container was presented at the same time intervals for an additional 3 days and the response dropped off completely. Data suggedted the purr response was susceptible to the phenomena of habituation and extinction and that purring occurs in the presence of pleasurable stimuli. This response may be a way for the cat to express happiness or contentment it experiences as the result of pleasant events like stroking and feeding.
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    Identity in Adolescence and the Interrelationships Between Identity, Self-Esteem, Self-Consciousness, and Family Functioning
    (1988-11-01) Badin, Julio; Raible, Lyn
    First, the theoretical analysis and experimental research completed on the formation of a sense of identity are examined. Special attention is focused on both Erickson's theoretical perspectives and Marcia's system which classifies the different facets of identity development. Relevant research on the classification system is reviewed. Second, the interrelationships between identity development, self-consciousness, self-esteem, and family functioning (parent-adolescent conflict, authoritarian parent, adolescent autonomy) are examined. Identity development is divided into four statuses which are each scored in two content areas, ideological and interpersonal. College men and women were given four different measures assessing each of the four variables mentioned earlier. The findings indicate relationships between; self-esteem and family'functioning, self-esteem and identity development, self-esteem and self consciousness, self-consciousness and authoritarian parent, and between identity diffusion and both parent-adolescent conflict and authoritarian parent.
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    The Coercive Potential of Instructing Deadlocked Juries
    (1988-11-01) Ashton, Joel; Smith, Vicki
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    Separate Populations of Neurons in Area V4 Project to the Parietal and Temporal Lobes in the Macaque Monkey
    (1987-01-01) Wolfson, Amy; Grossman, Robert W., 1943-2012
    In primates, both humans and monkeys, the temporal lobes are crucial for recognizing objects, while the parietal lobes are important for the appreciation of the spatial relationships among objects. It has been shown in the monkey brain that visual area V4 projects to both the temporal and parietal lobes. The purpos.e of this study was to determine whether the same or separate populations of neurons in V4 project to the temporal and parietal lobes. The retrograde transport of. fluorescent dyes from a neuron's terminus to its cell body was used to determine the origin of the projection from V4 to these areas. The parietal and temporal lobes were injected with diamidino yellow and fast blue fluorescent dyes. Neurons within V4 were then examined for the presence of retrogradely labeled blue and yellow cells. The results of the present study showed that different rather that the same populations of neurons in area V4 project to areas within the temporal and parietal lobes. Since the temporal and parietal lobes receive input from different regions within area V4, the visual information sent to these two cortical regions from V4 is probably different.
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    Use of Behavioral Techniques in Preparing Children for Medical Procedures
    (1986-01-01) Thompson, Lorna; Supnick, Lonnie E., 1940-
    The use of applied behavioral techniques has entered the field of medicine and is known as behavioral pediatrics. The field of behavioral pediatrics covers many areas, one of which is reducing the iatrogenic behavioral and biological effects of medical care. Much research has been done in this area dealing with how to reduce the stress of medical procedures and hospitalization. A new area in this field is being developed at the Kennedy Institute in Baltimore. In order to facilitate the use of magnetic resonance imaging, a new noninvasive form of scanning, Kennedy is developing a program to teach children to lie still without the use of anesthesia. This program has been named Star Wars. Subjects were 19 inpatients at Kennedy ranging in age from 3 to 19 years with varying levels of mental functioning. Children were told to lie still and watch a movie; the movie remained on as long as no movement occurred. Results show that this is an effective method of teaching many children to lie still, but that for some children alternate methods would work better.
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