High levels of emotional and behavioral problems have been reported in preschool-aged Mexican-American children, the fastest growing minority population in the US. Preschool-aged children that experience emotional and behavioral problems are more like . . .

Previous research has identified that resilience, or the ability to utilize protective factors, effectively buffers the detrimental effects of stress. While the psychological pathways for the protective effect of resilience against the deleterious eff . . .

There is a prevailing strong social stereotype that men, not women, belong in computer science. These negative implicit associations between computer science and females may be enough to deter women from pursuing the field. Previous research has exami . . .

Marijuana is the number one illicit substance used in the United States, particularly among college age adolescents. Learning is paramount to college success, and marijuana use has known negative effects on cognitive performance, which could adversely . . .

Abstract Over the last 50 years, processed foods have contributed to the rise in incidence of common preventable diseases. There is a need for interventions to reduce American intake of processed foods. Social norms can influence a wide variety of beh . . .

There is an increasing awareness of the public health dangers posed by the consumption of beverages with added sugar. The present experiment was the first to examine the efficacy of manipulating the three primary constructs of the Theory of Planned Be . . .

Flow states are positive and productive periods that leave those who experience them feeling fulfilled, accomplished, and proud. It may be possible to increase positive feelings and experiences while at work by facilitating flow state achievement. The . . .

Children with severe disabilities are often socially excluded and stigmatized; this can lead to negative physical, emotional, and behavioral outcomes. Dehumanization is one type of stigma people with disabilities face and is common in medical practice . . .

Per the infant programming hypothesis, stressors occurring during the prenatal period may influence the development of the fetus resulting in long-lasting or permanent effects. Exposure to prenatal stress may negatively affect the maternal hypothalami . . .

Mindfulness is defined as a state of non-judgmental awareness with focus on the present moment. Mindfulness has been shown to reduce reactivity to emotional stimuli, stimuli that are perceived as threatening, and stimuli associated with personal biase . . .

Sleep disturbances are widely prevalent and represent a significant health problem in the general population. Minorities sleep a significantly less amount of time than Caucasians. Given that Latinos are the largest ethnic minority in the U.S., it is i . . .

California ground squirrels (CGS) have evolved a repertoire of mechanisms to defend against rattlesnakes and gopher snakes. A putative antipredator behavior known as snake scent application (SSA), in which a squirrel chews and rubs materials from a sn . . .

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most common cause and commonly diagnosed form of dementia, and it remains the sixth leading cause of death in the United States. Age is the best predictor of AD, however, a family history of AD (+FH) is an established r . . .

Latinos experience obesity at higher rates than their white counterparts, but the reasons for this disparity are unknown. Latinos, particularly those of Mexican descent, are one of the fastest growing ethnic groups in the United States today; therefor . . .

Stressful events at work are commonplace and can decrease employee wellbeing and performance. Some aspects of workplace environments, such as plants and sunlight, have been demonstrated to have a positive effect on health, wellbeing, and productivity. . . .

Prenatal infection is an early life-disturbance that increases the risk for poor mental health in adulthood. Early pregnancy is a critical period for fetal brain development and infection during this period may play a role in the etiology of many neur . . .

Discerning the pro- or antisocial traits of social partners is a complex, yet essential skill. When choosing social partners, children must understand that people may have laudable qualities in one domain but lack them in another. For example, a frien . . .

Eyewitnesses exposed to misleading post-event information often unknowingly incorporate false information into their testimony. The misinformation paradigm is used to study false memories by presenting participants with information about a crime, prov . . .

Postpartum depression (PPD) is a debilitating mental disorder that affects approximately 15% of all women after childbirth. PPD is disruptive to maternal care and has negative health consequences for both mothers and infants. Stress and hormonal chang . . .

There is empirical support for the efficacy of enrichment in improving health and well-being in laboratory, agricultural, and zoo settings. However, little research has been done on the possible value of enrichment in facilitating successful reintrodu . . .

Historically, hallucinations have been labeled only as symptoms of clinical disorders; however, research over the past few decades has suggested hallucinations can occur in individuals without a clinical diagnosis. Previous studies have shown that as . . .

Applied social psychology can aid the increasing need to improve water demand management interventions by developing strategies that target impactful behaviors and populations. This study aimed to encourage commitment-making and long-term water reduct . . .

Social anxiety often emerges early in childhood, persists over time, and is associated with impairment in functioning. However, early social inhibition is normative in young children. More information is needed to determine when these developmentally . . .

Fifty-two percent of women report experiencing anxiety symptoms while pregnant. Experiencing anxiety during pregnancy is associated with adverse prenatal and birth outcomes for mothers and children. Mexican American women experience unique psychosocia . . .

Children rely heavily on other individuals for information about the world. Learning from others allows children to gain information quickly, yet can also leave them vulnerable to misinformation and deceit. Thus, it is vital that children learn to dis . . .

It is estimated that more than 3 million farmworkers residing in the United States (National Center for Farmworker Health, 2012) from which nearly 70% of all hired farmworkers (e.g., crop workers and nursery workers) are Mexican immigrants (United Sta . . .

Evidence suggests that internalizing behaviors (e.g., anxiety, irritability, sadness) emerge early in childhood. However, very few researchers have investigated these behaviors in vulnerable preschool-aged (3-6-year-old) children from Mexican/Mexican . . .

Law enforcement often uses a witness’s confidence in identification as an indicator of accuracy. This is due to the seemingly positive relationship found between self-reported confidence and accuracy in which those who are more confident in their iden . . .

Over the last decade, a number of studies have demonstrated that ketamine has immediate and long-lasting antidepressant effects in humans and rodent models of depression. However, our lab and others have been unable to replicate these effects using th . . .

Prior research has shown that training in mindfulness may lead to outcomes relevant to positive emotional and physiological health. Despite growing evidence for pain and stress modulation, previous research has primarily investigated the effects of ge . . .

Engagement in physical activity or exercise is beneficial for many different aspects of health. Cognitive health is one area in particular that has shown considerable benefits from exercise. Acute exercise paradigms have more recently been used and fo . . .

An increasingly popular form of social media is sexting, the sending/receiving of sexually explicit texts and photos. Whereas this practice has led to many negative outcomes for public figures and young people, few studies have considered the role tha . . .

Three components of executive function (EF) include shifting, updating working memory, and inhibition. EF is important in academic and work settings, as well as everyday activities. Among other training programs, video games have been shown to enhance . . .

Mother-offspring interactions shape the development of the new offspring. Therefore, it is important to study the behavior of the mother during the postpartum period and what drives her to care for her young. Mothers in the postpartum period are in a . . .

Previous research has identified ethnic and gender differences in pain, suggesting that there is an unequal burden of pain for some groups, including women. Low pain tolerance has been linked to mental health issues such as addictive behaviors and dep . . .

Limited data are available on the long-term effect that an encounter with a predator has on its potential prey. Anecdotal reports from field research indicate that even unsuccessful attacks by predators on callitrichids can have long-lasting effects. . . .

This study compared 27 depressed patients and 27 control participants on the lateralization of prosodic and linguistic comprehension using a dichotic listening task. The comprehension of linguistic material is a left hemisphere process, whereas the co . . .

Research has shown that females tend to suffer from eating disorders more than males and athletes more than non-athletes, but literature on the factors that put female athletes at risk is limited. The purpose of this study was to examine several possi . . .

The relationship between temperament, specifically sociability, and how children use language to communicate during middle childhood and adolescence was examined among 66 pairs of siblings, including monozygotic twins, dizygotic twins, and full siblin . . .

This study was carried out to better understand differences in the practice of breast selfexamination (BSE) by Latinas and Caucasian-American women. Current estimates from the American Cancer Society (ACS) place Latinas at much greater risk for morbid . . .

The study of human reasoning has had an extensive history. From the time of Aristotle to the present, philosophers and psychologists have argued about the 'rationality' of man. For the past thirty years, the Wason selection task has been a major deduc . . .

Behavioral scientists have studied and created programs using various types of interventions aimed at promoting pro-environmental behavior, including reducing household electricity consumption. Guided by Matthies’ (2005) heuristic model of environment . . .

Like other species of primates, common marmosets (Callithrix jacchus) produce characteristic vocalizations when they confront threatening situations. For example, when intensely mobbing a predator, marmosets produced long series of “tsik” calls follow . . .

American society is inundated with images of sexuality. Self-objectification (SO) can be defined as the internalization of the sexualized view that society has of a female. Sexual objectification occurs when one is viewed and treated as a body. Object . . .

Men perform better than women on tasks requiring mental rotation. Prior research has suggested that the sex differences may be due to differential use of strategies, with men relying on visual-spatial strategies and women relying on verbal strategies. . . .

Two experiments were conducted to test two hypotheses regarding detection of and responses to snake scent gland exudates by two groups of captive Geo:ffioy' s marmosets ( Callithrix geoffroyi) housed at the Center for Reproduction of Endangered Specie . . .

Mental toughness is having an inner focus and commitment to rise above any challenges or obstacles that are faced in times of adversity. Theoretically, those who possess a high degree of mental toughness should be able to perform better because they a . . .

This thesis examines the moderating role of personal norms and message credibility on the effectiveness of persuasive normative messages. It was hypothesized that personal norms about energy conservation would moderate the effectiveness of normative m . . .

What was once thought to be the traditional nuclear family, where the husband works and the wife cares for the home and children, is a model for few families in the 21st century. Increased numbers of women in the workforce, dual earner couples, and si . . .

Mixed research findings have led to a debate regarding the effect ofNMDA receptor antagonists on opiate analgesia. NMDA antagonists have been found to enhance, inhibit or to have no effect on opiate analgesia. Additionally, enhancement has been found . . .