Category: Students

Reading Comprehension and Cognition Lab – What are they up to?

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I’m happy to welcome Dr. Jennifer Steigler-Balfour’s comments about the work that she and her students are doing here in the Psychology Department. Let’s see what they are up to…

Nicole and Courtney present their work at the Eastern Psychological Association conference

Our Reading Comprehension and Cognition (RCC) lab is dedicated to gaining a deeper understanding of how people encode, store, and retrieve information from memory. Research conducted in the lab aims to identify ways to optimize the process of learning, especially in educational settings.

Led by Jennifer Stiegler-Balfour, Ph.D. and Associate Professor and Psychology Program coordinator in the Department of Psychology, the RCC lab is currently studying the impacts of technology devices such as tablets and computers on reading speed and comprehension as it compares to printed text. Additionally, Dr. Stiegler-Balfour and her team are exploring how reading comprehension and speed varies with text type (e.g. a biology textbook vs. a ‘summer’ novel) across  reading mediums (e.g. e-reader vs. paper), and how different standardized reading tests predict reading outcomes across text types.

Undergraduate students play an important role in lab operations, study facilitation and the presentation of research at conferences and symposiums. For the 2018/2019 academic year, there are six undergraduate students working with Dr. Stiegler-Balfour: Courtney Parent, Psychology ’19; Mark Stubbs, Psychology ’19; Genna Companatico, Psychology ’20; Nicole Martin, Psychology with a minor in Neuroscience and Special Education; Aubrey Sahouria, Neuroscience ’22; and Ellie Leighton, Psychology ‘Dec. 18.

Two members of the RCC lab team – Courtney Parent and Nicole Martin — recently presented research conducted with Dr. Stiegler-Balfour at the 90th annual Eastern Psychological Association (EPA) meeting in New York City, NY (February 28 – March 1, 2019).  EPA is the oldest regional Psychological Association in the U.S. and serves to advance the science and profession of psychology through the dissemination of professional information about the field.

Courtney presented research conducted with Dr. Stiegler-Balfour on reading performance across text types in standardized reading tests. The study is the first to show that there are significant correlations among three different standardized reading comprehension assessments and shed light onto which standardized tests are better suited for assessing narrative versus expository text. The results also provide further evidence that reading comprehension ability can be significantly predicted from general working memory capacity and metacognitive skills. From Courtney’s perspective, the experience at EPA was invaluable:

“The experiences from EPA were unforgettable! Through attendance of this conference, I learned so much from the talks and poster sessions. It was so inspiring to see so many people who were passionate about psychology and their work in the field. Not only did I have the opportunity to attend talks, I was able to present our research in the Reading Comprehension and Cognition Lab to faculty members and fellow students attending the conference, which helps to further my effective public speaking skills. The knowledge and experience I’ve gained from EPA will carry with me in the future throughout my graduate career, and for that, I am forever thankful.”

Nicole’s presentation was research conducted together with Ellie Leighton and Dr. Stiegler-Balfour on the influence of typographical features of e-readers on reading comprehension. The results from this study indicate that readers of all skill levels can read and comprehend narrative passages on digital mediums, but that reading on a Kindle may be less efficient than reading on paper because of an increase in reading time. Their findings also suggest that sans serif fonts may be optimal for reading on digital devices.

Nicole’s EPA experience mirrored that of her fellow lab team member.

“Being able to attend EPA was an amazing opportunity. I was incredibly lucky to be able to go. At the conference, I attended talks on neurological development, the social psychology involved in politics, and how to get into graduate school. I was able to talk to many different people, all of whom were so interested in our research on how font affects reading comprehension. As a sophomore, I know I am so lucky to have had the opportunity to present at a conference and was so glad I was able to attend!”

Funding for students’ conference registration and travel was made possible by the Office of Research and Scholarship and UNE’s PSI CHI Chapter.  

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Thanks to Dr. Stiegler-Balfour, Courtney, and Nicole for this information about their work!

What Do Old Pill Bottles and Plastic Beads have to Do With Aging?

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A guest post by Dr. Christina Leclerc, Associate Lecturer in the Department of Psychology

What do old pill bottles and plastic beads have to do with aging? A lot actually if you were in my Psychology of Aging (PSY 325) class a few weeks ago.  Students in my class had a chance to take part in a fully immersive experience about what it feels like to manage multiple medications.

During our coverage of the most common issues related to health in aging, the students learned that the use of both prescription and over-the-counter medications is one of the most important health issues faced by older adults today.  Older adults take more medications on average than any other age group, with older adults prescribed about 50% of all drugs in the United States.  When you include supplements, vitamins, and over-the-counter drugs, that can mean about six to seven medications per older adult in the population.  That is a lot of pills to manage, each with their own set of safety information, instructions for use, and risks of side effects.    

While the explosion of new prescription and over-the-counter medications over the past few decades has opened up the opportunity for many additional treatment options for chronic conditions common in the aging population, taking more drugs also means that keeping track of them all becomes more difficult.  Imagine having to keep track of six different medications, each of which has a different schedule.  Medication adherence (taking medications correctly) becomes less likely the more drugs people take and the more complicated the regimens are.  The oldest old (those over the age of 85) are especially at risk; the most common problem is that they simply forget to take the medication.   Yet adherence is crucial to their treatment success.

During their immersive activity, students in the class took on the role of an older adult who was prescribed six different medications, including those that treat mild cognitive impairment, anxiety, allergies, an acute infection, and the symptoms of arthritis. 

Our simulated older adults needed to indicate to their partner all of the necessary information about each drug to ensure they understood the medications.  They noted how many times a day the medication should be taken, a specified time of day it should be taken if only once, the dosage of the medication, any special instructions about taking it with food or without, and how many refills they had left on their prescription. 

Once they had demonstrated knowledge of their medication list, our “older adults” were asked to set up their daily medication schedule for a full week on a chart to demonstrate how they might space out their medications to get clear picture of how frequently they would be taking medication throughout a day and just how many pills they would be taking on a regular basis.  When those charts were full, there were a lot of “pills” out there!  The class gained a real appreciation for the psychological and practical impacts of being responsible for that many medications and why some older adults struggle with this task in their later years, especially when their health begins to deteriorate.

When I am not making my students count plastic beads and play with pill bottles, you can frequently find me teaching Lifespan Development, Research Methods, and Introductory Psychology, but my passion for teaching is really the in depth topic electives like the Psychology of Aging.  The aging population fascinates me, not because of its differences from younger age groups, but because of its remarkable similarity to individuals who are much younger.  Our ability, throughout the aging process, to compensate for normal age-related declines is amazing and the passion for understanding and appreciating that ability to compensate is something I hope I am able to share with my students.

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Thanks to Dr. Leclerc and her students for this insight into the Psychology of Aging!

Problem Solving and Pecha Kuchas

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And for today… a post from Professor Ashley Moore, Visiting Assistant Lecturer here in the Department of Psychology. Thanks for the post Prof Moore!

As a visiting faculty member in the psychology department, I have taught multiple different courses. From Lifespan Development to Abnormal Psychology, Social Psychology to Theories of Personality, and Internship to Community Psych…I’m a little all over the map. I love this variety more than anything, but what if someone made me choose just one?  If I absolutely, positively had to pick I’d say the teaching Community Psych might just be one of my favorites.

What is Community Psychology?  I’m glad you asked. 

Community Psychology is the study of community phenomenon to understand system-level problems and catalyze change in those systems.  It is understanding the individuals of a particular community in the context of that community.  It is problem solving, social justice, and change-making all wrapped up into one lovely package.  How could you not be excited by that?

I typically teach Community Psych in the spring semester, and this year is no different.  Every student in my class is required to choose one social issue that they are most interested in and, through a series of different assignments, eventually create an intervention program for that problem.  That’s right, I’ve had the privilege of watching students “solve” (or help solve) social issues ranging from immigration policy reform, to homelessness, to teenage pregnancy.  What is so extraordinary and humbling each time is that at least one student takes what they have suggested and implements it in some way-in real life. 

This classroom inevitably becomes filled with the problem solvers of the world, so why not spread the word?  This semester, we will be hosting a Pecha Kucha presentation event of some kind.  (Think super-speedy presentations-no more than 8 minutes apiece.) Students will present their issue, intervention program, and a product of some kind.  We’d love to have all of you join us!

Inevitably, when faced with solving the big, complex issues of the globe, my students ask me how to avoid despair and feelings of helplessness.  I tell them that they simply need to focus on taking the next step forward. We’d like to invite you to step forward with us.

Details of the Pecha Kucha presentations are not yet pinned down, but are forthcoming.  Keep checking back; as soon as we have a date and a time set, we will post the information here!

Community Psychology currently fulfills one of the requirements for our MHRT-C minor.  This is a certificate-based minor that results in students being hired post- graduation at a higher pay rate. If you have any questions about this class, or the Pecha Kucha event, don’t hesitate to contact Professor Moore via email or office phone. 

Contact:

Professor Ashley Moore

Decary 317

207-602-2464

amoore5@une.edu

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Thanks to Professor Moore for sharing this information about herself and her community psychology course!

Looking for a way to help others?

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Caring Unlimited (York County’s Domestic Violence Resource Center) is looking for volunteers. After training, you would be eligible to work on the helpline (and potentially in other ways as well).

The first step is to apply to complete training. The required Comprehensive Advocacy, Intervention, Response, and Ethics Training (or CAIRET for short) is the mandatory statewide volunteer training to serve on any of the helplines for Maine’s domestic violence resource centers (and for many other types of activities). This is a 44 hour training. That’s usually hard for students to fit in on top of classes, so Caring Unlimited has scheduled a FREE training to occur over Spring Break, March 11th through 15th and March 23rd through 24th.

Consider staying on campus over the break and be ready to volunteer with Caring Unlimited in the future! Caring Unlimited also provides internship opportunities for students (this training is also required for these positions which are awarded after an application process).

Volunteer and internship positions like this are great ways to build a skills set that will help you to find a great job or gain admission to a graduate program!

If you have interest in Caring Unlimited or in signing up for the CAIRET training, please sign up using the link in the flyer above or contact the organization for more information.

Caring Unlimited – York County’s Domestic Violence Resource Center P.O Box 590 Sanford, ME. 04073 Phone: 207-490-3227 x122 24hr Hotline: 1-800-239-7298

website: caring-unlimited.org  

Termite Lab: To Infinity and Beyond

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Each semester, Professor Christina Perazio has students in her PSY 275 Animal Behavior Techniques course engage in a hands-on lab on with termites to learn about basic research methods (e.g., forming hypothesis, collecting data, etc). In the lab, students use termites to study how pheromones are used in foraging. The following is a first hand account of what this activity was like for two of our ANB freshmen.

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The student perspective presented by Abbigail Felix & Lauren Cisek

Termite societies are built upon following trails when foraging for nourishment. Termites have weak or no sight, so they communicate through chemical signaling and pheromones. Pens have similar chemicals to the pheromones that termites communicate with, a drying agent called 2-phenoxyethanol. The purpose of this lab was to find out if termites would follow a trail drawn from a ballpoint pen, non-ballpoint pen, or a pencil. If they followed the pen trails, this would suggest that termites will also follow non-pheromone chemicals.

To begin our experiment, we ran over the six steps of the general procedure as a class. For our first set of trials we cut paper circles to fit in three petri dishes. Each paper had an infinity symbol drawn on it in either pencil (control), gel pen (Papermate), or ballpoint pen (Universal) with a total of three papers per variable. A termite was placed first into the ballpoint pen test dish and allowed to acclimate for two minutes. We decided on the name Joseph for our termite. If Joseph began following the line immediately, the two minute observation period began. However, we rarely saw this occur in the first trial set.

Each response (+) or no response (-) was recorded as well as any other observations about the termite’s behavior that may affect that response. Joseph was moved to the next petri dish after each two-minute observation and the procedure was repeated through the variables.

Joseph responded only to the ballpoint pen and even then never followed the entire shape. The termite mainly stuck around the sides of the dish and seemed disinterested in our drawings. We wondered if the classroom environment had anything to do with this disinterest.

On the second day of running, we were allowed to experiment with our own ideas including changing the shape, color, and brand of pen. Our group decided on three new trials. The first trial changed the infinity symbol to a Y-shape with three different thicknesses. The second trial changed the drawing to what we called a swerve shape of different thicknesses. For the last trial we kept the swerve shape, but used only the middle thickness as well as black, purple, and green bic pens.

For these trials we used a termite we dubbed Giselle. Giselle responded poorly to the Y-shaped trials, but still responded. The termite responded very well to the swerve shape and responded to each thickness. We discussed this response further as a class and determined the more natural shape was easier for Giselle to follow.

When it came time to begin the color trials we were shocked at how Giselle responded. Not only did the termite follow every line, Giselle followed the entire purple swerve back and forth without a pause. The purple pen trial was the only time we observed this behavior. This was an extremely interesting observation as the worker termites we used are blind and therefore would be unable to tell a visual difference.

Overall, we found that termites did follow the trails drawn out by ballpoint pens, but they did not follow the gel or pencil as well. Termites seemed to show the most interest in the purple Bic pen in the swerve shape, but different termites reacted differently to the classroom environment.    Working as a group was necessary for accurately observing and defining these behaviors, but it also caused problems within scoring. At times one observer would be documenting observations and another would mark a follow. This made it difficult to say if the termite definitively followed, or it was miscommunication.

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Thanks to Abbigail and Lauren for sharing their experience with us!

Introducing Dr. Linda Morrison

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The big news for Dr. Morrison this year is the addition of a new family member:  Mason Riley Morrison.  Mason is a Tri-Color English Springer Spaniel and he is keeping the family very busy.  His favorite thing to do is to take a flying leap and jump up on tables very much like a goat.   With sound operant conditioning techniques he will be gently dissuaded from continuing this behavior.  Erin and Elizabeth (Dr. M’s kids) think he is hilarious and their geriatric springer Connor tolerates him but just barely and he refuses to share his tennis balls. 

In case you were wondering, Dr. Morrison also continues in her role as a Girl Scout leader.  She is now in her 8th year leading or co-leading a girl scout troop in the Kennebunk area.  Next weekend she is taking her scout troop to World Thinking Day where they will be operating a booth teaching other girl scouts about India.  Her fifth grade girls were shocked to learn that only about 66% of girls and women in India can read and nearly 25% of Indian girls drop out before high school.  Feminism and multicultural awareness are important to Dr. Morrison both in the classroom at UNE and in her Girl Scout troop! 

At UNE, Dr. Morrison’s two research groups continue to collect data and work on sharing their work with wider audiences.  Her two major areas of research interest are (1) investigating the efficacy of sexual assault prevention programs and (2) assessing the effectiveness of social global awareness courses in meeting core curriculum learning outcomes. 

Jackie Noto (2017) and Holly Zeldenhurst (2018) continue to collaborate with Dr. Morrison and Emily Mott (2020) on the sexual assault prevention project.  They are working with UNE Title IX coordinator Angela Shambarger and the new Title IX Investigator and Prevention Specialist Brittany Swett to continue to collect data assessing the efficacy of Green Dot training at UNE.  Saturday Feb 16th they collected data on the Green Dot Training held on campus and will compare this the student green dot participants with both Introduction to Psychology students and Date Safe participants in their attitudes and beliefs about dating violence, bystander intervention, sex roles, and rape myths. 

Chloe Whittaker (2021) and Erin Shores (2021) have been helping Dr. Morrison the last couple years with the Social Global Awareness (SGA) project aimed at assessing whether SGA courses in our core curriculum increase students global awareness, social justice, acceptance of diversity and intergroup empathy.  They have now amassed three years of data and are in the process of writing up a paper for submission.  They presented preliminary data at NEPA Spring of 2017 and Erin Shores (pictured below on the right next to Dr. Morrison) continues to be passionately involved in the project.  Last week, they plowed through a path analysis of their data from Fall of 2017, and this week they are going to run that same analysis on data from Fall of 2018.   Research is so much FUN! 

Finally, Dr. Morrison is psyched to be teaching a course on Trauma this semester.  The course has been approved as a regular course offering (PSY 375) and will become a required part of the MHRT/C minor starting next Fall.  One of the requirements of the course is to participate in a prevention project aimed at reducing either a cause or a mediating effect of trauma. Last year her class created a quilt depicting student experiences with racism on the UNE campus.  It is now installed on the first floor of the Ripich Commons.  If you are on campus you should check it out! 

Next time you see Dr. Morrison around campus, be sure to say hello!

Animal Behavior Major Tarryn Nutt helps make UNE a better place

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Tarryn Nutt (kneeling, second from the right), and other students and faculty members from the Women & Gender Studies program

Last spring, Tarryn Nutt (ANB ’21) enrolled in WGST 200: Introduction to Women’s Studies as part of her minor in Women and Gender Studies. In the class, students are asked to complete an activism project on a topic of their choosing. Tarryn had already been addressing the issue of access to feminine hygiene products at UNE and decided to expand on that for her project. She believes that easy and free access to feminine hygiene products is important and necessary. Menstruation is a biological factor for women and not having access to feminine hygiene products can have adverse effects on students’ academic success. Tarryn was quoted in the UNE news article about this (https://www.une.edu/news/2019/une-provides-students-access-feminine-hygiene-products) saying “’It’s important for me to be able to go to class and get an education,’ she explained, noting that without the proper coins for the former coin-operated dispensers, female students often needed to leave class  — sometimes at  critical moments — to trek across  campus to their dorm rooms to retrieve a tampon or pad”.

As they say, from there, the rest is history.

Tarryn successfully complete her class project but didn’t stop there. She took the information she had gathered to UNE’s Women and Gender Studies Club. After additional time and efforts, and with the support of the club, Tarryn presented a proposal to increase access to these products for UNE students to President James Herbert. Herbert was impressed with the work completed by Tarryn, and by her and the other students’ arguments, and took the idea to the senior leadership team, who created a budget to implement her proposed free tampon program .

The University of New England is now providing students with access to free feminine hygiene products on its campuses. Thanks to a partnership between university administrators and a group of students, tampons are now available in dispensers in several non-residential UNE buildings in both Biddeford and Portland. Under the new initiative, women’s bathroom tampon dispensers, which were previously coin-operated, have been retro-fitted to eliminate the need for money. They are stocked with Tambrands tampons, made in Auburn, Maine.

Our congratulations and thanks go out to Tarryn and the other members of the WGST Club for their hard work to address this need for our female students here at UNE! Thanks as well go to Dr. Julie Peterson, who offered the WGST course in which Tarryn started this work and for her support of the WGST club.


Two UNE ANB majors and Dr. D publish article in Ecotoxicology

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Animal Behavior majors Rebecca Cram, (’17) and Jaslynn Lawrence (’19) and Dr. Teresa Dzieweczynski, associate professor in the Department of Psychology, recently published work completed here at UNE in the journal Ecotoxicology.

The study, titled “Mating under the influence: male Siamese fighting fish prefer EE2-exposed females,” explored whether exposing female Siamese fighting fish to the synthetic estrogen 17α-ethinylestradiol (EE2) changes mate choice in males, assessed if the dose and duration of female exposure matters, and examined if exposing males to EE2 influences their mating preferences.

EE2 is a common endocrine disrupting chemical found in birth control pills. Many of these compounds are not removed during the wastewater treatment process and enter bodies of water in their active forms.

The results of the study indicate that males were more responsive to EE2-exposed females than unexposed females, with males being most responsive to females exposed to low versus high doses. If EE2 concentration increases in the environment, the likelihood of successful mating could decrease and potentially lead to adverse population impacts.

UNE undergrads publish with Dr. Julie Peterson in JESP

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Julie Longua Peterson, Ph.D., associate professor in the Department of Psychology and director of the Women’s and Gender Studies program, recently published an article with psychology student co-authors, Alex Bellows (PSY ‘15), Beth Giguere (PSY ‘15) and Jannelle Sherman (PSY ‘17).  The paper, entitled “Partner self-esteem and interpersonal risk:  Rejection from a low self-esteem partner constrains connection and increases depletion,” appears in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology.  

Using experimental, observational, and daily diary methodologies, this work reveals that rejection from a low (vs. high) self-esteem partner reduces accessibility to connection related thoughts in memory, increases connection-inhibiting behavior during conflict, and is experienced as mentally exhausting.  These effects emerge despite evidence from both self-report and independent coding that rejection from a low self-esteem partner is not more painful than rejection from a high self-esteem partner.  Instead, people appear to use impressions of others’ self-esteem to determine whether they should reduce dependence on that partner following rejection. 

Peterson’s current work challenges traditional assumptions about the importance of self-love in healthy relationships.  Instead, how people’s partners feel about their worthiness of love and acceptance may be the ticket to understanding people’s own responses to relationship threat. 

Citation:

Peterson, J.L, DeHart, T., Bellows, A., Giguere, B., & Sherman, J. (2019).  Partner self-esteem and interpersonal risk:  Rejection from a low self-esteem partner constrains connection and increases depletion.  Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 80, 17-30. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2018.09.006

Congratulations to Dr. Peterson and our students!

Dr. Burman – the Brain Fair guy!

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Mike Burman, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience K-12 Outreach Coordinator for the Center for Excellence in the Neurosciences, was recently featured in a video online as part of the “Community Neuroscience” series on the Dana Foundation YouTube channel! In this video, Dr. Burman talks about how to organize a successful brain fair.

You know you want to hear Dr. Burman talking about sheep brains and jellybeans, don’t you??

Dr. Burman has helped organize the UNE Brain Awareness Week Brain Fair for several years. At this events kids, teens, and adults can learn about memory, the senses, addiction, and brain injuries through a number of interactive activities. Quite a few of our psychology and neuroscience majors and faculty have helped out with the fair as well.

Learn more about Dr. Burman in the Dana Foundation blog interview.

Watch the video at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EOWOwOUbGWk