VTechWorks Repository :: Browsing by Author "Bell, Martha Ann"

Browsing by Author "Bell, Martha Ann"

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The Ability of Four-Month-Olds to Discriminate Changes in Vocal Information in Multimodal Displays
McCartney, Jason (Virginia Tech, 1999-05-06)
Recent investigations into infants' intersensory perception suggest a specific developmental pattern for infants' attention to visible and auditory attributes of dynamic human faces. This work has proposed that infants' perception seems to progress along a sensory continuum: beginning with multimodal sensory cues (e.g., auditory and visual), then visual-cues alone, and finally auditory-cues alone. Additionally, research has proposed that amodal or invariant sensory information directs infants' attention to specific redundant aspects in the surrounding environment (e.g., temporal synchronicity). The current research attempted to clarify the potential methodological confounds contained in previous investigations into infant intersensory development by contrasting infant behavior within fixed trial and infant-controlled habituation procedures. Moreover, the current research examined infants' attention to auditory manipulations within multimodal displays when redundant sensory information (synchronicity) was or was not available. In Experiment 1, 4-month-old infants were habituated to complex audiovisual displays of a male or female face within an infant controlled habituation procedure, and then tested for response recovery to a change in voice. For half the infants, the change in voice maintained synchronicity with the face, and for the other half, it did not. The results showed significant response recovery (i.e., dishabituation) to the change in voice regardless of the synchronicity condition. In Experiment 2, 4-month-old infants received the same face+voice test recordings used in Experiment 1, but now within a fixed trial habituation procedure. Again, synchronicity was manipulated across groups of infants. In contrast to Experiment 1, the infants in the fixed-trial experiment failed to show evidence of voice discrimination. These results suggest that infant controlled procedures may be more sensitive to infant attention, especially in terms of complex social displays. In addition, synchronicity appeared to be unnecessary in terms of infants' ability to detect vocal differences across multimodal displays. In sum, these results highlight the importance of research methodology (e.g., infant control) and overall stimulus complexity (e.g., discrete vs. complex) involving studies of infants' intersensory development.
The Ability of Speaking Rate to Influence Infants' Preferences for Infant-Directed Speech
Cooper, Jamie S. (Virginia Tech, 1999-09-07)
Much research has examined how rate affects visual preferences in human infants and auditory preferences in avian infants. In the visual domain, it seems that human infants prefer stimuli (e.g., flashing displays) presented at faster relative rates. Research using avian species has shown that ducklings, for example, prefer their species- specific maternal call only when it is presented at values close to the species-typical mean. These studies have shown that experience affects ducklings' preferences for rate in auditory events. Researchers in the areas of human infant preferences for visual rate and avian infant preferences for auditory rate have suggested that an effective window of frequencies exists for which infants show maximal attention. Unlike these two areas, little research has addressed how rate affects human infants' preferences for auditory events. A study by Cooper and Cooper (1997) was the first to find that infants attend to rates of speaking infant directed (ID) speech. Specifically, infants preferred ID speech at its normal rate to ID speech at a faster rate. The present study was intended to further investigate how rate of speaking affected infants' preferences for ID speech. More specifically, this study sought to determine whether a window of effective rates also exists for infant preferences for rate in ID speech. Using an infant-controlled preference procedure, 20 six- to eight-week old infants were presented with ID-normal speech (ID speech as its normal rate) and ID- slow speech (ID speech slowed to half the normal rate). It was found that infants looked longer to a visual display when it was paired with ID-slow speech than when it was paired with ID-normal speech. How these results relate to research and theory on visual rate preferences in human infants and auditory rate in avian species is discussed, as well as future directions for this line of research.
Acoustic Startle Response in High and Low Hostiles Before And After A Cold Pressor Task
Klineburger, Philip C. (Virginia Tech, 2011-04-02)
High-hostiles exhibit exaggerated physiological responses to stressors as seen by increased cardiovascular reactivity (BP & HR) (Rhodes, Harrison, & Demaree, 2002; Demaree & Harrison, 1997). This exaggerated physiological response style is associated with cardiovascular disease and premature death (Everson et al., 1997). This experiment hypothesized that diminished regulatory control would also be evident in the Acoustic Startle Response (ASR). In this experiment, high- and low-hostile undergraduate men (N = 40) were exposed to a series of startle probes before and after a cold pressor (CP). Startle responses were measured using electromyography (EMG) recorded over the orbicularis occuli. Cardiovascular measures of blood pressure and heart rate were also taken. A 2 X 2 mixed factorial ANOVA was performed with Group (high and low hostile) as the fixed factor, Condition (pre and post CP) as the repeated measure, and peak magnitude EMG (mV) of startle responses as the dependent variable. For startle responses, significant main effects for Group and Condition indicated that high hostiles had larger startle responses than low hostiles and startle responses decreased after the cold pressor (CP). A significant Group X Condition interaction effect was found. Post-hoc analyses revealed no significant group differences before the CP. After the CP, high-hostiles had significantly higher startle responses than-low hostiles. High-hostiles' startle responses did not change significantly after the CP, whereas low-hostiles' startle response magnitude decreased significantly after the CP. Low-hostiles HR increased significantly after the cold pressor and both groups SBP decreased significantly after the cold pressor.
Antecedents and Consequences of Parent Technology Use in Parents of Young Children
Devine, Diana Michelle (Virginia Tech, 2024-01-10)
The availability of and access to technology has been steadily increasing in recent years. Especially in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, technology use in some form is almost a daily occurrence in the United States (Vargo et al., 2021). A growing body of work has been examining familial technoference, which include interruptions to family interactions due to technology use, and a sub-focus of this research has specifically focused on parent-child relationships and technological interruptions. Using a comprehensive theoretical approach including an update to the process model of parenting (Belsky, 1984; Taraban and Shaw, 2018) and support from both attachment theory (Ainsworth et al., 1978; Bowlby, 1969) and ecological theory (Bronfenbrenner, 1977; Bronfenbrenner and Ceci, 1994), the current research examined the role of technology in parent-child interactions with parents of two-year-old children. In Study 1, constructs of parental technoference were explored in parents of children between 24-26 months of age to evaluate latent factors of parent technology use from 60 indicators and to identify parent and family characteristics that might predict the factors of technology use. A nationally recruited online sample of 323 parents of two-year-old children completed a set of questionnaires online to examine constructs of parental technology use and predictors of those constructs for Study 1. A CFA was conducted to evaluate the model fit of multiple indicators of parent technology use loading onto four predicted latent factors: Problematic Technology Use, Technoference with Child and Family, Social Support through Technology, and Technology Use as Regulation. The hypothesized model had poor fit, and an Exploratory Factor Analysis was conducted. In the final model, only 35 indicators emerged as significant factors to be included in the final model to map onto five latent constructs: Missing Out due to Technology, Problematic Technology Behaviors, Preoccupation with Technology, Positive Parenting through Technology, and Social Support through Technology. The final latent constructs parsed apart the predicted Problematic Technology Use into distinct constructs of thought (Preoccupation with Technology), behavior (Problematic Technology Behaviors), and consequence (Missing Out due to Technology), while items from the predicted Technoference with Child and Family mapped onto the more general Missing Out due to Technology (in various contexts, not just that within the family). Items from the predicted Technology Use as Regulation and Social Support through Technology mapped closely onto the Positive Parenting through Technology and Social Support through Technology constructs, respectively, albeit with fewer significant factor loadings than predicted. Next, predictors of the latent constructs (perceived stress, social support, parenting satisfaction, parenting self-efficacy, and both parent and child effortful control) were examined. SEM was conducted to determine predictors of these constructs of technology use. Perceived stress was a significant predictor of all five latent constructs. Parenting self-efficacy was a significant predictor of Problematic Technology Behaviors, Positive Parenting through Technology, and Social Support through Technology. Parenting satisfaction was a significant predictor of Problematic Technology Behaviors, Preoccupation with Technology, Positive Parenting through Technology, and Social Support through Technology. Social support was not a significant predictor of any latent constructs. Parent self-regulation was a significant predictor of Missing Out due to Technology and Positive Parenting through Technology. Child self-regulation was a significant predictor of Preoccupation with Technology, Positive Parenting through Technology, and Social Support through Technology. These findings demonstrate that there are distinct patterns of parental technology use that are differentially related to parent and family characteristics. This insight into characteristics that are associated with distinct types of technology use can be helpful in the development of targeted intervention for parents seeking to change their technology use behaviors. In Study 2, the impacts of parent technology use on parent behavior during parent-child interactions were examined through a repeated measures analysis of variance (RMANOVA) and Hierarchical Linear Modeling (HLM). In a randomized experimental design, 57 primary caregivers of 30–36-month-old children participated in three 5-minute free play sessions with their child in these conditions: control (no technology), television, and smartphone. Parent engagement with technology was scored in each condition, as well as parental sensitivity and involvement. First, RMANOVAs were conducted to explore differences in proportions of parent involvement with child play by condition and mean differences in parental sensitivity. There were significant differences in proportions of levels of parent involvement by condition; however, there were no differences in mean levels of parent sensitivity by condition. Due to a significant interaction between proportions of levels of involvement and order of condition, an HLM was conducted to control for change over time and isolate influences of condition on parent behavior. When time was controlled, there was significant negative effect of TV and a significant negative effect of smartphones on parental involvement. Overall, the findings from Study 2 demonstrated that caregivers are less involved with child play when technology is present, and especially so when smartphones are involved. Though there was not an overall effect of technology on caregiver sensitivity, further analysis did reveal that caregivers who attended to technology did have lower sensitivity scores than caregivers who did not attend to technology. The findings from this study replicate prior experimental work examining the role of background TV on caregiver-child interactions and extend findings to include the negative effect of smartphones on caregiver-child interactions. Together, the two studies provide further insight into parental technology use, understanding both antecedents and consequences of parent technology use in contribution to the overall knowledge of the mechanisms through which parent technology use relates to parenting and parent-child interactions. The findings from these studies combined can be used to develop targeted interventions for caregivers who are interested in making decisions about technology use within their families that are aligned with healthy developmental outcomes.
Application of Automated Facial Expression Analysis and Facial Action Coding System to Assess Affective Response to Consumer Products
Clark, Elizabeth A. (Virginia Tech, 2020-03-17)
Sensory and consumer sciences seek to comprehend the influences of sensory perception on consumer behaviors such as product liking and purchase. The food industry assesses product liking through hedonic testing but often does not capture affectual response as it pertains to product-generated (PG) and product-associated (PA) emotions. This research sought to assess the application of PA and PG emotion methodology to better understand consumer experiences. A systematic review of the existing literature was performed that focused on the Facial Action Coding System (FACS) and its use to investigate consumer affect and characterize human emotional response to product-based stimuli, which revealed inconsistencies in how FACS is carried out as well as how emotional response is inferred from Action Unit (AU) activation. Automatic Facial Expression Analysis (AFEA), which automates FACS and translates the facial muscular positioning into the basic universal emotions, was then used in a two-part study. In the first study (n=50 participants), AFEA, a Check-All-That-Apply (CATA) emotions questionnaire, and a Single-Target Implicit Association Test (ST-IAT) were used to characterize the relationship between PA as well as PG emotions and consumer behavior (acceptability, purchase intent) towards milk in various types of packaging (k=6). The ST-IAT did not yield significant PA emotions for packaged milk (p>0.05), but correspondence analysis of CATA data produced PA emotion insights including term selection based on arousal and underlying approach/withdrawal motivation related to packaging pigmentation. Time series statistical analysis of AFEA data provided increased insights on significant emotion expression, but the lack of difference (p>0.05) between certain expressed emotions that maintain no related AUs, such as happy and disgust, indicates that AFEA software may not be identifying AUs and determining emotion-based inferences in agreement with FACS. In the second study, AFEA data from the sensory evaluation (n=48 participants) of light-exposed milk stimuli (k=4) stored in packaging with various light-blocking properties) underwent time series statistical analysis to determine if the sensory-engaging nature of control stimuli could impact time series statistical analysis of AFEA data. When compared against the limited sensory engaging (blank screen) control, contempt, happy, and angry were expressed more intensely (p<0.025) and with greater incidence for the light-exposed milk stimuli; neutral was expressed exclusively in the same manner for the blank screen. Comparatively, intense neutral expression (p<0.025) was brief, fragmented, and often accompanied by intense (albeit fleeting) expressions of happy, sad, or contempt for the sensory engaging control (water); emotions such as surprised, scared, and sad were expressed similarly for the light-exposed milk stimuli. As such, it was determined that care should be taken while comparing the control and experimental stimuli in time series analysis as facial activation of muscles/AUs related to sensory perception (e.g., chewing, smelling) can impact the resulting interpretation. Collectively, the use of PA and PG emotion methodology provided additional insights on consumer-product related behaviors. However, it is hard to conclude whether AFEA is yielding emotional interpretations based on true facial expression of emotion or facial actions related to sensory perception for consumer products such as foods and beverages.
The Association between Early Care and Education and Midlife Outcomes: The Abecedarian 5th Decade Follow-up
Sonnier-Netto, Mary Elizabeth (Virginia Tech, 2018-04-26)
This dissertation focuses on the midlife adjustment of individuals from a longitudinal study in its 5th decade of follow-up. The Abecedarian Project, a prospective randomized control trial (RCT), began in 1972 with the primary goal of preventing cognitive impairments and school failure in children born into impoverished families with multiple risk factors by randomly assigning 111 infants to either an early education (n = 57) or control group (n = 54). This dissertation reports midlife outcomes at ages 39 – 45 for 42 individuals who received the early education treatment and 36 who were controls. This dissertation focuses on two primary hypotheses within a twojournal manuscript format. The first primary hypothesis of this dissertation is that the Abecedarian early education intervention will increase the number of successful outcomes over the lifespan, showing the cumulative effect of positive experiences (Sameroff, 2009) and a sense of personal efficacy (Dweck, 2008; Seeman, 1959). The second primary hypothesis of this dissertation is that response contingent learning and being an active agent in early cognitive and social settings during the first five years of life will provide a strong foundation for future perceptions of control over important areas in one’s life (Furnham & Steele, 1993; Walden & Ramey, 1983; Wallston, Wallston, & DeVellis, 1978). The analysis of midlife indices of strength and risk reveal results favoring the treatment group compared to the controls on both the Midlife Strengths Index (F (1,76) = 15.85, p = .000) and the Midlife Risk Index (F (1,76 = 8.88, p = .004). Additionally, a significant interaction exists between group assignment and IQ at age 48 months for the Midlife Strengths Index (β = -.215, p < .05). Analyses of Locus of Control scales reveal that the control group reports “powerful others” have more influence on both their health behaviors (F (1, 76) = 3.962, p = .05) on the Multidimensional Health Locus of Control Scale and their economic behaviors (F (1, 76) = 5.146, p = .026) within the Economic Locus of Control Scale. Additionally, the control group reported more external economic locus of control than the treatment group with a marginal statistical significance (F (1, 76) = 3.359, p = .071). Results are consistent with the conclusion for children born into multi-risk, economically impoverished families there are lifelong benefits of receiving high-quality early care and education that extend into the midlife years.
Attention Bias in Middle Childhood: The Impact of Effortful Control and Temperament
Zerrouk, Mohamed (Virginia Tech, 2021-05)
Identifying whether a stimulus is threatening or not is critical for staying safe. The faster one can detect a threat, the greater chance there is to avoid any potential danger. Factors contributing to the visual attention of threat are therefore informative. Previous research has examined how aspects of temperament and effortful control interact and affect the attention allocated to threats, especially in clinically anxious populations. However, there is a sparsity of this literature existing for nonclinical populations. My study addressed previous gaps by examining whether negative affect and fear impact an attention bias to threat in children aged 6 through 8 while assessing how attentional control and inhibitory control moderate these relations. A modified visual search task with snakes as the threat was given to the participants after the children’s parents completed questionnaires and the children completed an attentional control task. Results showed that an attentional bias to snakes was seen in the sample. Negative affect as a main effect nor as an interaction effect with attentional control predicted for the attention bias to snakes. Fear predicted for the attention bias to snakes as a main effect. Interestingly, inhibitory control moderated the relation between fear and the attention bias to snakes. Only children with high inhibitory control and high fear predicted for the attention bias to snakes. Findings may indicate children with this temperament are more vulnerable to the onset of anxiety.
An Attention-Specific Intervention for Adults with ADHD
Francisco, Jenifer (Virginia Tech, 2006-05-09)
Attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) consists of symptoms of both inattention and hyperactivity/impulsivity that cause significant functional impairment (APA, 1994). Approximately 4.7% of adults are diagnosed with ADHD; however, there are few empirically-informed interventions that are specifically designed for adults. Instead, many of the common interventions for adults are derived from work done with children with ADHD and may not be appropriate for their particular needs (Weiss & Weiss, 2004). Given that adults with ADHD typically experience more symptoms of inattention rather than hyperactivity, an investigation of the effectiveness of an intervention that specifically targets their inattentive symptoms is warranted (Weiss & Weiss, 2004; Weiss et al., 2002). Therefore, the goal of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of an attention-specific intervention for adults with ADHD. The intervention used in this study, Attention Process Training (APT; Sohlberg & Mateer, 1987), has never been applied to adults with ADHD. The underlying assumption behind this intervention is that attentional functioning can be improved through the use of tasks that are designed to re-train various aspects of attention. More specifically, this study addressed sustained, alternating, and selective/divided attention during the intervention. A non-concurrent multiple baseline design was used in order to assess the effectiveness of the APT among a sample of adults with ADHD. A sample of four adults, aged 21-37 years (M = 27.75) participated in this study and demonstrated minimal changes in their attentional ability after the intervention. In addition, the findings suggest that the different components of attention addressed in this intervention are not distinct and likely have a reciprocal affect on one another.
Auditory-Visual System Interactions: Perinatal Visual Experience Affects Auditory Learning and Memory in Bobwhite Quail Chicks (Colinus virginianus)
Columbus, Rebecca Foushee (Virginia Tech, 1998-10-19)
Early perceptual learning capacity has been shown to correspond with the relative status of emergent sensory systems throughout prenatal and postnatal development. It has also been shown that young infants can learn perceptual information during perinatal development. However, the exact nature of the relationship between prenatal and postnatal perceptual development and the role of early experience on learning ability have yet to be examined. The present study examined how auditory learning capacity in bobwhite quail chicks is affected by the interrelationship between the developing auditory and visual systems in late prenatal/early postnatal development. Chicks were provided with auditory information during the period immediately prior to or the period following hatching. In addition, visual experience was either provided or attenuated during both the prenatal and postnatal periods. Findings revealed that chicks postnatally exposed to 10 min/hr of maternal auditory stimulation in lighted conditions required 72 hr exposure to the call in order to learn that bobwhite maternal call (Experiments 1A and 1B). Control chicks who experienced the prenatal egg-opening procedure demonstrated no naive preference for two individual variants of the bobwhite maternal assembly call (Experiment 2). However, embryos who received 10 min/hr of prenatal visual stimulation, or who were reared in prenatal darkness successfully learned a maternal call with only 24 hr of postnatal exposure (Experiments 3A and 3C). Embryos who received prenatal visual and postnatal darkened rearing conditions (a mismatch between prenatal and postnatal experience) showed deficits in postnatal auditory learning (Experiment 3B). Embryos who were exposed to 10 min/hr of prenatal maternal auditory stimulation and 10 min/hr of nonconcurrent visual stimulation remembered the maternal call into later ages of postnatal development than in previous studies when reared in lighted or darkened postnatal conditions (Experiments 4A and 4B). However, when all prenatal and postnatal visual experience were both removed from embryos' and chicks' environments, deficits in prenatal auditory learning and postnatal memory were observed (Experiment 4C). These results indicate that prenatal and postnatal learning in bobwhite quail occur differently, that mismatches in prenatal and postnatal experience interfere with postnatal auditory learning, and that prenatal learning and postnatal memory are affected by the amount of visual stimulation present within chicks' environmental milieu. In the broader scheme, these results provide further evidence that the auditory and visual systems are linked during early development and support an ecological perspective of learning and memory.
Autism Assessment from Home: Evaluating the Remote Childhood Autism Rating Scale, Second Edition (rCARS2) Observation for Tele-Assessment of Autism
Bertollo, Jennifer Rose (Virginia Tech, 2024-05-17)
Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, tele-based methods of autism assessment have been relied upon to a previously unparalleled degree; however, the need for such advancements is not new. Observation-based measures are a crucial component of face-to-face autism diagnostic evaluations, but few validated observation tools exist for remotely assessing autism across childhood, particularly for older children and adolescents, providing minimal guidance in this arena. Sanchez and Constantino (2020) previously validated a brief, face-to-face, clinician-facilitated observation coded according to the Childhood Autism Rating Scale, Second Edition (CARS-2). During the pandemic, this measure was adapted as a remote observation (rCARS2 Observation), but has yet to be validated in this format. The current study validated the rCARS2 Observation against the "gold-standard," in-person Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule, Second Edition (ADOS-2). In this sample of 30 children ages 1.97 to 16.66 years (M = 7.35, SD = 4.00), ADOS-2 and rCARS2 Observation total scores were highly correlated (ρ = .644, p < .001). Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves optimized rCARS2 Observation cutoff scores to maximize sensitivity and specificity in predicting possible diagnostic classification (88.9% sensitivity, 80% specificity) and ADOS-2 classification (83.3% sensitivity, 70.6%, specificity). At optimal cutoffs, the rCARS2 Observation predicted the correct diagnosis in 82.8% of cases and the same classification as the ADOS-2 in 75.9% of cases. Validation of this instrument provides support for an accessible and efficient remote autism observation. This is crucial in ensuring uniform training and clinical procedures for tele-assessment of autism, to help mitigate long-standing barriers to service access (e.g., geography, cost, availability).
Automatic Processing of Musical and Phonemic Sounds: Differences Between Musicians and Nonmusicians
Alfaro, Jennifer Nicole (Virginia Tech, 2002-04-11)
The purpose of the present study was to examine the ability of musicians to preattentively process musical and phonemic information, as assessed by event-related potentials (ERPs), compared with nonmusicians. Participants were musicians (N=22; at least 10 years of formal training) and nonmusicians (N=22; no musical training) from the Virginia Tech community. Participants focused on a video and were instructed to ignore auditory stimuli. Simultaneous to the video presentation, auditory stimuli (60dB) in an oddball paradigm (80% standard, 20% deviant) were presented in 4 conditions (500 stimuli each): chord, phoneme, chord interval, and tone interval. EEG was recorded during each condition. The mismatch negativity (MMN) was identified by subtracting ERPs to standard auditory stimuli from ERPs to deviant auditory stimuli for each of the four qualitatively different conditions. Superior preattentive auditory processing in musicians was found most obviously during the presentation of chords, with no evidence of such superiority during phonemic processing and interval processing. As predicted, during the tone interval condition, musicians had a greater MMN peak amplitude in the central region, and had a greater MMN mean amplitude in the anterior frontal, frontal, frontocentral, and central regions. Contrary to the hypothesis, this did not emerge in the chord, phoneme, or chord interval conditions. As predicted, the MMN latency was shorter for musicians than nonmusicians in the frontocentral region during the phoneme condition. Contrary to the hypothesis, this did not emerge in the chord, chord interval, or tone interval conditions. Differential hemisphere effects were found between groups for MMN latency in the phoneme condition but not the others. Contrary to the hypotheses, no differences were found for MMN amplitude. As predicted, and consistent with Koelsch et al. (1999), musicians were more likely to exhibit an MMN than nonmusicians in the chord condition. Finally, there was the expected stronger preattentive processing in the right hemisphere MMN for the musical stimuli. Contrary to the literature, there was an unexpected stronger right hemisphere bias for phonemic stimuli.
Autonomic Patterns of Emotion across Multiple Contexts
Mcginley, Jared J. (Virginia Tech, 2015-06-17)
Research on the autonomic specificity of emotion has spanned several decades. Even though considerable evidence exists for supporting autonomic specificity for discrete emotion states (Kreibig, 2010), there is still an active debate, and conflicting explanations, for these findings (Quigley and Barrett, 2014). There have been several studies employing multivariate pattern classification analytic techniques and calls for those types of studies are still prevalent (Kragel and LaBar, 2014). Although many studies have explored the autonomic specificity of emotions, few have explored what effects the induction methods, themselves, have had in inducing the autonomic change. Autonomic specificity of induction methods might be a meaningful, and confounding, phenomenon in this literature. Based on this unknown variable, the current experiment was designed to see if methods for emotion elicitation could be meaningfully captured by these same pattern classification techniques. This was accomplished using three separate emotion-elicitation methods to elicit five separate emotions. A sample of 64 college-aged students watched film clips, read imagery scripts, and recalled personal memories for five discrete emotions. Using discriminant analysis, the evidence from the current study lent less support for autonomic specificity of emotion than past experiments, and lends some support for providing future exploration into autonomic change that is related to methods for induction. Potential confounds and task fatigue effects are discussed.
Behavioral and Psychophysiological Responses of 4-month-old Infants to Differing Rates of Infant Directed Speech
McIlreavy, Megan E. (Virginia Tech, 2003-05-09)
Infants of various ages across the first postnatal year have shown behavioral preferences (i.e., more attention) to visual displays when looking resulted in the presentation of Infant-Directed Speech (IDS) compared to Adult-Directed Speech (ADS). Although IDS differs from ADS on a variety of measures, most research has focused on various pitch characteristics (i.e., IDS is higher in absolute pitch and more variable in pitch across utterance length). Work from our lab has found that when the pitch characteristics of IDS were held constant, but the temporal features were manipulated, younger (but not older) infants attended more to slower rates of IDS, even though it was unlikely that they had heard such speech (when speech is spoken at this slow rate, the fundamental frequency cannot be maintained). The purpose of this study was to expand our investigation of how speaking rate affects infant attention by adding the physiological measure of heart rate to our protocol. Of specific interest was whether infants would show differential amounts of heart-rate (HR) decelerations as a function of rate (i.e. greater decelerations to slowed speech). 4-month-old infants were tested with normal IDS (unaltered rate) and slow IDS (rate was twice as slow as normal). Behaviorally, infants did not differentially attend to a display as a function of speech type. Psychophysiologically, infants showed more pronounced HR decelerations to slow than to normal IDS. The discrepancy between measures of attention is discussed, especially with regard to the organization of attention in infants of this age.
A Behavioral Genetic Study of the Links Between Working Memory and Aspects of Attention in Middle Childhood
Wang, Zhe (Virginia Tech, 2010-11-05)
The purpose of the current study was to explore the genetic and environmental association between working memory and different behavioral aspects of the attention network (i.e., executive attention, alerting attention, and orienting attention), using a twin design. Data were from 131 monozygotic (39% male) and 173 same-sex dizygotic (44% male) twins. Individual differences in working memory performance and behavioral measures of executive attention, alerting attention, and orienting attention were found to be moderately heritable. A modest nonshared environmental effect was found for all variables. Individual differences in working memory were significantly correlated with variability in executive and alerting attention, but not orienting attention. All of the association between working memory and executive as well as alerting attention was statistically mediated by genetic influences, indicating a common genetic mechanism or mechanisms underlying the links between working memory and certain behavioral indicators of attention.
Behavioral Inhibition/Activation and Autonomic Control of the Heart: Extending the Autonomic Flexibility Model
Christie, Israel C. (Virginia Tech, 2005-05-09)
The autonomic flexibility model has proven to be a useful theoretical tool relating reductions in physiological variability found to accompany anxiety and concomitant reductions in behavioral (e.g., cognitive and emotional) flexibility. The present study aimed to extend the autonomic flexibility model through the inclusion of individual differences in the sensitivity of the independent motivational systems presumed to underlie anxiety and impulsivity, namely the behavioral inhibition and activation systems (BIS/BAS; Gray, 1994). Contrary to the predicted inverse relationship between BIS sensitivity and measures of physiological variability, findings suggest BAS sensitivity is associated with increased trait-like vagally mediated heart rate variability across diverse tasks as well as greater flexibility in responding within tasks. Numerous BIS*BAS interactions emerged as significant predictors of trait reactivity. Results are discussed in terms of the interface between (1) mesolimbic dopaminergic projections to the nucleus accumbens and (2) the network of central nervous system structures believed to play a large role in controlling peripheral physiology.
Brain reorganization as a function of walking experience in 12-month-old infants: implications for the development of manual laterality
Corbetta, Daniela; Friedman, Denise R.; Bell, Martha Ann (Frontiers, 2014-03-21)
Hand preference in infancy is marked by many developmental shifts in hand use and arm coupling as infants reach for and manipulate objects. Research has linked these early shifts in hand use to the emergence of fundamental postural-locomotor milestones. Specifically, it was found that bimanual reaching declines when infants learn to sit; increases if infants begin to scoot in a sitting posture; declines when infants begin to crawl on hands and knees; and increases again when infants start walking upright. Why such pattern fluctuations during periods of postural-locomotor learning? One proposed hypothesis is that arm use practiced for the specific purpose of controlling posture and achieving locomotion transfers to reaching via brain functional reorganization. There has been scientific support for functional cortical reorganization and change in neural connectivity in response to motor practice in adults and animals, and as a function of crawling experience in human infants. In this research, we examined whether changes in neural connectivity also occurred as infants coupled their arms when learning to walk and whether such coupling mapped onto reaching laterality. Electroencephalogram (EEG) coherence data were collected from 43 12-month-old infants with varied levels of walking experience. EEG was recorded during quiet, attentive baseline. Walking proficiency was laboratory assessed and reaching responses were captured using small toys presented at mid-line while infants were sitting. Results revealed greater EEG coherence at homologous prefrontal/central scalp locations for the novice walkers compared to the prewalkers or more experienced walkers. In addition, reaching laterality was low in prewalkers and early walkers but high in experienced walkers. These results are consistent with the interpretation that arm coupling practiced during early walking transferred to reaching via brain functional reorganization, leading to the observed developmental changes in manual laterality.
Cardiovascular Activity During Laboratory Tasks in Individuals with High and Low Worry
Knepp, Michael Matthew (Virginia Tech, 2007-05-09)
Anxiety and worry have been related to exaggerated cardiovascular reactivity and delayed recovery to laboratory stressors, and to increased risk of cardiovascular disease. This study examined cardiovascular responses in high and low worriers to a range of laboratory tasks. The aim of this study was to determine if there is a task-specific relationship between worry and aberrant cardiovascular responding. Forty-one undergraduate women were recruited online to form low and high worry groups by use of the Penn State Worry Questionnaire. Four common laboratory tasks and two conditions designed to elicit worry and relaxation were used: hand cold pressor, mental arithmetic, orthostatic position, supine position, worry imagery, and relaxation imagery. Heart rate, heart rate variability, impedance cardiography, and blood pressure indices were collected to assess task reactivity and recovery, particularly in relation to autonomic nervous system activity. The high worry group had significantly higher heart rates throughout the study. The low worry group presented increased cardiovascular recovery to various tasks. The high worry group during task and post-task periods also increased parasympathetic withdrawal and sympathetic activation. The results of the study suggest that high worriers have decreased vagal control of the heart. The implications of this study suggest a potential link between the post-task period in high worriers and cardiovascular disease. Further research is recommended.
Cardiovascular Reactivity to and Recovery from Laboratory Tasks in Low and High Worry Women
Knepp, Michael Matthew (Virginia Tech, 2010-03-23)
Anxiety and its cognitive component of worry have been related to exaggerated cardiovascular reactivity and delayed recovery to laboratory stressors, and to increased risk of cardiovascular disease. Previous research on the anxiety-cardiovascular system relationship, including data from Knepp and Friedman (2008), are included to support this project. Two experiments were completed during the course of this study. The first consisted of two peripheral-based body positioning tasks. The second experiment used an active versus passive sympathetic stress task paradigm (mental arithmetic, hand cold pressor). Subjects were nonsmokers free of cardiovascular and neurological disease. Trait worry was examined through the Penn State Worry Questionnaire (PSWQ). Blood pressure recordings and cardiac recordings through ECG and ICG were done in each experiment during seven epochs: an anticipatory baseline with three baselines preceding and three recovery periods following each task. Repeated measures analysis was run on all cardiovascular measures. In the first experiment, high worriers had worsened blood pressure reactivity to task. The second experiment found that high worriers had increased stroke volume across all epochs. There were mixed findings in the studies relating to subjects acclimated to the laboratory experience. Future directions of research relating anxiety, worry, and cardiovascular risk factors are discussed.
Changes in the Content and Prosody of Mothers' Speech to Infants Across the First Postnatal Year
Strunk, Pia Christina Jr. (Virginia Tech, 1997-12-18)
The purpose of this research project was to examine the linguistic and prosodic content of infant-directed speech to infants, and to explore the relationship that exists between the prosodic features and the content of this speech, and how this relationship changes over the first eight months after birth. Analyses were conducted on maternal infant-directed speech directed to infants across three age groups: 1, 4, and 8-month olds. Speech samples were taken from 75 mothers (n = 25 per group) and both coded for content and analyzed for pitch (Fo) characteristics. Linguistic analysis indicated overall significantly more Informational speech that either Affective or Contentless speech directed to infants in all three age groups. In addition, significant differences were found within and between Affective and Contentless speech, but these effects were also mediated by age. Significant differences were also found in the acoustic features of maternal infant-directed speech, mediated by both type of speech and age. Overall, these results suggest that maternal infant-directed speech varies in both linguistic content and prosodic features, and that the variation of these prosodic features is mediated by both the type of speech used and the age of the infant.
Children's Private Speech During an Emotion-Eliciting Task
Day, Kimberly L. (Virginia Tech, 2010-04-30)
This study informs research on how private speech, which is typically seen as a cognitive ability, is utilized during an emotion-eliciting task. This research helps to bridge the divide between cognitive and emotional aspects of children's self-regulation by integrating how cognitive private speech strategies may be used to regulate emotion. Preschool-aged children (n = 116) completed a frustration task. Emotional expressions (anger and sadness), emotion regulation strategies (distraction and self-comforting behaviors), persistence (latency to quit and duration of on-task behavior), and children's private speech were coded. Whereas higher levels of nonfacilitative task-relevant private speech were associated with higher levels of both sadness and anger, social speech was positively associated with sadness, and inaudible muttering was positively associated with anger. Private speech, specifically vocalizations and task-irrelevant private speech, was also positively associated with the regulation strategies of self-comforting and distraction. Facilitative task-relevant private speech, however, was negatively associated with distraction. Finally, higher levels of social speech were associated with less persistence, while higher levels of facilitative task-relevant private speech was associated with more persistence. Findings from this study support the idea that private speech can have a regulatory effect during frustrating situations that children experience. Private speech occurred alongside emotions and regulation strategies in meaningful ways. Including measures of private speech in future studies on emotion regulation will add more detail and depth to researchers' understanding of children's regulatory abilities. In the future, interventions could be created to encourage children's use of private speech to enhance their emotion regulatory abilities.

Browsing by Author "Bell, Martha Ann"

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