Humans need to attend selectively to items currently in the environment that are most relevant for survival (Griffin & Nobre, 2003). The attentional and working memory processes supporting this behavior benefit from cues that reliably signal which items are most relevant. Previous research has found that 2D visual cues presented before (pre) or after (retro) to-be-remembered items (targets) improve the reaction time to identify the target and the accuracy of visual working memory; however, it is not clear if cues from other modalities (e.g., auditory) would lead to similar results. Given the closer proxy to a real-world visual working memory task, a virtual reality environment was used in the current study. TCU student participants were asked to make a same or different response based on the match (object features or spatial location) of a sample visual stimulus to a subsequently presented visual stimulus. Two independent variables were manipulated. The cue was given before (pre) or after (retro) the target, and the cue was either auditory or visual. We hypothesized that participants will perform better in the pre- and retro-cued trials compared to control, and that an auditory cue will be more effective than a visual. These findings are relevant to classrooms, where auditory and visual cues during a presentation may direct attention toward relevant visual information.

Many students evaluate their instructors at the end of the term to provide feedback to the instructor. These evaluations can be influenced by how effectively course content was delivered. Lecture fluency is the manner in which lecture is delivered and impacts how students view their instructors. Research has found that instructors who deliver fluent lectures (i.e., speak with enthusiastically and with confidence) typically garner higher evaluations from students compared to those who deliver disfluent lectures (i.e., speak unenthusiastically and without confidence). That is, even though lecture fluency may not affect student learning, how the lecture is conveyed influences how students rate their professors on items such as how knowledgeable and effective the instructor is (e.g., Carpenter et al., 2020). However, it remains an open question whether lecture fluency influences evaluations made by another in the instructor. Instructors may be able to relate and give better feedback for a disfluent lecture because they are experts in the field and are aware of the struggles other instructors may have. We evaluated how lecture fluency impacts instructors’ ratings of other instructor’s teaching effectiveness. We also explored if lecture fluency impacts the likeliness of being rated as a good colleague or receiving a promotion by other instructors. University students and college-level instructors were randomly assigned to watch either a fluent or disfluent lecture that contain the same content, then evaluate the instructor. When we compared scores on the evaluation items, we found that both students and instructors gave higher evaluations in the fluent group compared to the disfluent group. Thus, experienced instructors are also susceptible to lecture fluency when evaluating their peers.

The Impact of English as a Second Language to Healthcare Services in Tarrant County, Texas

Introduction: Overcoming language barriers pose a considerable challenge for multilingual individuals, particularly within the context of healthcare. Providers often lack adequate translator or interpreter resources to deliver quality care to people who do not use English as their primary language. Thus, the impact of having a language barrier or absence of a translator has the potential for health consequences and interferes with patient-informed care and decision-making.

Method: This study aimed at learning about the impact of language barriers on patient experiences with a healthcare receipt. Qualitative data were obtained with focus groups in both Spanish and Vietnamese, targeting some of the most common languages in the area outside of English. At each focus group, an interpreter was present based on the given language that was being targeted.

Conclusions: Results exhibited that participant healthcare experiences varied with regard to translator services and language barriers, with some participants encountering serious challenges with understanding their provider. These findings suggest a need for policy change to ensure equitable access to communication across cultures.

Future Implications: In furthering this research, reaching out to different ethnic groups to learn about their experiences is critical for change to occur. Additionally, partnering with healthcare providers to understand the impact of language barriers from their perspective, is necessary to create a shared understanding of need between patient and provider.

In a devaluation procedure, a primary reinforcer (e.g., food) is paired with an aversive outcome (e.g., illness), which results in a reduction of the response (e.g., a lever press) that previously led to the reinforcer. According to the hedonic shift hypothesis, reexposure to the reinforcer after devaluation is necessary to observe the devaluation effect (e.g., reduced responding). This prediction has been supported by findings with devaluation of a primary reinforcer, but also with devaluation of a stimulus (e.g., a light) paired with the primary reinforcer, known as a conditioned reinforcer (CDR). An elevation procedure involves pairing a low-value reinforcer with a high-value reinforcer. The current experiment examined whether devaluation or elevation of a CDR could occur with reexposure. Rats were trained to lever press for an audiovisual CDR previously paired with a low (sucrose) or high (chocolate-pellet) value reinforcer. During a single pairing, the CDR’s value was then either upshifted (sucrose → chocolate-pellet), downshifted (chocolate-pellet → sucrose), or unshifted (sucrose → sucrose) in separate groups. After CDR reexposure, all groups responded similarly, despite some receiving devaluation or elevation. The effectiveness of a CDR paired with a low value reinforcer, factors that influence the effectiveness of CDR training, and the challenges of a single-pairing procedure will be discussed.

Evolutionary psychology suggests that mating strategies are influenced by environmental factors. The theoretical framework of parental investment theory suggests that within a species, the sex investing more resources into offspring will be more selective in choosing mates. This theory finds resonance in women’s mating preferences, as research has consistently shown that women, compared to men, tend to exhibit greater selectivity in short-term relationships. Nonetheless, little attention has been given to the role of contemporary factors such as birth control. This research aimed to examine whether women using birth control express greater sexual unrestrictedness, or openness to short-term, uncommitted, sexual relationships, due to reduced perceived parental investment risk. Three cross-sectional surveys were conducted with undergraduate participants categorized into three groups: men, naturally cycling women, and women using oral contraceptive pills, known as the birth control pill. Results showed that women on birth control reported greater sexual unrestrictedness compared to naturally cycling women, aligning with the proposed hypothesis. Following parental investment theory, the relationship between sexual unrestrictedness and women on birth control was mediated by a perceived lower risk of investing in offspring from short-term sexual relationships. Overall, these findings offer insight into women’s mating psychology and highlight a relationship between evolved cognitive processes and contemporary environmental influences. Implications of this work for women’s romantic relationship preferences will be discussed.

Together, but Alone: Existential Isolation is Associated with Lower Well-Being in Romantic Relationships

Rylie Owens, Thomas B. Sease, Matthew Espinosa, and Cathy R. Cox
Texas Christian University

Existential isolation (EI) is the extent to which people feel alone in their experience, as if others cannot relate. (For example, being the only person laughing in a packed movie theater.) Research has demonstrated that higher instances of EI (either as a trait or as a state) are associated with lower emotional and psychological well-being, including greater feelings of anxiety, loneliness, sadness, and lower self-esteem and perceived meaning in life. Although there is some work showing that shared reality (i.e., a perceived commonality between persons) helps to reduce EI and increase friendships, no work has explored whether feeling existentially isolated affects romantic partnerships. One-hundred and eighty participants (30 men, 149 women, 1 non-binary) at a university in Texas, all in romantic relationships, completed measures of EI, relationship satisfaction and commitment, trust, conflict, and cheating intentions. The results revealed that persons scoring high (vs. low) on EI reported less relationship satisfaction, partner commitment, trust, and higher conflict, and cheating attitudes. The implications of these results for romantic relationship well-being will be further discussed.

This research investigates the effectiveness of HOPE Connection 2.0, a revised version of the therapeutic summer camp developed by The Karyn Purvis Institute of Child Development (KPICD) at Texas Christian University (TCU). Focused on Trust-Based Relational Intervention (TBRI), the camp aims to address the needs of vulnerable children and their families. Through a self-report survey administered to participating caregivers, the study evaluates lasting behavioral and relational developments in the family following their camp experience. The research question explores whether HOPE Connection 2.0 optimally benefits families and how it can be enhanced. Objectives include identifying the most beneficial aspects of the camp, suggesting design improvements, and assessing the reception of TBRI teachings by caregivers and children. The findings aim to inform future iterations of the camp, facilitating continuous improvement and adaptation to better serve participants.

Previous research finds that testosterone serves a major role in psychological and physiological preparedness in competitive environments, with higher testosterone predicting better competitive endurance and overall performance. Despite the performance benefits afforded by testosterone production, high testosterone has also been found to be physiologically costly due to suppressing immune function in the short-term and having detrimental health impacts in the long-term. However, no work has experimentally examined whether men and women’s testosterone response is sensitive to the relative costs and benefits of investing in testosterone production. To address this question, participants were asked to compete in a novel task and were randomly assigned to compete for a $5 (low-value reward) or $20 gift card (high-value reward). Additionally, participants were informed that the winner of the reward would be selected based on their performance (effort-based) or would be randomly selected (random-based). Saliva samples were collected before and after the competitive task and assessed to measure changes in free testosterone levels pre- and post-competition. Results revealed that participants in the high-value reward condition produced more testosterone than those in the low-value reward condition. Similarly, participants in the effort-based winner condition had higher testosterone production than those in the random-based winner condition. These findings suggest that physiological endocrine responses are sensitive to psychological experiences which impact the costs and benefits of testosterone production.

Frustration is a negative emotion that occurs when an organism encounters a reward that is of lesser quality or quantity than expected. To research this emotion in animals, we use a paradigm known as consummatory successive negative contrast (cSNC). In this task, rats are exposed to a high concentration sucrose reward and then downshifted to a lower concentration. In response to this downshift, rats inhibit consumption and reject the downshifted reward beyond that of unshifted controls. This bout of negative emotion is also accompanied by the natural release of endogenous opioids, which modulate dopaminergic activity in the brain. Previous research has shown that when opioid receptors are blocked, frustration is enhanced after a 32-4% sucrose downshift. This experiment aimed to further explore this effect using the drug naloxone, which blocks opioid receptors, and different degrees of sucrose downshifts to determine if naloxone will show the same effect with a less extreme 16-4% sucrose downshift. To test this, rats were trained with 32, 16, or 4% sucrose for ten sessions with all animals then receiving 4% sucrose for the next four sessions along with injections of either 2 ml/kg naloxone or saline. Preliminary data suggest a slight decrease in consummatory behavior after naloxone exposure in both downshift-exposed groups compared to saline controls. This suggests that opioid blockers may play a role in augmenting frustration at varying degrees of downshift, inhibiting the ability of the dopaminergic system in the brain associated with reward and sucrose intake.

A relatively novel area of research in social psychology, existential isolation, can be described as feeling that you are alone in your experience of the world, and that others do not share your perspective or can even come close to understanding it. Existing research finds that existential isolation is related to greater death-thought accessibility, depression, and anxiety and is higher among individuals in non-normative groups (e.g. racial/sexual minorities, low socioeconomic status, etc.). However, the totality of how existential isolation effects mental wellbeing, particularly with regards to our self-perception, remains somewhat unclear. The present research studies aimed to examine the association between feeling existentially isolated and different mental wellbeing outcomes, hypothesizing that higher levels of existential isolation would be associated with poorer self-perception. Using self-report survey measures with samples of 302 undergraduate students (Study 1) and 200 MTurk adults (Study 2,) results revealed that higher levels of existential isolation were positively correlated with greater levels of self-dehumanization, rejection sensitivity, and loneliness, but negatively correlated with greater levels of self-esteem and coping self-efficacy. That is, the results suggest that individuals who feel chronically existentially isolated from others in their daily lives may also develop a more negative self-image and view themselves as less able to handle the stressors they may encounter. Overall, these findings provide preliminary evidence of an association between feeling existentially isolated and poor mental wellbeing outcomes with regards to how an individual views themselves and their capabilities. The implications of these findings for the long-term wellbeing, both physical and mental, of existentially isolated individuals, as well as for their social relationships, will be discussed.

Title: Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) & Academic Performance
Authors: Janae Russell, Casey Call, Ph.D.

College students face many challenges when it comes to discovering their identity, establishing independence, developing a routine, adjusting to a new lifestyle, handling stress and social interactions. Furthermore, students that have been exposed to chronic Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) can experience negative impacts on their mental health and academic performance. ACEs are childhood experiences of emotional, physical, and sexual abuse, and/or household dysfunctions such as substance abuse, mental illness, suicide, or incarceration (Felitti et al., 2019). Felitti et al. (1998) found that ACEs are linked to many different health risk factors such as declining health, smoking, alcohol abuse, depression, and substance abuse. College students that have been exposed to ACEs are more likely to struggle with their mental health, depression, and anxiety (Hatton-Bowers et al., 2023). The purpose of this research is to examine how ACEs impact a college students’ performance. I would like to learn how students define academic success and if they believe they fit that definition. I would like to discover how ACEs influence students’ overall ability to learn and retain information, focus on academic work, develop study habits, and have successful social interactions with peers. I theorize that students who have been exposed to four or more ACEs will struggle more with the demands and pace of college life than students who have 3 or fewer ACEs. This research is essential for universities to be able identify students with ACEs to better understand and support these students.

Felitti, V. J., Anda, R. F., Nordenberg, D., Williamson, D. F., Spitz, A. M., Edwards, V., Koss, M. P., & Marks, J. S. (2019). REPRINT OF: Relationship of Childhood Abuse and Household Dysfunction to Many of the Leading Causes of Death in Adults: The Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Study. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 56(6), 774–786. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amepre.2019.04.001

Hatton-Bowers, H., Lombardi, C. M., Kemp, B., Decker, K. B., Virmani, E. A., Brophy-Herb, H. E., & Vallotton, C. D. (2023). Risks and resources for college students’ mental health: ACEs, attachment, and mindfulness. Journal of American College Health, 71(5), 1510–1521. https://doi.org/10.1080/07448481.2021.1942007

Over the past decade, mindfulness-based practices have gained popularity in the mainstream media as a way of alleviating stress. Indeed, state- and trait-based mindfulness is correlated with enhanced well-being, meaning in life, and life satisfaction. In this way, mindfulness-based interventions could be a pivotal tool for educators and colleges aiming to improve student outcomes. The purpose of the current study was to test the feasibility and engagement of a brief mindfulness intervention for nursing students. Participants (N = 72) were recruited from the nursing department at Texas Christian University. Participants were randomly assigned to complete a mindfulness exercise or a relaxation exercise, and then asked to complete survey questions. Engagement in the intervention will be assessed using recruitment numbers and program completion. Additionally, we are expecting that people assigned to the mindfulness exercise will report higher levels of happiness, well-being, and gratitude when compared to those assigned to the relaxation exercise. The implications of this work will be discussed.

Individuals that experience multiple forms of traumatic events are more susceptible to a number of negative outcomes including, but not limited to, delinquency and difficulties with self-regulation (Cook et al., 2005; Kelley et al., 1997; Ireland et al., 2015). As youth in the legal system (YLS) are more susceptible to higher rates of traumatic events and low self-regulation, this is a key population to consider when evaluating the relationship between trauma and the development of self-regulation. Additionally, research has shown that youth that experience parenting consistent with secure attachment are more likely to develop strong self-regulation (Bernier et al., 2010; Lengua et al., 2007). Thus, within the population of YLS it is also important to consider how tendencies toward insecure attachment styles (i.e., anxious and avoidant) influence self-regulation. This study examined whether the number of traumatic events influenced self-regulation, as measured by difficulties in emotion regulation and deficits in executive function. The study also examined the relationships between insecure attachment styles and self-regulation. Data utilized in the current study were from an ongoing 5-year longitudinal project targeting YLS. Correlation and simple linear regression analyses were used to address relationships among the five factors. Results indicated a significant positive association between traumatic events and both forms of self-regulation (i.e., difficulties in emotion regulation and deficits in executive function). A significant positive relationship was also found between both insecure attachment styles (i.e., anxious and avoidant) and difficulties in emotion regulation. No relationship was found between insecure attachment styles and deficits in executive function. Results of this study provide preliminary evidence of the relationships between attachment styles and trauma on self-regulation, indicating trauma and attachment as potential underlying mechanisms of self-regulation. These results are informative for interventions targeting positive change in self-regulation within the population of YLS.

The preterite and imperfect past tenses, which do not have exact English equivalents, exemplify grammatical nuance in the Spanish classroom. These nuances evoke questions regarding effective ways to present this material to students. Some evidence suggests that interleaved schedules of practice – in which material is presented in a mixed order during learning – benefit learning of grammar in a non-native language (Nakata & Suzuki, 2019; Pan et al., 2019); however, other evidence suggests that blocked schedules of practice benefit pronunciation learning (Carpenter & Mueller, 2013). Given these mixed outcomes, I compared blocked and interleaved schedules of practice on learning of the preterite and imperfect tenses in Spanish. Participants were randomly assigned to interleaved or blocked practice, in which they classified verb constructions as imperfect or preterite (when conjugated to Spanish) and were given feedback following each item. Participants then completed multiple tests assessing their grammar learning. The interleaved and blocked groups did not significantly differ in their test performance; however, both groups showed significantly improved performance compared to a pre-test, indicating that learning did occur. These outcomes can inform pedagogical practice. Future research should consider time processing feedback, and extend these outcomes to Spanish language learners, with materials translated into Spanish.

The development of better signal-to-noise processing of important sensory stimuli is adaptive. Research with humans has found that visual cues presented before (pre) or after (retro) the occurrence of relevant environmental events direct attentional resources toward those events, improving reaction time and accuracy of detection. Nonetheless, it is not clear if these cues direct attention to specific features of the relevant stimuli, the surrounding environment, or some other characteristics of the situation. Identifying visual search patterns using techniques like eye tracking may clarify the mechanisms that support improved performance, particularly when pre and retro-cues are involved. Students between the ages of 18-35 were recruited using TCU SONA System. Participants were asked to compare a probe stimulus to a sample stimulus based on its identity or location, using visual pre and retro-cues (coloured backgrounds). We hypothesized that participants will exhibit higher accuracy and lower reaction time on cued trials compared to control trials (neutral cues), as well as longer fixations to the center of the object on spatial trials, and longer saccadic amplitude on identity ones. These results have implications for the design of instrument panels and implementation of training techniques (e.g., equipment and sports).

With the rate of children growing up in single-parent households on the rise, the challenges that these children experience are becoming more evident. One challenge that often remains unacknowledged is parentification. Many single parents engage in this process due to the number of stressors that they must face on their own. Parentification allows parents to place responsibilities on their children that they would otherwise not do in order to relieve some sort of stress. These responsibilities can include caring for siblings, being a translator, taking on a parent's emotional turmoil, and even paying bills. With this adornment of responsibility, these children can garner mixed emotions about themselves and their purpose in the world. However, we hypothesize that children who experience parentification will have high self-efficacy. The findings of this study may lead to implications that assist single parents in performing positive and sensitive parenting behaviors in order to promote a secure attachment with their children, as well as promote conversations on policy interventions that relieve unique stressors for single mothers so that they avoid having to rely on parentification.

The philosophical concept of free will is often highly debated. Benjamin Libet, an academic in experimental philosophy, discovered through recordings of cerebral activity that there is neural activity that correlates with a decision prior to our conscious declaration of that decision (Libet et al., 1983). In songbirds, previous studies have begun to show an increase in neuronal and respiratory activity in the seconds prior to song production, indicating preparatory action before performing this learned behavior (Daliparthi et al., 2019). In this study, the preparation for the learned motor behavior (song production) is compared against an unlearned control (defecation) in Zebra Finches. Electromyography (EMG) of respiratory muscles is employed as an additional technique to provide more detailed exploration of preparatory motor activity compared to previous studies. Our analysis of EMG recordings focused on the six expirations that occur prior to song production, because previous research has shown that there is an acceleration of the respiratory rhythm occurring in the last three respiratory cycles before song (Méndez et al., 2022). By measuring the electrical activity in the muscle, we hope to provide a more detailed understanding of how birds prepare for their upcoming song. Overall, this study aims to explore motor responses to determine whether expiratory muscular activation is preparatory for and predictive of an upcoming behavioral event. The larger goal of this study is to be able to “read a bird’s mind” by establishing physiological models for predicting behavior before the decision has occurred.

Shifts in mood across the menstrual cycle have been widely explored. However, few researchers have sampled participant experiences more than once or twice in each phase of the cycle. This methodology has limited our understanding of a very heterogenous cycle. We build on previous work by a) increasing sampling frequency and by b) examining how different subphases of the cycle correlate with participant mood. Female participants in the current study were asked to fill out a questionnaire about their mood and experiences every other day throughout their cycle. Participant responses were averaged within the luteal and follicular phases respectively in order to examine significant changes in mood from one half of the cycle to the next. Additionally, participant responses were averaged within each subphase of the cycle (i.e., early follicular, ovulatory, early luteal, and late luteal) in order to examine significant changes in mood within each phase. Results will offer an in-depth analysis into the different shifts in mood that natural-cyclers may experience across the menstrual cycle.

Unhealthy eating behavior plays a major, preventable role in many chronic health conditions, such as obesity, which is a leading cause of early morbidity in the United States. Recent research has focused on the influence of social connections on food choice through the enforcement of food-related social norms that motivate healthy eating practices. While this research illuminates the relationship between social connection and the promotion of healthy eating habits, less is known about how lack of social connectedness (i.e. isolation) may influence eating behavior and food choice differently. Just as there are many ways to be socially connected, there are also many ways to be disconnected. One such form of disconnection is the experience of existential isolation, which is characterized by the feeling that one is alone in their experience of the world. Existing research has found that chronic existential isolation is associated with poor mental wellbeing, such as heightened feelings of loneliness, death through accessibility, depression, anxiety, and reduced self-esteem. Yet, the associations existential isolation may have with physical health outcomes or behaviors remain unclear. The present research aims to investigate the links between feelings of existential isolation and self-reported eating behavior and healthy eating intentions. Across two survey studies, undergraduate students reported their trait levels of existential isolation, loneliness, and healthy eating behavior, with Study 1 assessing food quality, calorie content, and portion size planning, while Study 2 focused on intentions to eat healthy in relation to existential isolation. The results revealed significant negative correlations between existential isolation and self-reported healthy eating behavior, food quality planning, caloric intake planning, portion size planning (Study 1), and healthy eating intentions (Study 2). These associations also remained significant even when controlling for individual differences in interpersonal loneliness. The findings offer preliminary evidence of an association between daily feelings of existential isolation and unhealthy eating cognitions, with more existentially isolated individuals reporting less mindful eating behaviors and intentions. These results highlight the potential role that feeling existentially isolated may have on dietary choices, and subsequent long-term health outcomes. Implications of these findings for future research examining the relationship between social connectedness, existential isolation, and long-term health outcomes related to eating cognition will be discussed.

Black maternal mortality is a major issue in the United States. In recent years, the maternal mortality rate for Black women has been around three times the rate for White women. According to some research, this may be because people believe Black people are biologically different and can handle pain on a higher level, or because certain healthcare professionals lack empathy. The current study will examine whether participant’s attitudes toward a Black (vs. White) female giving birth will vary according to pain sensitivity, dehumanization, and other moderating variables (e.g., empathy, social dominance orientation). It is hypothesized that participants who read a scenario of a Black female giving birth will report lower pain sensitivity scores and rate her as being less than human as compared to participants who read a scenario about a White female giving birth. The implications of this study in relation to the well-being of Black women will be further discussed.

Visual working memory (VWM) is a critical cognitive capacity for the processing and manipulation of visual information, supporting tasks such as reading, spatial navigation, and object recognition. Cueing, the process of directing attention towards relevant information before (pre-cue) or after (retro-cue) stimulus presentation, has been shown to enhance object recognition and memory accuracy. This study aims to explore the effects of pre-cueing and retro-cueing on VWM capacity in a virtual reality (VR) environment, which offers a more immersive and ecologically valid setting for such investigations. TCU student participants were tasked with comparing a test stimulus to a sample stimulus based on its identity or location, on trials with pre and retro-cues. Based on previous data collected in the TCU Comparative Cognition Lab, it is anticipated that pre-cueing will result in better performance than retro-cueing. Given the increased ecological validity of virtual reality (VR) compared to 2D tasks, this trend is expected to become even more pronounced. The anticipated results of this study could offer valuable perspectives on how visual working memory operates within virtual reality settings and enhance our comprehension of how cueing influences memory retrieval. These findings may have implications for the development of more effective VR-based training and educational programs, as well as for the design of user interfaces that optimize memory recall in immersive environments.

Title: Saving Important Material: An Examination of Offloading, Memory, and Metacognition.

Authors: Ashley J. Berdelis, Morgan D. Shumaker, Sarah K. Tauber

Cognitive offloading—externally storing information to reduce internal cognitive load (e.g., on a smartphone)—has become widespread with technological advances (Risko & Dunn, 2015). Often, offloading is used when we need to remember information in the future (e.g., setting calendar reminders). However, sometimes how much to-be-remembered material we can offload is constrained by time or by available storage space. The agenda-based regulation (ABR) framework posits that learners assess task constraints prior to study and construct agendas to achieve the task goal within these constraints (Ariel & Dunlosky, 2009; 2013). For instance, learners allocate more study time to and selectively study more important (high-value) over less important (low-value) material, allowing them to maximize test performance under such constraints (Soderstrom & McCabe, 2011; Middlebrooks & Castel, 2018). Thus, learners might adopt similar offloading strategies by offloading important material and using internal memory for unimportant material. Critically, people often engage in offloading with the expectation that their external store will be available to them at the time of need; however, this is not always the case (e.g., technology failing). When offloaded material is available at the time of need, memory for that material is enhanced (Park et al., 2022). When offloaded material is unavailable at the time of need, memory for offloaded material suffers compared to memory for internally stored (recalled) material (Park et al., 2022). To use external tools most effectively, it may be useful for learners to be aware of their ability to remember externally and internally stored material. Thus, the current study examined whether learners are aware of their ability to later remember offloaded and internally stored material. Participants completed a series of memory tasks with the option to offload only a portion of the to-be-remembered items. Before the study phase in each task, participants made judgments about how much of the offloaded and recalled items they could later identify as having been seen before. After the study phase, participants made similar post-task judgements and were given a surprise recognition test on the studied material, during which the external store was unavailable.
We also examined whether learners could transfer their metacognitive awareness from one task to another, as offloading is relevant to various life scenarios. Finally, we examined how the value of the to-be-remembered material influences offloading, and how offloading and recall influence later memory. Participants’ pre-task judgements on the first task indicated that they would recognize more offloaded items than recalled items. However, this difference was not present on tasks two and three, suggesting that participants used experience with the first task to update their judgments for offloaded items. Participants offloaded more high-value than low-value items and had better recognition memory for recalled items than offloaded items, in all three tasks. Overall, people strategically offload important over unimportant material, but memory for offloaded material suffers compared to memory for recalled material. Learning about the relationships between value, offloading, memory, and metacognition can allow us to use external storage devices more effectively.

Approximately 72% of Americans are overweight or obese, and healthcare for obesity-induced chronic diseases accounts for almost half of the total costs for disease treatment in the U.S. Further, obesity is a key risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease (AD), a fatal disease that is the 6th leading causes of death in the U.S. As obesity and AD are comorbid, dietary intervention could be a key strategy to reduce excessive weight gain and AD risk.

High obesity prevalence in the U.S. is most likely due to the typical American diet, known as the Western Diet (WD), which is comprised of simple carbohydrates, refined sugars and vegetable oils, processed meat, and high-fat dairy products. Conversely, the Mediterranean Diet (MD), a plant-based diet, is typically comprised of complex carbohydrates, fruits, vegetables, olive oil, seafood, and low-fat dairy products. The MD has been shown to reduce the risk of developing chronic diseases, and thus, has the potential to protect against AD.

The current study examined the effects of the MD and WD, modeled after typical human diets, in a hippocampus dependent learning task in wildtype mice. As the hippocampus is a crucial brain region for learning and memory, and hardest hit by AD pathologies, we aimed to explore how diet affects learning and memory processes that are dependent on this brain region. The results revealed that life-long consumption of the MD enhanced spatial learning and memory, in comparison to the WD, in male mice. These results suggest that long-term consumption of the MD could be used to enhance cognition in older adults.

The introduction of the birth control pill allowed women to express greater control over their fertility. Since then, men have had less responsibility when it comes to family planning, as the majority of birth control technologies have been directed toward women, thereby creating an implicit association between femininity and the use of birth control. Currently, male birth control is in various stages of research, and when one becomes available, this association may decrease men’s willingness to use this contraceptive. Indeed, previous research has shown that men’s lower willingness to use a male birth control is associated with a desire to avoid appearing feminine. Therefore, increasing the association between masculinity and birth control could increase men’s willingness and interest in using a male birth control. The present study aimed to examine whether the degree to which a male birth control is associated with masculinity in an advertisement (ad) will influence men’s willingness to, and interest in, using the birth control. I predicted that the stronger the ad associated male birth control with masculinity, the more that men would be willing to/have an interest in using the depicted birth control. Participants viewed one of two ads for a male birth control, either a masculine ad or a non-masculine ad, and then indicated their willingness and interest in using the depicted birth control. We also measured men’s self-reported openness to short-term, uncommitted sexual relationships. Results suggested that similar willingness and interest in using the birth control was reported between the masculine ad and the non-masculine ad, suggesting that men’s willingness/interest was not influenced by the masculinity of the ad. However, the results did reveal a moderating effect of men’s sexually unrestricted desires. More specifically, when men viewed the non-masculine ad, there was no association between men’s willingness to use the depicted male birth control and their desires for short term, uncommitted sex. However, among the men who viewed the masculine ad, the more they desired short-term, uncommitted sexual relationships, the more willing they were to use the advertised birth control. Overall, these findings suggest when men are motivated to pursue short-term, uncommitted sex, they are then more willing to use a male birth control if that birth control is associated with masculinity. The implications of these findings for research on family planning will be discussed.

Retrieval practice typically improves learning and memory performance of basic information (Rowland, 2014). Much less research has evaluated the degree to which retrieval practice results in better test performance of more complex information such as category learning. In one case, retrieval practice led to superior classification performance relative to restudy conditions (Jacoby et al., 2013); however, in another, it did not (Babineau et al., in press). One important component that may contribute to retrieval practice effects in category learning is whether the learning process is self-regulated. We systematically explored this issue with the goal to establish when retrieval practice benefits learning of complex categorical information. During the experiment, we manipulated the study strategy (Retrieval practice versus Study) and the learning context (Experimenter-controlled versus Self-regulated) between-participants during a complex category learning task. Specifically, participants learned to classify six categories of organic chemistry compounds. For participants in the retrieval practice groups, participants practiced classifying each exemplar into the correct category and received corrective feedback after each trial. Participants in the study groups did not complete practice test trials. Instead, they studied all exemplars without practicing category classification nor did they get feedback on their learning. For participants in the experimenter-controlled groups, the order of the trials was fixed in an interleaved order. However, participants in the self-regulated groups made decisions about what to study after each trial. They were able to study a compound of the same type, a compound of a different type, or proceed to the test (after viewing 72 exemplars. After the study phase concluded, participants completed two classification tests. During the novel classification test, participants classified new exemplars they had never seen from the six chemical categories they just studied. During the studied exemplar test, participants classified the exemplars they had previously studied. The results revealed that participants who completed retrieval practice trials during the study phase performed better on the novel and studied classification tests than did participants who completed study trials. The benefit of practice testing on complex category learning was maintained for participants who self-regulated their learning and for participants whose learning was experimenter-controlled. The results of the present research support the use of retrieval practice as an effective study strategy for complex categorical information. Further, retrieval practice improved classification performance for those who self-regulated their category learning. Students often self-regulate their learning of complex information, and these novel findings indicate that completing a practice test improves student learning in controlled environments like the classroom, as well as in student-controlled environments such as studying outside of the classroom.