Submissions

Idali Casas, Justice Corbett, Chloe Davis, Amelya Rivera, Natalie Ceballos, & Reiko Graham

Submitting Author: Idali Casas fey9@txstate.edu 

The rejection of an item as food is central to the concept of disgust, including substances that are considered inappropriate. While certain foods may be acceptable to eat as they are, they may become inappropriate when paired with other items (i.e., the combination itself is disgusting). This study used event-related potentials (ERPs) to measure the neural responses to appropriate (e.g., cheese & crackers) and inappropriate food combinations (e.g., bananas & ketchup). It was predicted that relative to appropriate combinations, inappropriate food combinations would capture attention and elicit avoidance-related tendencies, which should be reflected in ERP amplitudes and distributions. Eighteen undergraduates (6 males) viewed pairs of food words and indicated their willingness to eat the combination while EEG was monitored. Inspection of averaged ERP waveforms revealed a frontocentral positivity peaking between 275-425 ms corresponding to the P3a, the peak amplitudes and latencies for edibility judgments to appropriate vs. inappropriate pairs were examined. Analyses revealed that while latencies of the P3a did not differ as a function of condition; F(1,17) = 0.64, p > .05), P3 peak amplitudes were higher for inappropriate food pairings relative to appropriate ones; F(1,17) = 5.89, p < .05, such that P3a amplitudes were more positive for inappropriate vs. appropriate pairings (M = 9.02 vs. 7.91 µV respectively). Although preliminary, these results support interpretations of the P3a as an index of salience (larger for unexpected and inappropriate food combinations) and may also be sensitive to motivational processes recruited in self-relevant judgments like edibility.

Karrie Barrett, Alessandra Rizzo Esposito, Crystal Martinez, & Roque V. Mendez                                           

Submitting Author: Karrie Barrett           kmb374@txstate.edu

This study investigated both gender and ethnic differences in empathy and assistance toward Hispanic immigrant minors that are arriving at the Southern U.S. border. To further explore previous research that suggests women report higher levels of empathy, this study explored whether women exhibit greater empathy or willingness to help immigrant minors. Using vignettes featuring various characteristics of immigrant children, we found that women, both Hispanic and White Caucasian, were more likely than male participants to provide shelter, food, clothing, and overall assistance to the Hispanic immigrant minor. Empathy measures indicated that women scored higher than men, and this empathy positively correlated with their inclination to help. In addition, the study considered moral foundations, revealing that women, both Hispanic and White Caucasian, were more likely to protect the vulnerable, aligning with their empathetic responses. These findings shed light on the complex interaction of gender, ethnicity, empathy, and moral foundations in shaping attitudes and behaviors toward immigrant minors, emphasizing the role of empathy in fostering positive responses, among women.  

Lydia Garza, Michael Price, Zehra Haque, & Carmen E. Westerberg                     

Submitting Author: Lydia Garza               try15@txstate.edu

According to the continuity hypothesis, dreams reflect waking life experiences. Metacognition, the awareness of one’s thought processes, is minimal during typical dreaming but is greater during lucid dreams, when the dreamer is aware they are dreaming and can sometimes control dream content. Therefore, one hypothesis is that lucid dreams may be more continuous with waking life than non-lucid dreams and thus contain less bizarre content than non-lucid dreams. However, support for this hypothesis is mixed and it may be incomplete, as metacognition typically includes multiple components, and these various metacognitive aspects may be differentially influenced by personality traits. To further examine how dream bizarreness relates to metacognition and personality, 416 participants completed a survey including measures of multiple aspects of metacognition, personality, and reports of their most recent lucid and non-lucid dreams, which were scored for bizarreness. Seventy-eight participants were able to report both dream types and contributed to analyses. In contrast to the continuity hypothesis, lucid dreams were more bizarre than non-lucid dreams. Additionally, regression analyses revealed that lucid dream and non-lucid dream bizarreness were associated with different aspects of metacognition. Finally, neuroticism and conscientiousness were predictive of aspects of metacognition associated with lucid dream bizarreness but not non-lucid dream bizarreness. Collectively, results from this study suggest that dream bizarreness may reflect specific aspects of metacognition rather than a general awareness that one is dreaming, and that personality specifically influences the bizarreness of lucid but not non-lucid dreams.   

Drake Keffer, Quade White, Jazmyn Zynda, & Carmen E. Westerberg                   

Submitting Author: Drake Keffer             dak87@txstate.edu      

During sleep-dependent memory consolidation, recently learned memories are reactivated and integrated with existing knowledge, which stabilizes and strengthens new memories. This process is selective, in that memories that are consistent with one’s goals receive preferential access to sleep-dependent memory consolidation processes. However, the influence of an individual’s mood on this selectivity is unknown. In the current study, participants listened to a story that included happy, sad, and neutral details. Next, half of the participants underwent a guided imagery procedure in which they imagined themselves in sad scenarios to induce a sad mood. All participants were then given a 90-minute break. Half of each group took a nap monitored with EEG (Mood-Sleep, No Mood-Sleep) while the other halves remained awake (Mood-Wake, No Mood-Wake). Finally, all participants were asked to recall details from the story heard before the break. Participants in both mood groups recalled more total details than other participants, and a smaller proportion of happy details, indicating that a sad mood after learning promotes memory retention of neutral and sad details. Furthermore, participants in the Mood-Sleep group recalled a greater proportion of emotional details than participants in the Mood-Wake group, and sleep-spindle density during the nap predicted the proportion of emotional details recalled in the Mood-Sleep group. However, no difference in the proportion of emotional details recalled was observed for participants in the No Mood groups, suggesting that mood immediately after learning can influence how memories are processed during sleep.              

Yordanos Kinfe, Daniel Gonsalez, Omalys Biggs-Rodgriuez, Favour Kowe, & Carmen E. Westerberg

Submitting Author: Yordanos Kinfe        ygo3@txstate.edu 

New memories are stabilized and strengthened during memory consolidation, which primarily progresses during sleep. Recent evidence is mixed with regard to whether wakeful rest (WR), a period of wakefulness in which attention and other cognitive demands are reduced, may also facilitate memory consolidation. Differences in test format across studies may be responsible for the currently ambiguous literature. This experiment examines how test format influences the effects of WR on memory consolidation. Participants completed two consecutive sessions. In each session, participants watched a video, took an immediate memory test, and then took a 15-minute break. In one session, the break was filled with WR and in the other, they completed a distractor task. Following the break, participants took a delayed memory test. Half of the participants took immediate and delayed multiple-choice memory tests whereas the other half took immediate and delayed free recall tests. Participants who took multiple-choice tests performed better on the immediate tests compared to the delayed tests, whereas participants who took recall tests performed better on the delayed tests compared to the immediate tests. Additionally, a benefit of WR for memory was only observed for participants who took multiple-choice tests, as participants showed less forgetting in the WR compared to the distractor task condition. For participants who took the recall tests, there was no difference in memory improvement from the immediate to the delayed test between the WR and distractor task conditions. Collectively, these results suggest that test format can affect the efficacy of WR on memory consolidation.            

Clara Blankenship, Krista Howard, & Brandon Thint      

Submitting Author: Clara Blankenship cab542@txstate.edu                    

The connection between social media and mental health has been a popular area of interest for researchers in the past decade. New social media platforms, such as TikTok, reveal more novel social behaviors worth exploring. Many studies have been conducted to assess the relationship between clinical depression and social media habits, but these analyses have not been done using data from the popular app, TikTok. With its recent controversy and governmental disapproval, data from TikTok is valuable and imperative in understanding this generation’s mental health in the context of social media. This study aimed to take a critical look at TikTok usage among people who meet the criteria for Major Depressive Disorder. Participants (N = 210) were between the ages of 18-25 (M = 18.9, SD = 1.3). They were given a survey asking about mental health experiences and TikTok use habits. There was a statistically significant relationship between MDD symptoms and TikTok addiction and social comparisons on TikTok (p < .001). Additionally, participants with MDD were more likely to interact with TikTok videos about mental health, specifically through the comments sections (p < .001). These results show a strong connection between a diagnosis of MDD and unique behaviors on TikTok, and they give an insight into how the population’s general relationship with social media is shaped by their mental health status.  

Kelsey Randall, Regan Christian, & Carmen Westerberg                            

Submitting Author: Kelsey Randall         nnr36@txstate.edu 

Memory for emotional events is often enhanced in comparison to non-emotional events. Furthermore, emotion can influence what information is remembered through trade-off effects that prioritize the encoding of salient emotional details at the expense of neutral details. Emotionally significant events may also influence contextual memory, or the knowledge of where and how information was encoded. The affective qualities of an experience may impact judgments of where and when information occurred, as well as its perceptual characteristics. Previous research has typically used static images and word stimuli to study these aspects of emotional memory, however, video stimuli may yield more ecologically valid findings. The proposed study will investigate memory trade-off effects and contextual memory for emotional information using affective news videos. College student participants from Texas State University will watch 6 positive, 6 neutral and 6 negative-valanced news clips that are around 45 seconds long. Participants will then complete spatial, perceptual and temporal memory tasks to test memory for contextual aspects of the videos. Additionally, they will complete a free-recall test where they are asked to report as many details as they can remember from each video. Recalled details will be scored as contextual or central details. We expect to find enhanced contextual memory for negative videos in comparison to positive and neutral videos, and that trade-off effects will be observed for negative videos but not for positive and neutral videos.                

Sarah Michelle Wondra, Aiden Brock, & Jessica Perrotte                              

Submitting Author: Sarah Michelle Wondra      zpe6@txstate.edu

Social media addiction (SMA) is negatively linked to social support, belonging, and self-esteem (Tullett-Prado et al., 2023; Zhu et al., 2023). Higher social media use has been linked to increased alcohol use and hazardous drinking in young adults (Fat et al., 2021, Savolainen et al., 2020). Research indicates that online discrimination is prevalent and linked to drinking (Keum & Cano, 2023). However, the relationships between SMA, online minority stress, alcohol use, and substance use have not been examined. Therefore, this study aims to: 1) Examine the relationship between social media addiction and substance and alcohol use, and 2) Examine the relationship between minority identity status, discrimination, and social media addiction. Data were collected from approximately 250 young adults across the United States using Prolific, an online survey platform. Data were analyzed in SPSS using multiple regression to examine the relationships between sociocultural stressors and SMA and the relationships between SMA and alcohol and substance use. Results were stratified across key relevant identities (e.g., race, gender, and sexual orientation) and showed that: a) young adults of Color endorsed more SMA than White young adults; b) discrimination was related to higher SMA among young adults of Color but not White young adults; and, c) SMA was related to greater alcohol use among heterosexual young adults but not LGBTQA+ young adults. Findings from this study may inform future research and reveal populations that are more at risk of developing SMA and experiencing related harmful consequences such as alcohol and substance use.                 

Hannah D. Johnson & Kelly Haskard-Zolnierek

Submitting Author: Hannah D. Johnson               h_j90@txstate.edu

Telemedicine, a method of delivering medical care remotely via technology, such as phones or computer, has seen a significant increase in utilization in recent years. This advanced approach allows patients to receive healthcare services without being physically present in a medical clinic, increasing accessibility. However, the use of and preferences for telemedicine in young adults, specifically college students, has not been an extensive focus of previous research. This correlational study used survey methodology to evaluate patient satisfaction and willingness to use telemedicine among college students. Participants were recruited from introduction to psychology courses (N = 77; 71.4% female) and completed a Qualtrics online survey with questions about use of telemedicine, satisfaction with telemedicine, and willingness to use telemedicine in the future. Results indicated that college students with higher satisfaction levels are more willing to see a doctor for a telemedicine consultation in the future (r = .383, p < .001). Patient satisfaction is important for the assessment of quality within healthcare, which may impact patient adherence and clinical outcomes. We hope to utilize these findings in future research on the attitudes towards telemedicine across various demographics, with the goal of enhancing healthcare accessibility.

Liliana Rojo, Jaden Moreno, Priscila Gamez-Hernandez, Roxana Perez, Norma Perez-Brena 

Submitting Author: Liliana Rojo               lmr206@txstate.edu                    

A parent’s involvement with their child is pivotal to their relationship and overall adjustment (Ackard et al., 2006; Chen et al., 2019), including for Latinx families (McWayne et al., 2016). Current literature suggests that cultural beliefs and personal distress may be salient in parental involvement (Cowan, 2022; Cabrera, 2022). Much of the current research on involvement has focused primarily on adult parents and mostly fathers (Cabrera & Bradley, 2009), excluding the unique parenting experiences of adolescent mothers and their coparents. This study will assess if familism, gender role attitudes, and personal distress are associated with adolescents’ report of their own, their coparents, and their mother figures’ involvement with the child. Using online survey data from pregnant and parenting adolescents, we found that for adolescents’ report of their own parental involvement, stress was negatively associated with involvement, and familism was positively associated. For the adolescents’ report of their coparents’ involvement, stress was negatively associated with involvement, and relationship status was positively associated. For the adolescents’ report of their mother figures' involvement, familism was positively associated with involvement. Findings provide unique insights for implications of child and adolescent parents’ adjustment and potential interventions. 

Brandon Win Thint, Krista J Howard, & Millie Cordaro

Submitting Author: Brandon Win Thint qsa15@txst.edu

Empathic concern (EC) is a noted subset of empathy which focuses on emotions and concerns related to the well-being of others, and involves both tenderness and sympathy (Davis, 1983). While EC typically reflects prosocial behaviors and responses, the literature on EC and its associations with current political issues impacting society at large are understudied. The present study assesses differences in empathic concern in relation to current political opinions. A nationwide survey included 503 participants who were identified as having either low or high EC using the Interpersonal Reactivity Index. Participants were also measured on current political issues across the following categories: general politics, election security, economic issues, reproductive issues, LGBTQ+ issues, and school issues. The results showed a significant difference between the Low and High EC groups across all 6 categories and opinion statements. The opinions from the High EC group were more altruistic and prosocial, which aligns with prior research (Chopik et al., 2017). Based on the results from this study, future research should focus on the relationship between empathic concern towards out-groups and explore if this presents a significant impact on voting habits or political activity.

Faith Swanson, Rhonda Balzarini, Taylor Himes, & Chris Agnew

Submitting Author: Taylor Himes            t_h215@txstate.edu

Previous research has found that romantic partners can co-regulate stress such that when experiencing stress, two romantic partner's nervous systems synchronize, decreasing feelings of stress (Mercado & Hibel, 2016; Sbarra & Hazan, 2008). However, in the globalized, modern world, many couples spend less time together and increasing numbers of couples live apart or engage in long-distance relationships. Research has yet to examine if the co-regulation of stress can still occur with the virtual presence of a partner. In the present study, we examine if couples can co-regulate stress with the virtual presence of their romantic partner. We hypothesized that while undergoing a stressful task in VR, the presence of one's partner would elicit the co-regulation of stress. We recruited 97 couples and randomly assigned them to the partner present or partner absent condition. Each couple was separated and given a survey to gather demographic information and subjective stress ratings. Baseline heart rate measures were also collected. Next, we instructed one partner that they would be giving a speech in virtual reality for evaluation. In the present condition, both partners created avatars in VR headsets and could see each other during the speech task. In the absent condition, the participant giving the speech did not know their partner was watching them in VR. We recorded heart rate for both partners during the preparation period and speech. Afterwards, both partners completed a post-survey. In our analysis, we conduct a linear mixed model to examine changes in stress between conditions and time points. 

Madison Risner, Idali Casas, Natalie Ceballos, Chloe Davis, Alex Garcia, Anthony Kang, Amelya Rivera, & Reiko Graham

Submitting Author: Madison Risner       mgz12@txstate.edu 

Motivational processes are thought to arise from the coordinated actions of the behavioral inhibition and activation systems (BIS and BAS) to regulate subsequent emotions and behaviors (e.g., Gray, 1987). The objective of this study was to examine individual differences in self-reported BIS and BAS tendencies and whether they are associated with event-related potentials (ERPs) elicited by stimuli that should evoke approach- or avoidance-related tendencies and capture attention. Thirty-one participants (5 male, 1 declined responding, M age = 19.68 years) completed a battery of measures including demographics, the BIS/BAS (Carver & White, 1994) and an event-related task where they viewed images of animal faces (snakes, snarling dogs, puppies, and kittens), and indicated whether they would approach or avoid the animal on a 4-point scale. Two ERP trial types were created; one representing trials of puppies and kittens receiving approach ratings, the other of snakes and snarling dogs receiving avoid ratings. Current analyses compared behavioral ratings and the amplitudes of the frontally distributed N200 component elicited by approach- and avoidance-related stimuli to determine overall differences across stimuli. With respect to N200, amplitudes were significantly more negative to avoidance- vs. approach-related stimuli, suggesting that these stimuli captured attention. Follow-up regressions revealed that while the BIS/BAS was not associated with N200 amplitudes to avoidance-related stimuli, BAS full scale scores were a significant predictor of N200 magnitudes to approach-related stimuli. Specifically, lower BAS scores were associated with higher N200 magnitudes, suggesting that lower overall levels of approach motivation may affect attentional capture by rewarding stimuli.          

Olivia D. Teasdale, Dea Mitaj, & Megan L. Rogers            

Submitting Author: Olivia D. Teasdale  olivia.teasdale@txstate.edu                    

Alcohol use is associated with suicidal ideation (SI), and rumination, a suicide risk factor, has shown to elevate following alcohol use, suggesting its potential potency in this relationship. More work is necessary to understand the dynamic relationship between alcohol use and SI. This study addressed the indirect relationship between alcohol use and SI through rumination, and whether internalizing symptoms moderated these paths. Participants were 278 adults with current SI and/or lifetime suicide attempt, aged 18 to 62 years (Mage = 28.05, SD = 6.26) who completed self-report measures. A moderated mediation model was conducted in PROCESS (Model 59). First, there were significant interactions between alcohol use and anxiety (B = .02, SE = .01, p = .045) and depression (B = .04, SE = .01, p < .001) in predicting rumination (Path A). Second, there were significant interactions between rumination and anxiety (B = -.03, SE = .01, p = .001) and depression (B = -.03, SE = .01, p = .002) in predicting SI (Path B). Third, there were significant interactions between alcohol use and anxiety (B = .05, SE = .01, p < .001) and depression (B = .03, SE = .01, p = .001) in predicting SI (Path C). Contrarily, rumination did not explain the relation between alcohol use and SI. These results reveal how internalizing symptoms may impact risk factors for SI differentially. Future work may benefit from evaluating alcohol use and SI longitudinally. Further results, implications, and limitations will be addressed.           

Marden J. Umanzor, David J. Reyna Guerrero, Randall E. Osborne, Ariel A. McField, & Crystal D. Oberle

Submitting Author: Marden J Umanzor juz3@txstate.edu 

The current study explored various factors affecting affirmative action attitudes. Undergraduate students completed an online survey with measures assessing support for Black-targeted and Hispanic-targeted affirmative action, perceived discrimination against Blacks and Hispanics, social dominance orientation, and racial group esteem. Prior to completing these measures, some participants were randomly assigned to read a set of 10 facts about current racial inequities. Analyses revealed that affirmative action support was greater for outreach and training policies versus preference and quota policies, greater among participants who read the inequity facts versus the control group, greater among Black and Hispanic participants versus White participants, greater among White participants with low versus high White esteem, and greater among participants with low versus high social dominance orientation. Regarding demographics, support was also greater among Democrat and liberal participants versus Republican and conservative participants, greater among female participants versus male participants, and greater among sexual minority participants versus straight participants. Additionally, whereas Black participants did not differ in their support for Black-targeted versus Hispanic-targeted affirmative action, Hispanic participants supported Hispanic-targeted affirmative action more than Black-targeted affirmative action, even though they also gave higher ratings of perceived discrimination faced by Black individuals in comparison to Hispanic individuals. These findings are consistent with past research, social dominance theory (whereby Hispanic affirmative action support may be influenced by group status threat), and the altruism-born-of-suffering theory (whereby adverse discriminatory experiences of Black and sexual minorities may have led to greater empathic concern and support for affirmative action).   

Cristian Curran & Amitai Abramovitch

Submitting Author: Cristian Curran       cmc410@txstate.edu   

Creativity is a complex construct involving the generation of ideas and products that are both novel and practical. People have noted the link between psychopathology and creativity for centuries (e.g., the term mad genius), however, only since the 1950s has any empirical research investigated the nature of this relationship, often investigating disorders commonly attributed to increased creativity (e.g., bipolar disorders, schizophrenia, schizotypal personality disorder). Today, few studies have studied any correlation between creativity and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), though the limited findings suggest a slight negative relationship. OCD is a frequently debilitating psychological disorder characterized by obsessions (i.e., repeated and unwanted intrusive thoughts that distress the individual) and compulsions (frequent and often ritualistic behaviors done to relieve distress). The proposed study will investigate how various measures of creativity may correlate with symptoms of OCD, comparing people with high versus low symptom prevalence in an analog sample, factoring in various neuropsychological attributes associated with OCD (e.g., intolerance of uncertainty, stress, possible deficits in executive function) by way of psychological measures. It is hypothesized, in concurrence with previous literature, that obsessive-compulsive (OC) symptoms will correlate negatively with scores on divergent thinking tasks, but not significantly correlate with scores on convergent thinking measures. It is also hypothesized that OC symptoms will negatively correlate with self-ratings of creativity. These findings may yield insight into mechanisms in creativity and OCD and may find applications in therapeutic methods for the disorder.

Evan Nares, Rhonda Balzarini, & Taylor Kohut                  

Submitting Author: Evan Nares               emn28@txstate.edu    

Over the past decade, there has been a decline in medical support of male circumcision in the US. However, despite increased skepticism over the medical benefits, some people continue to circumcise their children. While reading the literature on circumcision, the rhetoric used by researchers arguing for or against routine circumcision seemed to align with the main themes of sex positivity. Some of these themes include autonomy and sexual health (Ivanski & Kohut, 2017). Researchers have highlighted the lack of sufficient empirical research about the decision-making process, outcomes, and perceptions of circumcision (Bossio et al., 2014). Our study sought to understand whether people’s level of sex positivity were associated with their attitudes, beliefs, and intentions towards circumcision.          

Thomas Ramos & Joe Etherton                

Submitting Author: Thomas Ramos       tgramos3@txstate.edu                                

This project aimed to review the literature describing the brain regions or pathways engaged; select tests were from the Meyers Neuropsychological Battery (MNB), which assesses select major neurocognitive domains. Five tests from the MNB were evaluated: Rey Complex Figure Test, Digit Span, Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test, Controlled Oral Word Association Test, and Trail Making Tests A & B, each associated with different neurocognitive domains. Literature searches were conducted to locate studies involving one or more of these tests to identify the primary brain regions activated with the task. Study methods included brain imaging (e.g., fMRI, PET, etc.). Clinical methods of known brain pathology were also used to associate task performance. Identifying and labeling brain regions involved in the performance of the five tests provides a visual aid for understanding distinct and overlapping neural activity involved in the tests.    

Megan Shepard, Cristian Curran, & Rebecca Deason

Submitting Author: Megan Shepard       mps96@txstate.edu 

Music has long been considered a valuable tool for enhancing memory, particularly confidence in memory decisions. Patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) displayed improved confidence in memory decisions when presented with unfamiliar lyrics paired with music at encoding (Simmons-Stern, Budson, & Ally, 2010; Simmons-Stern et al., 2012). To expand this research, the current study examined whether pairing to-be-learned information with music enhanced confidence in memory performance in healthy young adults. Participants listened to and read unfamiliar lyrics accompanied by either a spoken or a sung version of the lyrics. The vocalists' genders were varied to focus on source memory confidence. After rating how much they liked or disliked the lyrics, participants began a recognition test, which presented the lyrics with no audio. Participants identified if the lyrics were previously sung, spoken, or new. If the participant responded with sung or spoken, they were asked to recall the vocalist’s gender. Finally, participants rated their confidence in their answers. Overall, confidence was higher for accurate sung responses compared with spoken responses. ​For vocalist source memory, trial accuracy was related to confidence for both conditions. ​These results provide more information about the versatility and generalizability of the effects of music on memory confidence.  

Justin Tran, William Murley, Tyler Staton, Justin Tran, Matthew Beckham, Randall Osborne, & Megan Rogers  

Submitting Author: Justin Tran jht42@txstate.edu         

Studies have highlighted the inclination of compulsive buyers towards specific purchases, particularly in the realm of luxury items such as jewelry, as a coping mechanism to alleviate stress, anxiety, and depression (Black, 2007; Lo & Harvey, 2014). However, little research has delved into whether the emotions experienced at the point of purchase extend to the subsequent viewing of one's collection. This study aims to fill this gap by introducing and piloting a scale to assess experiences associated with viewing one's collection of luxury items and exploring its relationship with relevant psychological factors. 167 students from Texas State University were recruited to complete an online Qualtrics survey that included validated and reliable measures for compulsive buying, narcissism, self-esteem, and personality. The Dragon Complex Scale proved to be reliable (α = .81). Furthermore, a correlational analysis found that there was a positive relationship between “Dragon Complex” and narcissism (B = .21, p < .01) and between “Dragon Complex” and compulsive buying (B = .38, p < .01). The Rosenberg Self-Esteem scale was low on reliability (α = .58) so the correlation was not included in the results. Having succeeded in creating a reliable scale for our novel construct, findings from this research may be used to launch additional research related to compulsive buying and shopping addiction behaviors. Further research is needed to determine whether our construct is indeed distinct from similar behaviors such as collecting and hoarding.

Regan Christian, Lydia Garza, Diego Villa Peña, & Carmen E. Westerberg

Submitting Author: Regan Christian      kob26@txstate.edu 

Individuals with depression commonly experience a negative memory bias, exhibiting superior memory for negative information compared with memory for neutral or positive information. The present experiment investigates how sleep-dependent memory consolidation processes may contribute to this negative memory bias in depressed individuals. Potential participants completed a depression inventory and were divided into high and low depressive symptom groups.  Both groups of participants listened to a story that contains happy, sad, and neutral details. Next, half of each group stayed awake during a 90-minute break and the remaining participants took a 90-minute nap monitored with electroencephalography (EEG).  Afterwards, all participants were asked to recall as many details as they could remember from the story. There were no differences in the total number of details recalled or the proportion of emotional details recalled across groups. However, for participants with high depressive symptoms, those who slept during the break recalled a smaller proportion of happy details compared with those who remained awake, and there was also a trend for these participants to recall a larger proportion of sad details compared with those who remained awake. For participants with low depressive symptoms, there were no differences in the proportions of happy, sad, or neutrals details recalled between participants who slept and those who remained awake. Collectively, these results suggest that sleep-dependent memory consolidation processes are differentially applied to new memories in participants with low and high numbers of depressive symptoms and that sleep-dependent memory consolidation contributes to the negative memory bias in depressed individuals.             

Taehoon Kang, Chloe Davis, Madison Risner, Alex Garcia, Amelya Rivera, Idali Casas, Natalie Ceballos, & Reiko Graham ​

Submitting Author: Taehoon Kang          rma142@txstate.edu   

Although we are all prone to mind wandering, its measurement remains elusive, relying largely on metacognition/self-report. The objective of this study was to examine the neural correlates of mind-wandering during rest to determine whether inattention tracks with EEG patterns observed during mind wandering using experience sampling. Thirty-one participants (5 male, 1 declined responding; M age = 19.68 years) completed a battery of measures including demographics and the 4FMW and underwent a series of EEG measurements including 2, 5-minute resting EEG recordings (one with eyes open; the other, eyes closed. More mind-wandering was reported with the eyes closed vs. open and scalp distributions of theta, alpha, and especially beta power differed as a function of trait inattention. These results suggest that mind-wandering is resource-demanding and differs in degree across individuals that can be indexed, at least in part, by trait-based measures. 

Christopher R. Soens, Kristen M. Tooley, & Paul Christian Dawkins

Submitting Author: Christopher R. Soens           crsoens@txstate.edu   

Structural priming research consistently demonstrates persistence of abstract structures during language use (see Mahowald et al., 2016). Scheepers et al. (2011) extended these findings across mathematical and linguistic domains, suggesting a shared cognitive framework for abstract structural representation. We probe these claims by examining math-to-language priming across individuals with varied mathematical training (math-related and non-math-related majors). Seventy-six participants solved 24 prime mathematical expressions, equally distributed across three conditions: Baseline (e.g., 7 + 24 = ?), High Attachment (combine middle first, e.g., 7 + (28 − 4) × 2 = ?), and Low Attachment (combine end first, e.g., 7 + 28 − (4 × 2) = ?). Primes were followed by an ambiguous English sentence (e.g., The reporter waited for the manager of the pop star who was always late), then a forced-choice question (e.g., ""the pop star was late"" or ""the manager was late"") to determine their interpretation. Eye movements were recorded throughout the experiment. A linear mixed-effects model revealed no significant effect of condition on sentence interpretation nor a significant interaction between condition and major. However, non-math majors trended toward predicted priming patterns more than math majors. Examining the initial fixation patterns while solving the mathematical expressions show a bias towards the region where the first operation appeared (p < .001), regardless of major. This operation-focused processing is at odds with Scheepers et al.’s (2011) left-to-right left-to-right theory of structural extraction. These preliminary findings suggest that cross-domain structural priming effects may not be as robust as previously reported.

Pardis Lahouti Fard, Rhonda N. Balzarini, David L. Rodrigues, Giulia Zoppolat, Evan Nares & Richard Slatcher                

Submitting Author: Giulia Zoppolat       gzoppolat@gmail.com                

This study extends past research by considering the impact of external stressors during COVID on sexual quality and whether having a responsive partner can attenuate the detrimental effects of stress and depression on one’s relationship. Using the Love in the Time of COVID study, we expect stress to be associated with lower reports of sexual quality and for this association to be mediated by depressive symptoms. We further postulated that perceived partner responsiveness will act as a mitigating factor, buffering individuals from these detrimental consequences. Our data collection has been completed, and the analyses will take place after pre-registration.