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20 GB

Racial Attitudes are Classist Too: The Interdependence of Racial and Class Attitudes in Blame Judgments

By: Lea Folsom

Social Psychology

Faculty Advisor: Dr. Charlotte Tate

Limited research has assessed the effects of classism and racism on social judgments. Therefore, the current study examined how class and race affect judgments using a 2 (class of target: upper versus lower) by 2 (racial identity of target: Black versus White) between-groups design in which participants read a scenario describing Charles (the target) attempting to open a vehicle without a key, becoming upset with the police, and being cited for disorderly conduct. In a forced-choice for who was most at fault, loglinear results indicated a three-way interaction, Z (n = 191) = 2.09, p = .036, such that when Charles was lower-class, he was most at fault when he was Black as compared to White; however, when Charles was upper-class, he was most at fault when he was White as compared to Black. These results suggest that racial stereotypes have an important class element to them that drives attitudes.

21 GB

COGNITIVE ABILITIES AND EMOTION KNOWLEDGE AMONG CHINESE PRESCHOOL CHILDREN

By: Riley Chu and Jessica Dow

Developmental Psychology

Faculty Advisor: Dr. Jae H. Paik

Emotion knowledge, the ability to perceive and understand the consequences of emotions [6], has been reported to significantly predict children’s school adjustment [1], social competency [4], and academic achievement [6]. Although research on emotion knowledge as a predictor has received considerable attention, limited studies have been conducted examining the factors predicting emotion knowledge among young children. Studies have identified general cognitive abilities (using general IQ [2] and language test [1] to be predictors of emotion knowledge. However, the way in which specific cognitive abilities (e.g. working memory, attention, inhibitory control, processing speed) affects emotion knowledge remains unclear. Further, little is known on the development of emotion knowledge within a culture that underplays the significance of displaying emotions [8]. For example, Chinese culture discourages the expression of emotion for it may disrupt group harmony and status hierarchies. Studies have shown that Chinese children have lower understanding of emotion knowledge than American children [10]. The aim of this research was to examine the relationship between varying cognitive ability and emotion knowledge among Chinese preschoolers. Research question: Do inhibitory control (ability to suppress dominant thoughts irrelevant to the desired goal), working memory (ability to hold information while it is being processed), number concepts, and language skills predict Chinese preschoolers’ emotion knowledge?

22 GB

Habituation Effects on Involuntary Cognitions: Evidence from the Reflexive Imagery Task

By: Sabrina Bhangal

Psychology

Faculty Advisor: Dr. Ezequiel Morsella

Research on involuntary cognitions (e.g., 'ironic' processes) suggests that these cognitions arise in a reflex-like manner. If so, then these cognitions should be susceptible to habituation. With the Reflexive Imagery Task, we found evidence for such habituation. The conscious contents occupying one’s mind seem somewhat insulated from external control. For example, when engaged in a given task, one might find oneself experiencing unintentional, task-irrelevant cognitions. The Reflexive Imagery Task (RIT) reveals that, despite one’s intuitions and under certain circumstances, conscious contents can be elicited by external stimuli unintentionally and reliably (Allen et al., 2013). Building on past frameworks proposing that certain kinds of involuntary (or ‘ironic’) cognitions enter consciousness automatically (e.g., Wegner, 1989), in the RIT, participants are instructed to not subvocalize the name of a visual object. Participants often fail to suppress such subvocalizations. In another RIT (e.g., Merrick et al., in press), participants are instructed to also not count the number of letters comprising object names. Participants experience both kinds of involuntary thought (naming and counting) on a substantial proportion of trials. Theorists (e.g., Allen et al., 2013; Wegner, 1989) have proposed that these involuntary cognitions arise in a reflex-like manner. If so, then these effects should be susceptible to habituation effects. The present variant of the RIT was used to examine whether the RIT effect diminishes from habituation effects resulting from the repeated exposure of the same RIT stimulus. Participants (n = 14) were shown 40 images of well-known objects (e.g., PENCIL) that had been used successfully in previous RIT research (Allen et al., 2013). The stimuli were line drawings that yield high ‘name agreement’ (Snodgrass & Vanderwart, 1980). Participants were instructed to not subvocalize the name of the object and to indicate by button press if they did. Critically, each object was presented (4 s) for ten consecutive trials. Our dependent measures consisted of the proportion of trials in which participants experienced involuntary subvocalizations of the object name (M = .52, SE = .01) and the average latency of the first subvocalization (M = 1,404.03, SE = 169.31). Initial findings suggest that, through habituation, the RIT effect can be diminished to some extent. This provides further evidence that the involuntary cognitions arising in paradigms such as the RIT can be construed as being automatic and reflex-like. The present project has implications for our understanding of cognitive control and psychopathological conditions featuring intrusive, undesired cognitions.

23 GB

Expression of Positive Emotions Mediates the Link between Emotion Dysregulation and Loneliness

By: Seyed Pooya Razavi Ghahfarokhi

Social Psychology

Faculty Advisor: Dr. Seung Hee Yoo

The ability to regulate emotions is positively related to social connectedness. According to the self-determination theory, loneliness happens when the three psychological needs (i.e., autonomy, competence, and most importantly relatedness) are not met. Accordingly, two studies investigated the relationship between difficulties in regulating emotions (e.g., lack of impulse control or limited access to regulatory strategies) and loneliness, and the role of positive and negative emotional expression as a mediator in this relationship. In study one, difficulties in regulating emotions was associated with greater loneliness. Limited access to emotion regulation strategies was the strongest predictor of greater loneliness. In Study 2, positive expressivity partially mediated the link between emotion dysregulation and loneliness; whereas this mediation effect was not present for negative expressivity. These results can be used to create interventions aimed at reducing social isolation and loneliness.

24 GB

Your brain on stereotypes: Social context biases early cortical attention

By: Sierra P. Niblett, Jordan M. Seliger, Adam Fogarty, Rain S. Lee, and Larysa B. Rutkowska

Mind, Brain and Behavior

Faculty Advisors: Dr. Mark W. Geisler and Dr. Avi Ben-Zeev

Social context exerts an influence on attention to faces, such that priming Black stereotypic associations creates an attentional bias to Black male faces (Eberhardt, et al., 2004). Similarly, electrophysiological research has demonstrated that race and stereotypes affect early attention to faces (Dickter & Gyurovski, 2012). In the present study, participants viewed Black and White male faces while electroencephalography was recorded. Faces were preceded by traits priming either a race-stereotypic context or a non-race-stereotypic context. Preliminary findings revealed significantly larger N1 amplitudes (μV) for race-stereotypic Black faces compared to non race-stereotypic Black faces, suggesting an early cortical attentional bias to Black faces in stereotypic contexts.

25 GB

Measuring SF State’s Core Values: Development and Validation of a Value Strength Assessment

By: Stephanie Aborida, Rylan Charlton, Zachary DeRossette, Caitlin Eddy, Julia Hind-Smith, Jessica Lam, Jocelyn Lancaster, Kristopher Romero, Alyssa Vu, and Danielle Wittorp

Industrial & Organizational Psychology

Faculty Advisor: Dr. Kevin J. Eschleman

A graduate psychology class developed a scale to measure San Francisco State’s cultural strength based on its five core values: courage, life of the mind, equity, community, and resilience. Two separate samples of full-time employees were surveyed to establish scale validity and reduce a 70-item scale to a 20-item scale representing all of the organizational values. The survey was then distributed to SF State students to measure the University’s cultural strength. In our sample (N = 184), students’ personal values were higher than the perceived strength of SF State’s values. If this pattern is replicated with a larger sample, the student body’s values can serve as a goal for the university’s value strength.

26 GB

The Effects of Self-Selected, Emotionally-Valenced Music on EEG and Pain Modulation

By: Trevor Jackson, Christine Jimenez, and Gavin Dowd

Psychology

Faculty Advisor: Dr. Mark W. Geisler

Music has been shown to have an analgesic effect for pain when it is self-selected (Mitchell & MacDonald, 2006) or positively valenced (Roy, Peretz, & Rainville, 2008). The current study investigated whether an analgesic effect of positive music is stronger than negative music when both musical excerpts are self-selected. EEG was collected at bands of interest that included alpha (8-13 Hz), frontal-midline theta (4-8 Hz), and beta (13-30 Hz), and was recorded from Fz, F3, F4, Cz, C3, C4, Pz, P3, and P4. Participants chose one song that was rated as most positive, and one song that was rated as most negative. Participants then listened to white noise (as a control) and each musical excerpt (in a counterbalanced order) for 45 seconds before placing their hand into a pain-inducing cold-pressor task (CPT) while the music played. Length of time in the CPT was recorded, along with subjective pain intensity ratings (11-point continuous Likert scale) and continuous EEG. Preliminary results indicated significantly longer times in the CPT for both positive and negative music as compared to white noise. There were no significant differences in pain intensity ratings. EEG measures showed that, for positive music and white noise, frontal-midline theta power was maximal during the time immediately preceding hand placement in the CPT, then power decreased during the painful stimulus. For negative music, frontal-midline theta power was minimal during the time immediately preceding hand placement in the CPT, then power increased during the pain stimulus.

27 GB

Positive Self-Talk During Conversations: A Buffer Against Negative Emotions

By: Zaviera Bonita Reyes

Social Psychology

Faculty Advisor: Dr. Seung Hee Yoo

Self-talk is a dialogue used to interpret a person’s feelings and perceptions, regulate and change evaluations and give instructions and reinforcement. Self-talk can be utilized internally or verbally. Components of self-talk include emotions, cognitions, and ideas that influence how people perceive and regulate their behavior. The relationship between positive self-talk and emotion functioning/performance have been studied predominately within clinical or athletic samples. Positive self-talk users significantly outperformed negative self-talk users and control groups using motivational (“I can do it!”) and instructional (“see the target”) self-statements. In addition, positive self-talk helps redirect attention and decrease negative affect through statements like “I tried to make the most of it”. To date, self-talk has only been examined in the context of how people engage in self-talk when they are alone. The present study examined whether people engage in self-talk when talking with others about past angry events and whether this interpersonal self-talk influences one’s emotions. We hypothesized that self-talk would occur as students shared their negative event and students who used positive self-talk would experience less negative and more positive affect upon recalling a recent negative event.  Pairs of undergraduate participants (n = 63, 20 male, 43 female) were videotaped taking turns talking about the last time they felt very angry. Video recorded participants were coded for the absence of self-talk, negative-self talk and positive self-talk using a coding scheme based on the Self-Talk Inventory subscales (i.e., instructional, motivational and positive/negative orientation). Afterwards, participants completed several self-reports of positive and negative affect. Participants were categorized as either positive self-talk users (employed only positive self-talk cues) or non-users of positive self-talk (no self-talk cues, negative self-talk, or a combination of positive and negative self-talk). Positive self-talk users reported feeling less upset and marginally less angry following a recall of a recent anger inducing event compared to non-users of positive self-talk. Their leels of interest, a positive emotion, were also marginally higher than non-users of positive self-talk.  Collapsing across all negative emotions, positive self-talk users experienced significantly less negative emotions than non-users. These results partially supported our hypothesis. Self-talk did occur during an interpersonal interaction and students who used positive self-talk experienced less negative emotions when talking about a negative event that occurred to them compared to those who did not engage in positive self-talk.  In addition, the previous study presents evidence for a behavioral assessment for self-talk in non-sporting and clinical populations. These results suggest that self-talk may have positive benefits in an interpersonal setting and may serve a self-regulatory function.  

28 GL

Investigating How Science Students and Faculty Organize Their Science Knowledge

By: John Rodriguez

Cellular & Molecular Biology

Faculty Advisor: Dr. Kimberly Tanner

Complex socio-economic and environmental problem solving depends on interdisciplinary collaboration among scientists. Effective interdisciplinary collaboration depends on the researchers’ ability to understand and make connections to each others’ perspectives. However, it is unclear if students can make these interdisciplinary connections during their undergraduate science education. There are no assessments to our knowledge that show how students or faculty connect interdisciplinary concepts among problem-statements from different disciplines. Thus, we aim to create a simple assessment that detects student recognition of interdisciplinary concepts in science as well as investigate how students and experts organize an interdisciplinary set of science problems: by discipline, by interdisciplinary concepts, or by some other organizational framework. A card sorting task, consisting of a science problem typed on each of 9 cards, will be used to gain insights into what kinds of connections students make between a set of science problems. I expect that the majority of students will sort the science problems by discipline (biology, chemistry, and physics) while the majority of experts will sort the cards into the interdisciplinary concept groups (energy transformations, types of equilibrium, relationships between structure and function). Through seeing these robust differences in how populations organize their science knowledge, this study will validate the ability of a card sorting task to distinguish between populations. Ultimately, this will make it easier for instructors to monitor the development of students’ ability to connect interdisciplinary perspectives, a beneficial skill if we are to collaborate to solve complex problems.

29 GL

Genetic Interaction Between Aminotransferases and Qos1

By: Jo-Ting Chang

Cellular & Molecular Biology

Faculty Advisor: Dr. Zheng-Hui He

Our lab is studying early seedling development in Arabidopsis thaliana. One of the mutants our lab work on is rus which has a striking phenotype. This mutant can be rescue when exogenous vitamin B6 is added.We found that aminotransferases (such as asp1, asp2, and asp3) which are vitamin B6-dependent enzymes can suppress rus and rescue the phenotype. Then our lab found another mutant qos1, which can suppress asp2 and cause the seedlings (the genotype is rus1 asp2 qos1 triple mutant) have striking phenotype again. The project I am doing now is observing the genetic interaction of qos1 with other aminotranferases to see if qos1 can also suppress them.

30 GL

Genetic and Functional Role of Quell of Suppressor1(QOS1) in RUS1-mediated Early Seedling Development in Arabidopsis thaliana

By: Xiao Chang

Cellular & Molecular Biology

Faculty Advisor: Dr. Zheng-Hui He

Plant development requires complex signaling networks to precisely coordinate both external and internal factors. Early seedling establishment is critical to plant growth and successful reproduction. ROOT UV-B SENSITIVE1 (RUS1) is a key component regulating Arabidopsis early seedling development. When a functional RUS1 is missing, seedling ceases to develop after germination. Interestingly, this striking phenotype can be partially rescued by exogenously added vitamin B6 (vitB6). Genetic suppressor screens identified specific mutations in AMINOTRANSFERASEs (ASPs), which are enzymes that use vitB6 as an essential cofactor, can also suppress rus1. This kind of suppressors was named suppressor of rus (sor). While RUS, ASP, and vitB6 are clearly connected in seedling early development, how these components work together to regulate early seedlings development remains elusive. Using the rus1/sor12 double mutant as a convenient genetic platform, a “suppressor of suppressor” genetic screen was set up to identify more players in this process. One of these players called QUELL OF SOR1 (QOS1). When QOS1 is mutated, qos1 can cancel out the suppression of sor2 and return the rus1/sor1 double mutant back to rus1. The goal of this thesis project is to characterize the functional role of QOS1 in RUS1-mediated seedling development. QOS1 gene will be mapped and cloned by genetic and molecular approaches. Phenotypic characterization of qos1 mutant in responding to key regulatory factors such as hormones, vitamins and light will be analyzed. Revealing the molecular nature of QOS1 and analyzing the phenotype of qos1 will provide important insight in understanding how RUS, ASP, and vitamins B6 are connected to regulate early seedling development in Arabidopsis.

31 GL

Evolutionary Origins of U12 Introns and miRNA Identification Through Conservation

By: Cameron N. Everson

Cellular & Molecular Biology

Faculty Advisor: Dr. Scott Roy

Investigation into the relationship between u12 containing genes and their ancestral origins in an effort provide further data points to the u12 evolutionary time line. Elucidation of the conservation rate of miRNAs located inside introns to assist in the development of a novel method of miRNA discovery.

32 GL

Novel Anti-Apoptotic Treatment After Heart Attack

By: Dulguun Bayardorj, Jianqin Ye, Eric Fuh, Richard E Sievers, and Yerem Yeghiazarians

Cellular & Molecular Biology

Faculty Advisor: Yerem Yeghiazarians, Dr. Carmen Domingo, and Dr. Diana Chu

Cardiovascular diseases including acute myocardial infarction (MI) are the leading cause of death worldwide. Treatment options are limited due to the inability of heart to replace its dead myocardium after injury. Despite major advances in stem cell-based transplantation methods, clinical studies have been inconsistent and shown small improvements. More importantly, the mechanism underlying these improvements is still controversial and unknown. We have previously reported that paracrine signaling may be responsible for the improvements, and have discovered interleukin-15 – paracrine factor – receptor system on cardiomyocytes. In addition, we recently reported that IL-15 decreased cardiomyocyte death in in vitro hypoxic condition. However, the clinical potential of IL-15 needs to explored next in order for it to be a promising therapy for ischemic heart diseases. Here, we report that IL-15 can inhibit apoptosis of CMs in the infarcted heart, and improve cardiac function and decrease infarct size after a heart attack. Infarcted in vivo mouse model was used to determine the effect of IL-15. When treated with IL-15, animals showed fewer early-apoptotic CMs in peri-infarct zone (PZ) and smaller infarct size and improved cardiac function compared to the controls at 28 days post-MI. This study then further validates our previous findings that suggest that paracrine signaling is a key mechanism for improving cardiac function in stem cell-based transplantation therapeutics and that IL-15 is a pro-survival paracrine factor that can rescue the death of CMs early on to prevent larger scar size, resulting in less severe cardiac function after a heart attack. Overall, this study proposes a novel anti-apoptotic treatment that may prevent tissue death in ischemic heart diseases.

33 GL

The Effect of Human Complement Factor H (FH) on Neisserial Surface Protein A (NspA) vaccine immunogenicity

By: Eduardo Lujan

Cellular & Molecular Biology

Faculty Advisor: Dr. Steve Weinstein

Neisseria meningitidis is the etiological agent of meningococcal disease, a major cause of global mortality and morbidity. Five major strains (serogroups: A, B, C, W, Y) are responsible for most cases of invasive disease, and each strain is distinct in the composition of its capsule structure. The capsules of serogroups A,C,W and Y have been used to develop a conjugate vaccine that provides protection, but the capsule of serogroup B strains cannot be used because its an autoantigen. Efforts to develop safe and effective vaccines against meningococcal serogroup B are made difficult due antigenic variation, and the lack of highly conserved surface exposed protein antigens. Meningococcal serogroup B strains are highly virulent, cause 33% of U.S. meningococcal disease, and are the leading cause of death in children and adolescents, thus the lack of safe and effective serogroup B vaccines represents a significant unmet medical need. One antigen with vaccine potential is Neisserial Surface protein A (NspA), a highly conserved outer membrane protein found in all meningococcal strains to date. NspA elicits bactericidal α-NspA antibodies in mice, but failed to do so in human clinical trials. The discordant results observed in mice and humans may be explained by the recent discovery that NspA was identified as a ligand of human complement Factor H (FH), an interaction which has been reported to impair immunogenicity for other vaccine antigens that bind complement Factor H (FH). To investigate the effect of complement Factor H binding to NspA on vaccine immunogenicity, wild-type and human Factor H transgenic mice will be immunized with an NspA vaccine and serum α-NspA antibodies will be quantified by ELISA and tested for bactericidal activity by serum bactericidal assay (SBA). We hypothesize that binding of human FH to NspA impairs vaccine immunogenicity and propose that immunogenicity can be increased, by engineering the NspA antigen to have impaired Factor H binding. Unlike any known meningococcal antigen to date, NspA is 98% conserved among all sequence meningococcal isolates ever identified, and thus and NspA vaccine has the potential to provide protection against not only serogroup B strains of N. meningitidis, but all serogroups of meningococcus.

34 GL