FIRST ANNUAL UML STUDENT RESEARCH SYMPOSIUM

April, 1998

ANIMATED FILMS AND THEIR EFFECTS ON MOOD. Sara Medici (Doreen Arcus)

Mood and emotion are powerful psychological constructs that influence many aspects of behavior. Adults may show alterations in mood after viewing films, and children’s moods appears to be altered by cartoons. Our question was whether adult mood and emotion could be similarly changed by viewing short clips of animated films or cartoons. Forty one UML completed an adaptation of the Mood Adjective Checklist (Choi et al, 1993), rating the extent to which 10 positive and 10 negative emotions were characteristic of their mood. Half of the subjects then watched five one-minute segments of animated Disney depicting sad events, and the other half watched segments depicting happy events. After viewing these cartoon segments, subjects again completed the Mood Checklist. Positive and negative scores were summed, and changes in pre- and post-scores were computed. There was a significant effect of cartoon type on mood change. Negative emotions increased when subjects watched sad cartoon segments, and decreased when they watched happy (F(1, 37) = 35.4, p < .0001). Positive mood increased with the happy cartoons and decreased with the sad ones (F(1, 37) = 31.9, p < .0001). There was no effect of sex of the subject. These results suggest that cartoons are an appropriate method for manipulating mood and emotion in college aged subjects, and provide a useful tool for experimental investigations of the effect of mood on aspects of thought and behavior.

INFLUENCE OF AUTHORITY FIGURE ON ATTENTION TO DETAIL. Dennis Theriault & Erin Callahan (Doreen Arcus)

University students are often required to process information presented in films and videotapes, during which time the professor--the authority figure in the class--may or may not be present. Authority figures are well known to influence the social behavior of individuals, and we asked whether they might similarly influence attention to detail. Sixty UML undergraduates viewed a series of four cartoons lasting approximately 25 minutes in total. For half of the subjects, the student examiner remained in the room, standing behind a podium near the video screen. For the other half of the subjects, the student examiner left the room while the video was being shown. All subjects then completed a 34 item questionnaire designed through pilot testing to assess recall of incidental details of the video. Total items correct were summed and the two viewing conditions compared. Students who viewed the video with the examiner present recalled significantly more items than those who viewed on their own (t (58) = 4.10, p < .01). These results demonstrate that students retain more information from video presentations in the presence of an authority figure, and suggest that professors may contribute to their students’ processing of multimedia information simply by their presence.

A GEOMETRIC CHALLENGE TO THE PICTORIAL SUPERIORITY EFFECT. Erin Taylor (Doreen Arcus)

There is substantial evidence that short term memory for a list of items is enhanced when the items are presented by picture rather than the printed word; however, these data are based on comparisons of picture to word using everyday common objects. The present study was designed to investigate whether this pictorial superiority would extend to comparisons using abstract items such as simple geometric shapes. Thirty-four UML undergraduates were asked to recall a series of 10 geometric shapes for a total of 10 trials. On half of the trials, shapes were presented by picture and on the other half by printed word. Order of presentation was counterbalanced across subjects. There were no effects of sex of the subject or order of presentation. The main result failed to confirm pictorial superiority; significantly more items were recalled when presented by word compared to picture (t (33) = 3.41, p < .01). These results suggest that the pictorial superiority effect is limited to recall of common everyday objects. They further suggest that abstract geometric shapes may be encoded differently than concrete objects, rendering the word superior to the picture for this type of short term memory task.

SECOND ANNUAL UML STUDENT RESEARCH SYMPOSIUM

April, 1998

EMOTION AND COGNITIVE PERFORMANCE. Elizabeth A. Notaro (Doreen Arcus), Department of Psychology, University of Massachusetts Lowell, Lowell, MA 01854

Do we think as clearly when we are sad as we do when we are not? Research suggests that emotional states can interfere with cognitive processing and with attention to detail. In an attempt to determine whether exposure to mild emotionally laden stimuli could interfere with basic cognitive tasks, 66 University of Massachusetts Lowell undergraduates were asked to recall lists of 25 neutral words before and after seeing a videotape. Half of the participants viewed a series of Disney cartoon excerpts that were neutral in content, and half viewed scenes identified by previous research as evoking sadness (e.g., Bambi searching for his mother). The number of words correctly recalled from the pre- and post-video lists was compared for each participant and by viewing condition. Repeated measures ANOVA revealed that participants in the sad video condition recalled fewer words after viewing the videotape compared to participants in the neutral condition (F (1, 64) = 10.1; p < .01; eta = .49). This effect held for both males and females. These results suggest that even a very mild manipulation of emotional state—exposure to sad children’s cartoon segments in this case—can have a reliable impact on basic cognitive performance.

THE CONTRIBUTIONS OF CHILDHOOD INHIBITION AND PARENTAL STYLE TO SHYNESS IN ADULTS. Kathleen Hildreth (Doreen Arcus)

Research with children suggests that temperament and parenting interact to predict timidity and shyness. The current study explores the development of shyness and introversion in adults, and examines the relations between adult personality and the type of parenting one experienced as an adolescent in combination with ones own childhood temperament. Approximately 120 participants will complete three questionnaires: one assessing childhood inhibition as a proxy for child temperament, one eliciting recall of parental discipline style from adolescence, and one assessing adult shyness. We hypothesize that adults who report high levels of inhibition as children and whose parents displayed an authoritative style will show fewer symptoms of adult shyness and inhibition compared to adults who were similarly inhibited as children but raised by non-authoritative parents. We further hypothesize that this relation will hold for males and females. Data are currently being entered for analysis separately by gender, and the results will be presented at the symposium.

(Note: This project was undertaken by a 375 student for her senior honor thesis in the semester following 375—there is not an experimental manipulation here)

THIRD ANNUAL UML STUDENT RESEARCH SYMPOSIUM

April, 2000

GENDER, CHOICE, AND CONVERSATION: DOES TOPIC CONTROL INFLUENCE CONVERSATIONAL DOMINANCE? Susanne Harris & Krista Nadir (Doreen Arcus)

Men tend to dominate conversations in mixed sex dyads and small groups. We explored whether this tendency would be reduced by manipulating which partner had the choice of conversational topic in male-female dyads. Eighty undergraduate volunteers--half male and half female--were randomly assigned to mixed sex dyads and asked to discuss one topic from a list provided for five minutes while being videotaped from behind a one way mirror. In half of these dyads, the woman was asked to choose a topic; in the other half, the man was given the choice. Each subject’s videotaped conversational behavior was coded for behaviors presumed to reflect conversational dominance: total talking time, number of interruptions, and number of disclaimers. Across all dyads, men spoke longer (F (1, 76) = 4.42, p < .05), but only when men had the choice of topic. Comparing male and female talking time within dyads revealed a trend for men to speak about 35 seconds longer than their female partner when they chose the topic (t (19) = 1.91, p < .10) but no advantage when women were in control of the topic (t (19) = 0.38, n.s.). Overall, women tended to interrupt more (F (1, 76) = 2.73, p = .10), but these interruptions tended to be “go ahead” statements (“uh-huh”) rather than interruptions to change the direction of the conversation. In other words, these interruptions reflected support and agreement, rather than dominance. Again, the sex difference held only when men were given the choice of topic (t (19) = 2.38, p < .05), and failed to emerge when women were given the choice (t (19) = 1.18, n.s.) There were no differences in the number of disclaimers. These results suggest that aspects of situational control may exert a moderating influence on male conversational dominance.

PERSONALITY AND OPINION Jennifer L. Zdon (Doreen Arcus)

Does public presentation of opinon on controversial issues reflect aspects of personality? Yes, we find that it does. Our study demonstrated that the degree of Individuation, that is, one’s willingness to stand out in a crowd as measured on Maslach’s (1985) Individuation Scale (IS), predicted the likelihood that participants would change their expressed opinions when faced with the possibility that those opinions would be shared with a group. Thirty-three participants completed the IS and were then categorized as either high- or Low- Individuators. They then completed a social opinion questionnaire created to elicit responses on a variety of controversial issues about which there is general consensus on “politically correct” and “incorrect” points of view (e.g., “I feel resentful toward poor people when I have to pay taxes for their welfare”). After this first completion, participants were asked to complete a second copy of the questionnaire to share with others in a group discussion, thus creating anonymous and group conditions. High Individuators remained consistent in their social opinion responses from anonymous to group condition compared to Low Individuators, who decreased their scores, shifting toward increased political correctness when their opinions were to be shared with the group. Thus the present study supports the utility of Maslach’s Individuation Scale in predicting behavior in social self-presentations situations as well as the contention that personality plays a role in social behavior.

FOURTH ANNUAL UML STUDENT RESEARCH SYMPOSIUM

April, 2001

DOES SALARY EQUAL COMPETENCY? PERCEPTIONS OF PAID AND VOLUNTEER FIREFIGHTERS. Charles LeBlanc & Jennie Merrill (Doreen Arcus)

We often form impressions of people before we really know them and based on very minimal information. In this experiment, we examined how undergraduate students perceive firefighters’ competency depending on whether they believed the firefighters to be paid or volunteer. Students were asked questions based on six short excerpts about fires that were taken from newspaper accounts of actual incidents. Content of excerpts and assigned volunteer-paid status were counterbalanced across participants. We found that paid firefighters were rated as significantly more competent than volunteer firefighters, even though they were described taking the same actions in the same situations. When participants were further asked whether they would rather a paid or volunteer firefighter respond to a fire in their own home, the vast majority who voiced a preference, indicated they would prefer a firefighter who was paid for his or her work.

HIGHER EDUCATION ASSISTANCE FOR CHILDREN IN FOSTER CARE: IS IT SUFFICIENTLY INCLUSIVE? Jennie Merrill (Doreen Arcus)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts has recently initiated a program of financial support for college students who have been in foster care. Clearly, children who have been placed in foster care and go on to higher education have done so against the odds. We examined those odds in the profiles of 98 children between the ages of 6 and 15 who were in foster care and awaiting adoption. Profiles were obtained from public sources (Boston Globe Sunday’s Child and Massachusetts Adoption Resource Exchange). Based on descriptions of each child, a judgment was made as to whether that child was receiving special education (SPED) services, that is, services required by an Individualized Educational Plan or under Section 504. Inter-rater reliability for these judgments was high. Based on these judgments, we found a significantly higher rate of special education among children in foster compared to the general student population. Although not surprising, there are implications for the likelihood that these children will be eligible for college enrollment given the rate at which students in SPED fail what has become a requirement for high school graduation in the Commonwealth, the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (the MCAS). Therefore, we interpret these findings to suggest that children in foster care, while deserving of financial support for their post secondary pursuits, may also require enhanced academic supports during their elementary and high school years. Without special attention to special education, the availability of financial assistance for college attendance, in all too many cases, may be inconsequential.

(Note: This project was undertaken by a 375 student for research experience in the semester following 375—there is not an experimental manipulation here)