2007 Student Research Award Winners

Correen Farris

Alcohol Intoxication Influences Perceptual Processing of Women’s Sexual Interest Cues

Coreen Farris, Indiana University

"Computational modeling parameters were used to characterize the influence of alcohol intoxication on men’s perception of women’s sexual interest. Intoxication reduced sensitivity to affect cues but did not interfere with sensitivity to provocative clothing. In some target displays, intoxication marginally increased the perceived association between women’s affect and their clothing.�relevant behavioral outcomes. The proposed study will employ a disclosure recipient-specific, longitudinal design in order to assess how these disclosure processes vary across disclosure recipients and time for people living with HIV/AIDS. The APS student research grant has helped tremendously in covering the cost of participant recruitment and compensation.�motivation and attention."
Victor Luevano

Evidence for the Babyface Overgeneralization Effect in fMRI Activation of the Amygdala and Fusiform Gyrus

Victor X. Luevano, Brandeis University

"Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) analyses examined whether brain activity while viewing faces of babies, babyfaced men, and maturefaced men showed differential activation consistent with the hypothesis that prepared responses to babies are overgeneralized to babyfaced adults. Activation of the amygdala and the fusiform gyrus revealed a neural substrate for this babyface overgeneralization effect. We will examine startle during affective picture-viewing among individuals with syndromal MDD, subsyndromal MDD, and among asymptomatic individuals. This project is designed to examine whether blunted startle modulation represents a risk factor for more severe depressive episodes and whether deficits in startle modulation represent a vulnerability to repeated
Kyle Scherr

Searching for the Powerful Self-Fulfilling Prophecy: Achieving Power Through Accumulation

Kyle Scherr, Iowa State University

"This research tested whether the stereotype that overweight people lack willpower had cumulative self-fulfilling effects. Consistent with study hypotheses, perceivers gave targets more candy when targets were labeled as overweight versus not and targets took more candy home the greater the number of perceivers who believed they were overweight."
Eric Zimak

Risky Behavior and Personality Traits in the Developmental Progression of Attention-Deficit/ Hyperactivity Disorder

Eric Zimak, Ohio University

"Risky decision-making can negatively impact young adults’ behavior across occupational, academic, health, and social settings. Results of the current study suggest that adults diagnosed with ADHD in childhood engage in higher levels of risky behavior than young adults reporting current ADHD symptoms but without a developmental history of the disorder.�these circumstances. The goal of ongoing research is to investigate the mechanisms underlying this effect."