Three Elon students presented their research March 28 at the Symposium for Young Neuroscientists and Professors of the Southeast 2009, held at the College of Charleston in Charleston, S.C.
Liz Olszewski ’09 presented her study, “High-risk tanning behaviors, ultraviolet light dependency, and responses to the Addiction Potential Scale in university undergraduates: A preliminary investigation” which examined the Addiction Potential Scale’s ability to predict ultraviolet light (UVL) dependence. Previous studies have examined the psychologically reinforcing effects of UVL exposure using metrics based on substance abuse disorders. The Addiction Potential Scale (APS, a supplementary scale of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2) is a measure highly correlated with states of dependence which does not ask questions directly pertaining to substance use behaviors. The female tanners who met the other metrics’ criteria for UVL dependence also had significantly higher scores on the APS than those who did not. These results indicate that the APS may be useful in identifying UVL dependence within populations of frequent tanners. Mathew Gendle, an associate professor of psychology, was the faculty mentor and co-author for this research study which has been submitted for publication in a peer-reviewed journal.
Justin Sun ’10 and Abbe Golding ’10 presented their study (co-author Darius Prevost ’09), “Oral activity does not induce context-dependent memory when flavor is held constant” which examined the effect of chewing cinnamon gum or sucking on cinnamon candy (both oral activities) on memory. Recent results on chewing gum’s ability to induce memory effects have been mixed. One reported influence of gum-chewing on memory is a context-dependent effect in which memory is improved by a match between the context in which information is learned and that in which it is recalled, versus a mismatch between the learning and recall contexts. However, the apparent context-dependent effects of chewing gum may actually be due to the flavor match between the two conditions, rather than due to the chewing match. Justin & Abbe’s study corrected the methodological problems of previous studies and found that there was no context-dependent effect of oral activity in the presence of cinnamon flavor. These results extend previous findings by casting further doubt on the ability of oral activity, such as chewing gum, to induce context-dependent memory effects and have real-life and academic importance with regard to students’ studying habits. Chewing gum during studying and during exam-taking is not enough to induce a context match and therefore to boost information recall (memory). Amy Overman, an assistant professor of psychology, was the faculty mentor and co-author for this research study, which has been submitted for publication in a peer-reviewed journal.