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Saratoga Springs,
New York, 12866
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Collaborative Research (continued)
Skidmore students and their professors have worked together
on numerous research projects. This kind of high-level scholarship
does more than enhances a student's understanding in a given
disipline; the practical, hands-on experience and "real-world"
accomplishment also instill a sense of confidence that will
benefit a graduate in any career. Projects from recent years
appear below, arranged by academic area.
Project: Pet interactions for
institutionalized participants: Psychological benefits and moderating
factors Participants: Visiting Assistant Professor Cay Anderson-Hanley
and Jesse Bank '03 Plan: The goal of this study is to assess a number of
psychological variables associated with human-animal interactions
in an effort to clarify factors that lead to therapeutic benefit.
This study will focus on two institutionalized populations:
prisoners and elderly residents. Physiological and psychological
measures of the possible benefits of pet contact will be obtained
(e.g., reduced blood pressure and improved mood). Elderly participants
will visit with a study dog twice a week for 10 weeks. Prisoners
will participate in Guiding Eyes for the Blind, a puppy-raising
program, in which a dog will live with them. Possible beneficial
and differential effects over the course of the 10-week study
will be analyzed, and each participant's attachment style will
be factored in as a possible moderating variable.
Project: Further Investigations
of the Impact of Texture Attributes on Object Perception Participants: Assistant Professor Flip Phillips and Martin Voshell
'02 Plan: Two years ago, with the support of a Keck grant,
the complex, perceptual interaction of the geometric (three-dimensional)
and surface (two-dimensional) properties of an object were studied.
Using the results from these experiments, a better description
of the effects of 3-D and 2-D complexity on human observer's
perception of objects in the world were formulated. The property
of the world that we casually refer to as "texture" is actually
neither two- nor three-dimensional, but rather an interaction
of a variety of two- and three-dimensional characteristics of
an object. The goal for this project is to extend the investigation
already begun into some heretofore unstudied areas in an attempt
to better understand the nature of the process of texture perception.
Project: The Effects of Repeated, Daily Maternal Separations
on Mother-infant Interactions Participants: Assistant Professor Gregory A. Goodwin and Samantha
L. Warnock, '00 Plan: A long line of research has shown that brief, daily
separation of young rats from their mothers during the first
two weeks of life has long-term effects on the offspring's responses
to stressors (Meaney, et al., 1996). Recently, these investigators
have shown that these daily separations effect the interactions
of the mother with her young and that the changes in her behavior
are critical for determining the sensitivity of the offspring
to stressors encountered later in life. These investigators
have not, however, carefully characterized the exact changes
in the mother-infant interaction that result from daily removal
of her litter. Our goal is to examine these changes more carefully
as well as to examine their effect on offspring responses to
a stressor.
Project: The Aversive Effects of Kappa Receptor Activation
in Infant Rats Participants: Assistant Professor Gregory A. Goodwin and Jamie
Levison, '00 Plan: Opioids are naturally secreted in certain regions
of the brain when an animal or human is performing behaviors
pertinent to survival, inhibiting the neural signals of pain
and reinforcing the survival instinct. These endogenous opioids
also function early in development, playing an important role
in the formation of attachment between the infant and its parent.
The infant's bond for its mother is reinforced positively and
negatively by endogenous opioids. Specifically, nursing induces
an endorphin release in both human and rat infants, reinforcing
the mother-infant bond. Conversely, the aversiveness of maternal
separation may be mediated by a different class of endogenous
opioids. Our goal is to examine the role of endogenous opioid
receptors in one brain region that mediate this aversiveness.
Project: Perception of Three-dimensional Object Qualia
using Two- and Three-dimensional Texture Information Participants: Assistant Professor Flip Phillips and Colin Thompson,
'00 Plan: All objects in the visual world possess the quality
of texture to a varying degree. We will investigate the relationship
between certain types of visual texture information and the
perception of 3-D objects. The phenomena that we colloquially
refer to as texture actually can arise from many sources;, for
example, the structural features of an object, such as the dimples
on a golf ball, or the 'decal' properties of the surface, such
as the pattern of dyes on fabric. Currently, the literature
outlines a restrictive conception of texture, focusing on patterns
of retinal stimulation, ignoring the underlying source of the
texture qualia. This series of experiments will examine the
interaction between the source of the visual texture information
and the perception of textured objects.
Project: Preschoolers' Understanding of Identity Participants: Assistant Professor Grant Gutheil and Rebecca Freedman
'00 Plan: One of the major achievements of early cognitive
development is the ability to understand that an object's or
person's individual identity can remain stable while various
properties of the individual change (e.g., adults know we don't
become different people by changing our clothing or hairstyle).
Previous research has indicated that preschoolers do not yet
grasp this, and think identity is determined by properties such
as proper name and appearance. These results contrast both with
related achievements in preschool cognition, and with current
identity research employing methods more sensitive to preschoolers'
abilities. The proposed collaboration is part of an ongoing
investigation of 3- to 5-year-olds' understanding of individual
identity stability across a variety of controlled conditions
and individuals (e.g., people, objects, and animals).
Creative Thought Matters.
Skidmore College · 815 North Broadway · Saratoga Springs, NY · 12866
