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Within-person variability in curiosity during daily life and associations with well-being
No full textJournal of Personality, Volume 88, Issue 4, 1 August 2020, Pages 625-641.Objective: Curiosity promotes engagement in novel situations and the accruement of resources that promote well-being. An open question is the extent to which curiosity lability, the degree to which curiosity fluctuates over short timescales, impacts well-being. Method: We use data from a 21-day daily diary as well as trait measures in 167 participants (mean age = 25.37 years, SD = 7.34) to test (a) the importance of curiosity lability for depression, flourishing, and life satisfaction, (b) day-to-day associations among curiosity and happiness, depressed mood, anxiety, and physical activity, and (c) the role of day's mood as a mediator between physical activity and curiosity. Results: We observe positive associations among curiosity lability and depression, as well as negative associations among curiosity lability and both life satisfaction and flourishing. Curiosity is higher on days of greater happiness and physical activity, and lower on days of greater depressed mood. We find evidence consistent with day's depressed mood and happiness being mediators between physical activity and curiosity. Conclusions: Greater consistency in curiosity is associated with well-being. We identify several potential sources of augmentation and blunting of curiosity in daily life and provide support for purported mechanisms linking physical activity to curiosity via mood
The Relationship Between Helicopter Parenting and the Psychological Well-Being of Emerging Adults
No full textHelicopter parenting refers to the over-involved behavior of parents and/or caregivers who are highly invested and concerned for the well-being of their children. Helicopter parents typically engage in behaviors designed to remove obstacles from their children’s way. Although helicopter parents likely have good intentions for their children, as a child’s need for autonomy progresses, it is important to adjust the level of involvement and control accordingly. The present study represents an initial investigation into the relationship between helicopter parenting behaviors and the well-being of young university students. Participants consisted of 120 college students in their second semester of freshman year and 25 parents of student participants. Students completed measures of helicopter parenting for up to two parents/caregivers (e.g., mother and/or father), parents completed a self-report measure of helicopter parenting, and all participants completed self-report measures of anxiety and depression. Students who reported high levels of helicopter parenting behavior for the parent/caregiver with whom they have the most contact reported significantly higher levels of anxious arousal and lower grade point averages. Female parents/caregivers were reported to exhibit significantly greater helicopter parenting than that of male parents/caregivers. Male students perceived higher levels of helicopter parenting behaviors than female students. Student and parent reports of helicopter parenting were positively correlated with a large correlation coefficient, suggesting concordance between parent and child reports.Clinical psychologyPsychologyAcademic Functioning, Anxious Arousal, College Students, Emerging Adulthood, Helicopter Parenting, Parental InvolvementPsychologyDegree Awarded: M.A. Psychology. American Universit
DIFFERENTIAL MODULATION OF SENSORIMOTOR AND NON-SENSORIMOTOR NETWORKS WITH CEREBELLAR TDCS
No full textThe human cerebellum is thought to contribute to both sensorimotor and non-sensorimotor functions, and functional subregions of the cerebellum exist based on regional differences in anatomical connectivity with the cerebral cortex and spinal and vestibular systems. It has been argued that cerebellar subregions modulate different cerebro-cerebellar circuits, impacting a wide range of behaviors. We aimed to determine the effect of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) targeting different cerebellar subregions on behavior and whole-brain functional connectivity patterns. Forty-seven healthy young adults (17 males, 30 females; 23.2 ± 2.4 years) completed a resting-state scan and language task both before and after 20min of 1.5mA anodal (excitatory) tDCS in the MRI scanner. Eleven participants received tDCS targeting the sensorimotor cerebellum (3cm lateral to right of inion); cognitive cerebellar regions were targeted in n=20 (4cm to right of inion); and 16 participants received sham tDCS. We compared electric field (EF) models, behavioral performance on a language task (sentence completion task), and functional connectivity between the groups to evaluate the behavioral and neural changes resulting from regional cerebellar neuromodulation. The EF models revealed distinct peak coordinates for the sensorimotor and cognitive electrode montages, with some overlap between the EFs produced by the two active cerebellar stimulation sites. Behaviorally, tDCS targeting the cognitive cerebellum improved accuracy and response times on the sentence completion task, whereas targeting the sensorimotor cerebellum impaired task accuracy. Resting state functional connectivity results suggested differential modulation of broader cerebro-cerebellar circuits with the sensorimotor vs. cognitive electrode montages. Anterior and posterior cerebellar networks were differentially modulated via tDCS, whereby targeting the sensorimotor cerebellum increased functional connectivity within the anterior cerebro-cerebellar network while targeting the cognitive cerebellum increased functional connectivity within posterior cerebro-cerebellar networks. These findings confirm that cerebellar subregions can be differentially modulated with tDCS, though additional analyses suggested that the specificity is limited to supra-lobule levels with the electrode montages used here. Because cerebellar modulation could have broad clinical applications, future work will determine whether and how we can improve selective targeting of specific cerebro-cerebellar circuits.Neurosciencescerebellum, cognition, functional MRI, motor, topography, transcranial direct current stimulationPsychologyDegree Awarded: M.A. Psychology. American Universit
Algorithm for Object Detection and Obstacle Avoidance for Medication Delivery Robot
No full textSeniors age 65 and older are projected to be 23.5% of the U.S. population by 2060. Today approximately 80% of the elderly population have at least one chronic disease such as heart disease, cancer, stroke, and diabetes. Chronic disease can affect seniors' health and quality of life and requires medication compliance for disease management. Today the number of residents in nursing homes is about 1.3 million in the U.S. Many residents have a strict medication regime averaging over four medications every day. With the increase in the aging population with chronic disease and the shortage of nurses in nursing homes, there is an increase in potential medication errors and non-compliance. Advanced technologies have great potential in improving clinical practice and increase the efficiency of medication adherence. This project extends existing work to standard delivery of medications to patients in nursing homes using robotics. A prototype system has been developed and implemented using an iRobot platform. The project includes the development of an ultrasonic sensor module for the detection of obstacles of different heights and shapes. Moreover, conducted tests examined the sensor system's performance for detecting and characterizing obstacles based on shape, edge, and material. Ultimately, the project aims are achieved by developing an algorithm to detect and avoid fixed and flexible obstacles along the delivery path in a simulated laboratory setting. The robot is able to navigate the path to reach its target destination.Biomedical engineeringElectrical engineeringComputer scienceBiomedical EngineeringDegree Awarded: M.S.--Biomedical Engineering. The Catholic University of Americ
USFS 2019
No full textUSFS 2019 is a proletarian Sagittarian comedy in three-ish parts. It attempts to narrativize the author’s experiences and family history under the guise of a century-later update of Norman Maclean’s USFS 1919: The Ranger, the Cook, and a Hole in the Sky. The story is also rejection the binaries, consumerism, and anthropocentrism that dominate American culture, and it is neurodivergent and millennial as hell. Besides being more faithful to the author’s personal experiences than traditional narrative conventions, USFS 2019 is a novel-length love letter—in discreet terms to Montana, and in overt terms to pop culture and dad jokes. Its full digital conception is accompanied by an original game. Let’s hear it for the woods.Creative writingLiteratureDegree Awarded: M.F.A. Literature. American Universit
Field report: land of opportunity
No full textThe Land of Opportunity transmedia documentary project encompasses a feature
film and interactive web platform designed to foster dialogue and social impact
around community (re)building in the face of crisis/disaster. In 2006, Director/
Producer Luisa Dantas started filming for the documentary (“Land of
Opportunity”), which follows several individuals through the early years of postKatrina rebuilding in New Orleans. In 2012, the project evolved to include the
interactive web platform (LandofOpportunity) , which combines a rich archive of 1
post-Katrina reconstruction stories with multimedia content from several other
communities across the country. The interactive narratives featured on the
platform explore a range of places and partners facing redevelopment issues.
This field report is a primer on the process of creating an interactive web-based
experience after releasing a traditional documentary, as part of a greater set of
tools for public engagement. This report was compiled using a series of
interviews that spanned the length of production and launch of the platform,
some of which were used in shorter blog posts published by the Center for Media
& Social Impact. Center staff and graduate fellows conducted interviews and the
LandofOpportunity production team provided research, consultation and
coordination
A playful city in the cards: sharing power in game design by extending the card metaphor
No full textCHI PLAY 2020 - Extended Abstracts of the 2020 Annual Symposium on Computer-Human Interaction in Play
2 November 2020, Pages 375-378, 7th ACM SIGCHI Annual Symposium on Computer-Human Interaction in Play, CHI PLAY 2020; Virtual, Online; Canada; 2 November 2020 through 4 November 2020; Code 164617.To democratize the power of games for smart cities, we are refining Hive Mechanic, an open-source game engine for embedding play with text messages, city data streams, and the Internet of Things (IoT). City-specific games have the potential to affect social issues, including to address regional economics and health disparities that vary by zip code. However, collaboration in design is notoriously difficult - and programming skills are often lacking in urban planners, artists, and ordinary residents. Rather than propose a consumer app for mobile phones, this project investigates the potential of coordinating play from a neighborhood server. More importantly, the authoring tool seeks to democratize design by aligning the use of print and digital "cards"in the design process to express feedback loops and interactive sequences without requiring any traditional software coding experience. We argue that for game design in particular, paper prototyping is especially important - and that authoring tools can expand participation by embracing a "card metaphor"to extend the power of paper prototyping into online authoring tools. This work in progress is a nine-month case study of using Hive Mechanic, including for public art, crowd-sourced mapping, and a transmedia scavenger hunt
Signs on the door of The Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia on Pennsylvania Avenue SE
No full textSigns posted on the door of The Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia notifying modified services and encouraging social distancing
Photo of spray-painted artwork of hands putting on gloves
No full textPhoto of spray-painted image of hands putting on blue gloves. The image is on white paper and is photographed on a wood grain background