SOAR Research Proposal – Summer 2007

 

Backward Inhibition of Semantic Memories:

Temporary Forgetting of General Knowledge

 

Faculty Information

 

Name: Sarah Johnson

Rank: Assistant Professor

Department: Psychology

 

Student Information

 

Name: Christopher Schilling

Year: Junior

Overall GPA: 3.xx

Major GPA: 3.xx

Email Address: cjschilling@gmail.com

 

Project Description

 

Backward Inhibition of Semantic Memories: Temporary Forgetting of General Knowledge

 

My research uses a behavioral paradigm to study the inhibition, or pushing aside, of some pieces of general knowledge (aka semantic memories) as a by-product of accessing other pieces of general knowledge.  This research explores the flexibility of our semantic memory system, as well as the possible disadvantages to inhibitory mechanisms (e.g., unintentional forgetting of desired information).

In particular, the current project looks at the directionality of this inhibition, asking the question of whether information that was previously generated can then be inhibited to allow for easier or better access to other information.  This topic is relevant to a variety of patient types (e.g., patients with frontal-lobe damage, Parkinson’s disease, and, in some cases, schizophrenia), who show an impairment at preventing themselves from repeating previously accessed memories.  One point of interest is to consider this kind of deficit as a part of a natural continuum on which even healthy adults can show difficulties under certain situations.

The primary research objective for this project is to conduct experiments in which inhibitory mechanisms are directly tested by having undergraduate participants generate semantic memories through a sort of free-association task (e.g., generating exemplars in response to category names, such as Flower – Tu?).  After this task, the accessibility of different concepts (i.e., semantic memories) can be tested through a different but related free-association task.  The specific question at hand is whether generation of certain memories during the first task will lead to a decrease in accessibility of related memories in the second task.  A first experiment is partially complete, but needs further participants, and a follow-up experiment is also planned, although the exact nature of this second experiment will depend in part on the final outcome of the first.

The scholarly value of this work is to more precisely specify the properties of these inhibitory mechanisms as they relate to the above patient groups, and in a way that cannot easily be accomplished with the patients themselves, often for practical reasons owing to additional deficits they show.  Previous work has not explicitly provided the tie between this inhibitory paradigm and the types of deficits certain patients show on some standard diagnostic tests.  Thus work accomplishing this task will greatly aid in integrating research from neuropsychological work and behavioral work with healthy individuals.

 

Student Responsibilities

 

Chris will be responsible for portions of all aspects of the research process in this project, including helping me to polish up the design and prepare the experiment, to collecting data (for which Chris will be primarily responsible), coding and entering data, some data analysis, and writing a report to describe the research and the findings.  This report may be a shorter report, ideal for translating into a poster presentation (with the formation of a poster potentially being part of the summer project), or it may be a longer written report if the results look as though they won’t be appropriate for presentation.

 

Chris will work 10 weeks for 40 hours per week (not to exceed 400 hours total), following the schedule of activities listed below and based on one of two schedules of dates:

 

1)      If Chris is accepted to participate in the University of Pennsylvania Undergraduate Summer Workshop in Cognitive Science and Neuroscience, we will meet for two weeks earlier in the summer, break for the period when the workshop occurs, and pick up again after that.  Thus we will start meeting May 21st and continue through June 1st, will break from June 4th through 15th, and then continue meeting from June 18th through the remainder of the regular schedule.

 

2)      If Chris is not accepted to the Summer Workshop, we will meet the regularly scheduled dates of the summer SOAR program: beginning May 28 and finishing on August 3.

 

Schedule of activities:

• Week 1-2 – background reading, design planning, & experiment preparation

• Weeks 3-6 – data collection, entry, & coding

• Weeks 7-8 – data analysis, library research & writing

• Weeks 9-10 – library research & writing

 

Benefits

 

The planned project would be highly beneficial to both Chris and myself.  Through this project Chris will continue to develop a richer understanding of an area of research than can be accomplished in most courses, with an eye towards both the theoretical and methodological points of interest in both seminal and current research in this topic.  He will learn about the research process, the many nuances to planning experiments to answer specific questions of interest, and how to carry through such a progress to completion.  At the same time, he will be aiding my research both in terms of pragmatics, e.g., allowing me to make the most of the limited pool of undergraduate participants by helping me to conduct experiment sessions, and in terms of theoretical exploration.  Already this semester, as part of an independent study, Chris is helping to fuel my thoughts about the research in this area, and developing his own understanding of the issues, through weekly discussions based on primary source readings.  He is exceptionally astute when it comes to reading research, understanding it both theoretically and methodologically, and thinking about its implications and its ties to other research.  Our weekly meetings involve interesting discussions that further spark my own ideas.

 

The example of collaboration I have described above, i.e., the kind of mentor-student relationship I have in mind for this project, clearly involves a very active role on Chris’ part.  While he will be helping me to complete one to two experiments, and thus furthering my overall research plan, his role extends beyond that of a simple experimenter or assistant for organizing paperwork.  Apart from the intellectual benefit for Chris, participation in this project will provide an excellent stepping stone toward graduate school for him.  While I believe he is not yet definitively settled on going to graduate school, my understanding is that he is very interested in that possibility.  Undergraduate research, in particular when the experience involves the kind of active participation in many aspects of research as this one does, is a highly marketable quality for students applying to graduate school

 

On a more general level, this project will promotes the intellectual climate of the college by providing a model for other students of the kind of collaboration that is possible between students and faculty.  Some students may expect that being a research assistant involves essentially academic “grunt-work.”  These students are more likely to realize this is not the case when they hear from other students the kind of responsibilities they have been given by faculty.  Furthermore, preparing highly qualified students for graduate school, as well as the possibility of a conference presentation with the name of Moravian College attached, certainly enhances our reputation at Moravian for conducting quality research while at the same time valuing teaching and the overall education of our students.

 

 

Budget

 

$3000.00 stipend.

Chris will require on-campus accommodations for either the entire 10-week period or at least the 8-week period starting on June 18th.