Undergraduate Research Journal of Psychology at UCLA

Volume 12 - The Undergraduate Research Journal of Psychology at UCLA

For too long, the arts and sciences have existed in isolation. To bridge this gap, interdisciplinary research ought to be embraced. Dance, in particular, offers a unique avenue for researchers interested in the intricate connections between cognition, embodiment, and movement expertise. New methodologies in neuroscience have allowed this brain-body connection to be further explored. This review examines the existing literature on exactly how the brain coordinates with the body to produce embodied, aesthetic movement, in addition to the neural mechanisms of how people subjectively process and perceive dance. This emerging field is called “neuroaesthetics,” and aims to explore the neural underpinnings of aesthetic experience, perception, and judgment. The human action-observation network, which underlies our ability to understand and imitate other’s movements, is a key element of this, and is starkly influenced by one’s movement expertise. In the following literature review, I aim to closely examine the published works in neuroscience-dance research, in pursuit of a deeper understanding of the complexities of the dancing brain. 

Impulsive personality traits and impulsive choice are indicators of alcohol use disorder (AUD). Research on the relationship between impulsivity and relapse risk among individuals with an AUD is relatively scarce and unclear. The current study is a secondary analysis examining the predictive effect of impulsivity on alcohol use and craving during a 6-day quit attempt. Treatment seeking individuals with an AUD (N=49) were randomized to either oral naltrexone (50 mg QD), varenicline (1 mg BID), or matched placebo. Randomized participants
completed a weeklong medication titration period, followed by a 6-day quit attempt. During the initial screening visit, participants completed the UPPS-P impulsivity scale and the Monetary Choice Questionnaire to assess discounting rates, k. The Timeline Followback assessed quantity and frequency of alcohol use in the past 30-days. During the quit attempt, participants completed daily assessments on previous day alcohol consumption and craving. Multiple linear models examined baseline impulsivity as a predictor of alcohol outcomes. Baseline impulsivity traits did not significantly predict drinking outcomes or craving during the quit attempt (p>.025). Lack of premeditation predicted average alcohol craving, albeit trend-level (B=-0.338, p<.05). Lack of premeditation and overall k did not predict alcohol use or craving during the quit attempt. Impulsive traits and choice did not predict alcohol relapse in individuals with AUD. This study was among the first to test trait and behavioral impulsivity during a 6-day abstinence period. A longer follow-up may reveal associations between impulsivity and drinking outcomes, aiding development of interventions targeting AUD.

Evidence shows that parents enhance their child’s word learning abilities by providing labels to novel objects and including descriptions. This evidence has been applied to interventions for parents of children with attentional difficulties and developmental disabilities, urging parents to simplify their language input to increase their child’s attention during parent-child interactions. Using parent-child transcripts from the CHILDES database, this project investigated whether there are any differences in labeling and description use between typical and at-risk infants. This study used data from Quigley and McNally’s (2013) study involving ten typically developing infants with no known developmental risk factors and no family history of autism and nine at-risk infants who had an older sibling diagnosed with autism. We found that when mothers’ total number of utterances (i.e., how talkative the mother was) were controlled, mothers’ labeling between both groups were marginally different (p = 0.053) with mothers in the high-risk group providing less labels than mothers in the low-risk group. Additionally, a significant difference was found in how parents used descriptions with mothers in the high-risk group providing less descriptions compared to mothers in the low-risk group (p = 0.005). These results show that parents of children that are at high-risk of developing autism adjusted their communicative frame to fit their children’s needs, specifically by providing fewer complex sentences to create a simplistic way of introducing and describing new words to their child’s environment. This strategy underscores previous findings showcasing the presence of attentional deficits present in children with autism. 

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a debilitating condition that often emerges during childhood and adolescence, marked by distressing obsessions and impairing compulsions that disrupt daily function and personal well-being. The current literature suggests a significant relationship between early trauma and the development of OCD in youth, with early maladaptive schemas (EMSs) serving as a key mechanism in this pathway. Taken together, various studies connect the components of childhood trauma, EMSs, and OCD into one tightly-linked trajectory, particularly emphasizing the role of “disconnection/rejection” and “impaired autonomy/performance” schemas in the development of obsessive-compulsive pathology. Despite treatment methods such as cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) and exposure and response prevention (ERP) being considered the gold standard treatments for OCD, schema therapy (ST) shows promise for meaningfully addressing the underlying EMSs that may cause and uphold OCD symptoms, especially for trauma-exposed youth. Recent studies, though limited by methodological weaknesses such as small sample sizes and lack of control groups, suggest that schema therapy could disrupt the trauma-to-OCD pathway by directly targeting entrenched negative beliefs, harmful thought patterns, and deficiencies in healthy self-perception that often lie at the root of OCD. Future high-quality studies investigating the efficacy of schema therapy (and perhaps its technologically-based variations) on trauma-exposed youth with OCD are warranted to explore the full potential of ST as a treatment for this particularly vulnerable population. 

It has been well-established that Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and Gender Dysphoria (GD)
are frequently Co-morbid. There have been treatments designed to ameliorate the two conditions
and how they interact, but they are not as comprehensive as they could be. These treatments
mainly deal with addressing the executive functioning difficulties exasperated by ASD to help
these patients take the steps necessary to begin or continue the transition process. In order to
transition, transgender youth must be able to understand and communicate abstract concepts like
their own gender identity to the gatekeepers of their gender-affirming treatment which can be
especially challenging to patients with ASD-related alexithymia. Once they do transition they are
also met with adapting to an entirely new set of social rules and expectations. Having ASD is an
often isolating experience and being transgender only adds to that challenge. Social skills
training through treatments like the Program for the Education and Enrichment of Relational
Skills (PEERS) could help them improve their communication skills and navigate life as their
affirmed gender.

Given societal barriers that impair overall quality of life for people with disabilities, it is probable that feelings of belonging, perceived social support and well-being might differ between neurodivergent and non-neurodivergent individuals, and in particular, those with intersecting identities of race and ethnicity, immigrant status, and / or sexual and gender identities. The present study builds on previous work by examining these factors through an intersectionality lens. Participants completed an online survey focused on well-being, perceived social support, and feelings of belonging, as well as discrimination and loneliness. Those who identified as neurodivergent reported lower feelings of well-being but similar perceived social support, feelings of belonging, discrimination and loneliness as non-neurodivergent participants. We were unable to examine intersecting identities in any depth given the lack of diversity in our sample. Our findings contribute to the currently limited literature focused on well-being among neurodivergent populations, and add further weight to a more positive narrative regarding the experiences of neurodivergent adults. 

Cultural psychology researchers have long been interested in understanding how loneliness is experienced across different cultures, with a focus on identifying which cultures report higher levels of loneliness. This literature proposes a novel approach to conceptualize loneliness by introducing the idea of norm deviation and how deviating from normative standards leads to loneliness. Additionally, we explore the roles of social support and self-determination theory in moderating the relationship between norm deviation and loneliness experience. The discussion section highlights the importance of qualitative study methods in loneliness studies to gain deeper understanding about the cultural and social factors in individual experiences.

Personality development arises from the ongoing interactions between genetic predispositions and environmental experiences throughout a person's life. This literature review synthesizes findings from published behavioral genetic studies, longitudinal twin and adoption research, molecular analyses, and environmental psychology to interpret how genetic, environmental, and gene-environment interaction processes contribute to the stability and transformation of personality traits. Evidence from twin studies and meta-analyses confirms that traits such as Extraversion, Neuroticism, and Conscientiousness are moderately to highly heritable. Regardless, this heritability remains unexplained at the molecular level, a gap known as the missing heritability problem. In contrast, nonshared environments, including unique life events and personal relationships, are shown to be more influential than shared family environments in shaping personality change, particularly during critical developmental changes. The review also explores gene-environment interactions, including how personality traits mediate stress perception and how genetic predispositions influence the selection and interpretation of environmental contexts. Despite evident advancements, the field presents limitations due to overreliance on Western populations, broad and imprecise environmental constructs, and insufficient integration of epigenetic discoveries. This review concludes that advancing a comprehensive understanding of personality requires integrative, developmentally sensitive, and culturally inclusive research that connects behavioral genetics, environmental psychology, and emerging genomic technologies.