West Science - NMU Events and Announcements

West Science

Extended Adolescence, COVID and Mental Health— The Perfect Storm?

by

Christine Greer, Ph.D., Assistant Vice President and Dean of Students, Northern Michigan University

Does today’s 18 year old look like the 13 year old of yore? Has COVID affected students academically?Is the mental health of college students (undergrad and grad) at an all time low? Chris will take us through some research results which seem to tell us the answers are yes, yes, and yes.

West Science

Evaluating the Undesired Outcomes of Response Interruption and Redirection

by

Nicole LaFoille, M.S. Candidate, Department of Psychological Science, Northern Michigan University

This thesis was conducted to evaluate the effects that response interruption and redirection (RIRD) procedures have on undesired outcomes of punishment (aggression, avoidance behavior, and reduced appropriate vocalizations) when used to reduce stereotypy.

West Science

Discourses from the Academy: Department of Psychological Science Colloquium Series

Age Differences in Motor Learning: What Can We Learn From Neurophysiological Evidence?*

by

Kevin M. Trewartha, Ph.D.

Associate Professor

Applied Cognitive Science & Human Factors Graduate Program Director

Department of Cognitive & Learning Sciences, and Department of Kinesiology & Integrative Physiology

Michigan Technological University

October 15, 2021

3:00 p.m. - 4:30 p.m.

West Science 2906

(Or join us via ZOOM https://nmu.zoom.us/j/92236957480?pwd=TG81MFUvNWphK2Robyt0b3lpa1V5Zz09)

Open to all! For further information please contact the NMU Department of Psychological Science @ 227-2935

*A gold standard approach for studying motor learning is to use sensorimotor adaptation tasks that require participants to adapt their movements to unusual physical or visuomotor perturbations. Motor learning progresses on multiple timescales with initial rapid improvements in performance, followed by more gradual improvements through repeated practice. A growing body of research suggests that aging impacts early learning more than late learning. In this talk I will review data on the cognitive underpinnings of this age-related change in motor learning and then discuss a recent EEG study we conducted to assess the neurophysiological correlates of motor learning in younger and older adults. I will end with a discussion of current and future directions of research on motor learning in healthy and clinical older adult populations.