Active Research Projects
Reward Devaluation, Positive Valence System Disturbance, and Impairment
Project Team Leader(s): Sarah Simon, M.A.
This NIMH funded study aims to better understand how individual differences relate to responses to computerized tasks.
Empirical Exploration of the Parameters of Reward Devaluation Theory
Project Team Leader(s): Julia Machina, M.A.
There are many novel measures used to evaluate reward devaluation and avoidance of positive stimuli. The purpose of this study is to collect additional data using these measures to expand upon the understanding of Reward Devaluation Theory.
Do implicit theories of happiness moderate the relationship between fear of happiness and depression?
Project Team Leader(s): Shea McNatt, B.A.
Individuals often hold implicit theories of emotions such as happiness, as being either malleable or fixed. In a moderation analysis we will investigate whether the relationship between individuals’ depressive symptoms and fear of happiness is moderated by their implicit views of happiness.
Network Analysis of Climate Change Moral Injury
Project Team Leader(s): Evan Henritze, M.A. and Sonora Goldman, M.A.
This project is a network analysis of moral injury (MI) symptoms and other mental health, behavior and identity factors related to climate change. We are investigating whether particular MI expressions serve as bridge symptoms to general psychopathology and whether groups determined by self-perceived social rank differently identify with psychological distress and climate-related behavioral engagements.
Amazon M-Turk Data Quality
Project Team Leader(s): Samantha Anduze, M.A.
This paper aims to resurface concerns related to data quality collected from Amazon MTurk. We will discuss the impact of MTurk on psychological research, a firsthand encounter of potential bots on the platform, and recommendations for best practices moving forward.
The Power of Reward Devaluation
Project Team Leader(s): Sarah Simon, M.A.
To date, most studies exploring reward devaluation (RD) explicitly focus on populations with depression. While helpful in studying clinical phenomena, RD may also help to explain social phenomena. That is, an RD-informed framework may help explain behavior, from individual to institutional levels, around social causes that appear to be valued. The case of climate “doomerism” (Huber, 2020), for instance––where people believe in and spread ideas of a hopeless climate future, despite others’ efforts towards climate solutions (Nightingale et al., 2020)––may in fact be an example of RD functioning in the social sphere. The aim of this project is to evaluate the utility of RD in explaining social issues. Can it help us understand and address not just disordered cognitive and emotional states, but sociopolitical ones?
Reward Devaluation and Positive Affect Depression Treatment for Black American Men
Project Team Leader(s): Julia Machina, M.A.
This study aims to investigate perceptions Black American men from the Southern United States have regarding the effectiveness of Positive Affect Treatments (PAT) for depression, a CBT-inspired treatment for anhedonia. Drawing on theories of reward devaluation (Winer & Salem, 2016) and racial trauma (Comas-Diaz, 2016), we hypothesize that due to cultural and societal factors, Black American men would rate PAT as less effective compared to other therapeutic approaches. We used Psychodynamic Treatment (PD) as the comparison treatment approach, because its description does not include work toward positive experience.
Assessing Relinquishment of Positivity as a Central Symptom Bringing Anxiety and Depression
Project Team Leader(s): Cami Calafiore, M.A.
We are working on a project that will further assess bridge symptom relationships between comorbid anxiety and depression by conducting a network analysis on previously collected self-report measures of anxiety, depression, activity avoidance, and perceived enjoyability and importance of avoided activities. We hypothesize that relinquishment of positivity will be a central bridge symptom between anxiety and depression.
Network Analysis of Cognitive Domain Influence on Psychosocial Factors
Project Team Leader(s): Kate Flaherty, B.A.
This secondary analysis seeks to examine the network dynamic of cognitive domains to psychosocial and physical factors. Contradictory evidence exists for the relationships (or lack thereof) between objective neuropsychological test performance, subjective cognitive problems, depression, anxiety, social support, social activities, loneliness, and fatigue. This network analysis is therefore exploratory in nature to extricate the unique interaction between these factors, and determine if any specific cognitive domains are particularly associated with aspects of psychosocial distress.
The Emotional Processes & Experimental Psychopathology Lab 