99-02 PsycSMP Showcase
What kinds of projects have our SMP students done?
Check out the database of past PsycSMP abstracts
Prospective PsycSMPs: A past student may have suggested a path for future research that you would like to follow!
Students can visit the College Archives (Calvert 009-ground floor) to read or view past St. Mary's Projects Mondays and Thursdays from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. (appointments recommended).
Access to a full SMP can depend on how a student completed a release form, but most SMPs can be read or viewed in the College Archives without restriction.
Electronic copies of SMPs are usually provided to faculty and staff upon request, but students are provided electronic copies of SMPs only with the permission of a faculty member.
Erin Johnson
Johnson, Erin. (2002, May). Environment and learning: Investigation of learning set formation and oddity concept-use in juvenile rats raised in an enriched environment.
Mentor: Dr. Aileen Bailey
Abstract
The effect of environmental enrichment on learning-set formation, oddity concept use, body weight, fearfulness, activity level, level of acetylcholinesterase (AChE), and level of g -aminobutyric acid (GABA) were measured in 11 male, juvenile rats. There were no significant learning differences, in oddity concept use or learning-set formation, between the subjects raised in an enriched environment and subjects raised in a standard, control environment. The control subjects did have a more sporadic performance overall than the enriched subjects. Enriched subjects were found to weigh significantly more, were significantly more fearful as measured in the open field and were significantly less active than controls in the open field. There were no significant differences in terms of the levels of GABA between the two environmental groups. For most areas of the brain examined, there were no significant group differences in AChE, but the control subjects did have significantly higher levels in their hippocampus.
