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James Madison University
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Current Projects |
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Analyzing Altered Behavioral Processes in The recently described dynamic developmental theory of Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (AD/HD) suggests that the behaviors that comprise this disorder are a function of altered reinforcement and extinction processes resulting from a hypofunctioning mesolimbic dopamine branch. The current project is designed to investigate various predictions that follow from this theory using a putative animal model of AD/HD, the Spontaneously Hypertensive Rat (SHR).
Recent
presentations related to this project: Slezak, J. M., Webb, J. E., Hucks, A. D., Kincheloe, M. B., Hoffman, D. J. & Serdikoff, S. L. (2005, October). Using the Spontaneously Hypertensive Rat as an Animal Model to Examine the Effects of Delay-of-Reinforcement in Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (AD/HD). Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Southeastern Association for Behavior Analysis, Wilmington, NC. Serdikoff, S. L., Webb, J. E., Hucks, A. D., Kincheloe, M. B., Hoffman, D. J., & Catania, A. C. (2006, March). Assessing reinforcement mechanisms in Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (AD/HD). Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Eastern Psychological Association, Baltimore, MD. Kincheloe, M. B., Serdikoff, S. L., & Catania, A. C. (2006, May). Using the Spontaneously Hypertensive Rat (SHR) as an animal model for Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (AD/HD): Failures to establish discriminations. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Association for Behavior Analysis, Atlanta, GA. Webb, J. E., Serdikoff, S. L., Catania, A. C. (2006, May). Using the Spontaneously Hypertensive Rat (SHR) as an animal model to examine delay-of-reinforcement gradients in Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (AD/HD). Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Association for Behavior Analysis, Atlanta, GA. Kincheloe, M. B., & Serdikoff, S. L. (2006, August). Assessing impulsivity in the Spontaneously Hypertensive Rat (SHR) with a concurrent chains procedure. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the American Psychological Association , New Orleans, LA.
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Investigating the Behavioral Effects of Nutraceuticals In recent years there is been a large increase in the use of herbal extracts (nutraceuticals) for the treatment of behavioral disorders. Many of the products claim to have effects similar to prescription medications that have been approved for the treatment of various disorders however few have been subjected to the scientifically rigorous testing that Is required of FDA approved medications. These facts have sparked much interest into both the efficacy and the side effects of these products, particularly their potential for addiction. The aim of this research is to begin examining the behavioral effects of theses compounds using the same testing procedures common for pharmaceutical compounds developed for medical purposes.
Recent
presentations related to this work: Hoffman, D. J., & Serdikoff, S. L. (2006, May). Assessing the ability of Kava Kava to reduce the effects of the Chronic Mild Stress (CMS) procedure using an animal model. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Association for Behavior Analysis, Atlanta, GA. Hoffman, D. J., & Serdikoff, S. L. (2006, August). Examining the ability of Kava Kava to attenuate the effects of the Chronic Mild Stress (CMS) Procedure. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the American Psychological Association , New Orleans, LA.
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Behavior Analytic Investigations From a behavior analytic perspective, judgment (or judging) and decision-making are forms of choice. Although choice has been studied by behavior analysts for many years however, the types of choice situations investigated have been somewhat limited. One area that has received relatively little attention from behavior analysts includes those situations in which individuals - particularly humans - choose in non-optimal ways. In contrast, these phenomena (collectively often referred to as cognitive fallacies or cognitive illusions) have received a great deal of attention from cognitive psychologists who have revealed many interesting facts about variables that contribute to such behavior. Unfortunately, the accounts they propose are at best incomplete in that they fail to consider factors such as the individual's learning history and he impact of that history combined with the prevailing contingencies of reinforcement (and punishment) that maintain the choices. Behavior analytic advances in understanding complex stimulus control (e.g., instructional control, stimulus equivalence), differences between verbally-governed vs. contingency-shaped behavior, and the relation between the matching law and signal-detection theory in explaining choice have much to add to a more complete understanding of these phenomena. This is a new line of research for me and I am excited about the potential for working with students interested in designing and conducting research that will contribute to the literature in this area.
Recent
presentations related to this work: Hucks, A. D., & Serdikoff S. L. (2006, May). The role of instructions and self-generated rules on college students’ performance on a probability matching task. Poster accepted for presentation at the annual meeting of the Association for Behavior Analysis, Atlanta, GA. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
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Behavior Analysis Applied to The purpose of this project is to systematically evaluate the use of teaching and assessment practices that are based on well-established fundamental principles of behavior. My recent work has centered on examining how components of (or variations thereof) the personalized system of instruction (PSI) can be incorporated into today’s college teaching environment, the use of programmed instruction and interteaching, linking instruction and assessment though the use of behavioral objectives, and using contingencies to increase accurate self-assessment of written work.
Recent
presentations and publications related to this work: Serdikoff, S. L. (2005, August). Comparing interteaching to self-paced instruction. Symposium presentation at the annual meeting of the American Psychological Association, Washington, DC. Kerr, N. A., Serdikoff, S. L., Zinn, T. E., & Baker, S. C. (2005, October). Ten years later: Have we demystified critical thinking? Symposium presentation at the Best Practices in Teaching Critical Thinking in Psychology conference, Atlanta, GA. Serdikoff, S. L. (2005, October). Critical thinking as scientific reasoning. Symposium presentation at the Best Practices in Teaching Critical Thinking in Psychology conference, Atlanta, GA. Zaleski, M. A., Dalianis, E. A., Hucks, A. D., & Serdikoff, S. L. (2005, October). Programmed instruction and programmed instruction combined with interteaching:Preliminary Analysis. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Southeastern Association for Behavior Analysis, Wilmington, NC. Zaleski, M. A., Hucks, A. D., Dalianis, E. A. (2006, March). Interteaching vs. interteaching with programmed instruction. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Eastern Psychological Association, Baltimore, MD. Baker, S. C., & Serdikoff, S. L. (2006, August). Components of the undergraduate research experience: Examining ‘What Matters.’ Poster presented at the annual meeting of the American Psychological Association, New Orleans, LA. Barron, K. E., Benedict, J. O., Saville, B. K., Serdikoff, S. L., & Zinn, T. E. (in press). Alternative approaches to teaching research methods. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
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Publisher and Information Contact: Sherry L. Serdikoff, Ph.D. B.C.B.A |
Copyright 2004 Sherry Serdikoff |
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