The UTC Graduate School is pleased to announce that Lauren Strickland will present Master’s research titled, The relationships among childhood adversity, working memory task performance, and subjective/objective stress on 03/07/2023 at 11 am in 540 McCallie, Room 107. Everyone is invited to attend.
Psychology
Chair: Dr. Amanda Clark
Co-Chair:
Abstract:
This study aimed to explore the relationship between adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and working memory on an n-back task. Stress was manipulated by varying the cognitive load (one-back/three-back) and time limit (standard-paced/time-restricted) and measured both subjectively and objectively with heart rate and heart rate variability (HRV). Eighty undergraduate participants completed a series of questionnaires and the n-back task while wearing a heart rate monitor. Accuracy was best in the standard-paced one-back block of trials and decreased with increased cognitive load and time limit. However, those with high and low ACEs performed similarly across task demands. Results also indicate that objective stress differed according to task demands. Participants in the high ACE group demonstrated elevated HRV throughout the task and reported higher levels of stress on the time-restricted blocks. These findings suggest that participants’ experiences of stress may provide insight into the relationship between ACEs and working memory performance.