|  ATTENTION AND EMOTION LAB
   

 


 

 



"I saw a stranger with your hair
Tried to make her give it back"

These are the lyrics to the start of a John Gorka song. Though they refer to the perils of lost relationships they also point clearly to a phenomenon with which we've all had experience. Depending on the mood you're in, you may notice and interpret the world around you in a different way. The research we conduct is all about the influence that emotion has on attention. We look at the influence of normal emotion as well as try to understand how emotional problems might be made worse by alterations in cognitive processes.

 

I will NOT be accepting any graduate students for the Fall of 2020.

Former Graduate Students
All of these wonderful people have moved on to bigger and better things.  Alisson Lass is now a doctoral student at Mississippi State.  Tharaki Siyaguna and Brandon Saxton have completed their Ph.D.s and are Postdocs at Solutions Behavioral Healthcare Professionals in Moorhead, Mn.  Dr. Samantha Myhre is a working at Austin Anxiety and OCD Specialists, Austin, Tx.

l-r Alisson Lass, Tharaki Siyaguna, Brandon Saxton, Samantha Myhre

 

Research Team Fall 2019- Spring 2020

 

 Undergraduate Students
  • Joey Unruh
  • Tanner Valnes
     

 

Would you like to join our team?  Every semester, around the time when students are getting ready to register for classes, we get requests from students who are looking to get involved in research.  We are almost always interested in having bright and inquisitive students join us.  If you are interested in working as a research assistant, please download and print this form, complete it and return it to the Department of Psychology main office.  I am not adding any RAs to the team in fall 2018.

 

Current Projects

The following projects are in various states of completion.  The person listed for each project is the one who is primarily responsible for the project.  Some are theses some are not. The list is provided to let others know about the number and range of ideas that are currently being explored.  The above individuals are participating in one or more of the projects listed below.  Please note that we have a collaborative lab.  Students often start by working on experiments already ongoing in the lab.  As they learn the methods and the literature, they may suggest offshoots or new ideas and gradually work toward independent contributions. 

  • Team Project.  Interacting effects of affective valence, arousal, and mood congruent targets in attention across time.
  • Team Project.  Attention control, rumination, mindfulness and vulnerability to dysphoria.

Recent Presentations
Click on the hyperlink for a copy of the presentation.

 

Lass, A. N. S. & Rokke, P. D. (2018, Nov).  Mechanisms involved in cognitive control training for dysphoria. Poster presented at the 52nd Annual Convention of the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies, Washington, DC.

Thornton, K., Saxton, B. T., & Rokke, P. D. (2018, Nov).  Arousal effects temporal attention in specific phobia.  Poster presentated at the 52nd Annual Convention of the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies, Washington, DC.

 

Red River Psychology Conference

Concordia College, Moorhead, MN April 2017

 

Thornton, Kade & Jund, Kathryn (2017, April).  Sad vs fearful affective states in RSVP performance: A replication.  Poster presented at the Red River Psychology Conference, Moorhead, Mn.

 

Tran, Phuong (2017, April).  Rumination moderates the relationship between attentional control and symptoms of depression.  Poster presented at the Red River Psychology Conference, Moorhead, Mn.

 

Harworth, Jordan & Amb, Sheridan (2017, April).  Mindfulness moderates the effect of brooding on depressive symptoms.  Poster presented at the Red River Psychology Conference, Moorhead, Mn.

 

The whole gang!

Lass, A. N. S. & Rokke, P. D. (2016, May).  Mindfulness lessens the negative effects of brooding on depression.  Poster presented at the 28th Annual Convention of the Association for Psychological Science, Chicago, IL.

 

Red River Psychology Conference

NDSU, Fargo, ND April 2016

 

 

From l to r: Tharaki Siyaguna, Sheridan Amb, Bea Weber, Alisson Lass, Samantha Myhre, Matt Benjamin, Brandon Saxton

 

Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies, 2015, Chicago, IL

Celebrating successful presentations with Chicago deep dish

Myhre, S. K., Saxton, B. T., Siyaguna, T., Rokke, P. D., and Benjamin, M. (2015, Nov).  Trait mindfulness serves as a protective barrier against depressive symptoms.  Poster presented at the 49th Annual Convention of the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies, Chicago, IL. 

Saxton, B. T., Siyaguna, T., Myhre, S. K., & Rokke, P.D. (2015, Nov).  Anxiety and sadness:  Differences in dual-attention RSVP performance.  Poster presented at the 49th Annual Convention of the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies, Chicago, IL. 

Siyaguna, T., Myhre, S. K., Saxton, B. T., and Rokke, P. D. (2015, Nov).  Mindfulness moderates the influence of rumination on depression.  Poster presented at the 49th Annual Convention of the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies, Chicago, IL.

Members of the Attention and Emotion Lab Present at the

2015 Red River Psychology Conference at Minnesota State University Moorhead

.

The whole crew, l-r, Hazel Patel, Dr. Rokke, Chasity Stanczyk, Brandon Saxton, Amy Ganpat, Matthew Benjamin, Tharaki Siyaguna, and Samantha Myhre.

 

 

 

Myhre, S. K., Crockett, A. C., & Rokke, P. D. (2014, Aug).  Personality and boredom account for unique variance in the prediction of emotional eating.  Poster presented at the 122nd Annual Convention of the American Psychological Association, Washington, DC.

 

Saxton, B. T., Siyaguna, T., Myhre, S. K., & Rokke, P. D. (2014, Aug).  Selective attention more discriminating under negative affect than positive. Poster presented at the 122nd Annual Convention of the American Psychological Association, Washington, DC.

Note the ribbon above.  Finalist for Division 3 "Best Student Poster Award."

Siyaguna, T., Saxton, B. T., Myhre, S. K., & Rokke, P. D. (2014, Aug).  Sad emotion produces differential attention to emotion congruent targets.  Poster presented at the 122nd Annual Convention of the American Psychological Association, Washington, DC.

The whole gang at APA 2014.

 

Myhre, S.K., Siyaguna, T., Murphy, J.W., Saxton, B.T., Goering, B.L., & Rokke, P.D. (2013, Nov).  Attentional control moderates the influence of rumination on attention during negative affect.  Poster presented at the 47th Annual Convention of the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies, Nashville, TN.

 Saxton, B. T., Murphy, J. W., Siyaguna, T., Myhre, S. K., Goering, B. L., & Rokke, P.D. (2013, Nov).  Arousal level within negative affect influences the attentional blink.  Poster presented at the 47th Annual Convention of the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies, Nashville, TN.

ABCT in Nashville, TN November 2013

Myhre, S.K., Murphy, J.W., Siyaguna, T., Saxton, B.T., & Rokke, P.D. (2013, May).  Individual differences, attentional control and the influence of arousal during positive affect.  Poster presented at the 25th Annual Convention of the Association for Psychological Science, Washington, D.C.

 Saxton, B.T., Siyaguna, T., Murphy, J.W., Myhre, S.K., & Rokke, P.D. (2013, May).  Arousal level within positive affect influences the attentional blink.  Poster presented at the 25th Annual Convention of the Association for Psychological Science, Washington, D.C.

The team in action at APS 2013

 

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