Date of Award

Fall 12-2019

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Psychology

Committee Director

Matt R. Judah

Committee Member

Mark W. Scerbo

Committee Member

Kristin E. Heron

Abstract

Theories and research suggest that depression involves impaired reward sensitivity and a deficit in memory for rewarding stimuli. Some researchers propose that this memory deficit may result from reduced neural reward sensitivity, which impairs the encoding of reward-related memories, but few studies have directly probed this connection. Such research may benefit from examining the reward positivity (RewP), an event-related potential (ERP) previously linked to reduced reward sensitivity in depression. Undergraduates with high or low self-reported depression completed a task in which they chose one of three doors, revealing a neutral word written in a color which indicated an outcome of winning money, losing money, or neither (i.e., draw). A surprise source memory task presented the words again and asked participants to indicate the outcome previously paired with each word. Results showed that ERP response to reward was greater than loss, which was greater than draw, but no differences between depressed and non-depressed participants were observed. Reward source memory was more accurate than loss and draw source memory for non-depressed participants, but this advantage was not seen in depressed participants. The RewP did not correlate with source memory in either group. Overall, the results suggest that depressed individuals may lack a normative memory prioritization of reward-related information. The findings did not support an association between depression and the RewP or between the RewP and reward source memory. Results suggest that future research should include neutral trials along with reward and loss trials to better characterize the RewP.

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In Copyright. URI: http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s).

DOI

10.25777/8dqf-gd59

ISBN

9781658464796

ORCID

0000-0003-2083-7337

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