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Psychology

Theses/Dissertations

Attention

University at Albany, State University of New York

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The Neurotic Wandering Mind And Self-Efficacy During Training, Mario L. Arredondo Aug 2022

The Neurotic Wandering Mind And Self-Efficacy During Training, Mario L. Arredondo

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

AbstractPersonality is complex and dynamic, and because this attribute consists of a cluster of different distinctive traits, successfully predicting how personality predisposes individuals to different reactions and feelings during a learning activity is an equally complex and challenging task. For this thesis I will focus on the personality trait of low emotional stability, or neuroticism. Previous research has shown that people with lower emotional stability have a predisposition to be more stringent with self-perceptions across different domains of behaviors and feelings. Self-efficacy influences people’s confidence in their ability to exert control over their own behavior and impact their environment, all …


Can Humans Detect A Wondering Mind? : Attentiveness As A Form Of Social Exchange, Huy Le Jan 2021

Can Humans Detect A Wondering Mind? : Attentiveness As A Form Of Social Exchange, Huy Le

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Exchange relationships are built through reciprocation of social resources, including, as we argue in this paper, signals that one is paying attention to another. To do so, we draw on interdisciplinary areas of involvement: mind wandering, facial prototypes, and social exchange theory to investigate (a) the types of cues people look for to detect whether an exchange partner is inattentive (i.e., mind wandering); (b) how context affects the attribution of these cues; and (c) the interactive effects between mind wandering cues and context on measures of exchange quality (i.e., trust). These ideas were tested in two different studies that manipulated …


Do Distractor Suppression And Learning Intentionality Contribute To The Attentional Boost Effect?, Stephanie C. Crocco Jan 2020

Do Distractor Suppression And Learning Intentionality Contribute To The Attentional Boost Effect?, Stephanie C. Crocco

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

In the Attentional Boost Effect (ABE), a target-detection response enhances memory for simultaneously presented unrelated stimuli (Swallow & Jiang, 2010; see Swallow & Jiang, 2013 for a review). In two experiments, participants read aloud words simultaneously presented with a dot. Trials were presented every 1150 ms (Experiment 1) or every 2200 ms (Experiment 2). In a divided attention (DA) task, participants made a key-press to dots of a specific color. In a full attention (FA) task, they only read the words aloud while ignoring all dots. Under either intentional or incidental learning instructions, the DA task included Target words, and …


Eye Movements Reveal The Visual Component Of Music Expertise : Evidence From A Visual Search Task, Kinnera Savitri Maturi Jan 2019

Eye Movements Reveal The Visual Component Of Music Expertise : Evidence From A Visual Search Task, Kinnera Savitri Maturi

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

An important component of expertise is the ability to rapidly recognize domain-related perceptual patterns. To explore this ability in the domain of music reading, a unique visual search paradigm was used to compare the eye movements of 30 expert musicians (with at least 10 years of music reading skill) and 30 novices (who could not read music). Participants had to match a section of a piece of sheet music (search template) to its identical counterpart within a larger music score (search array). Both the search template and array were presented on the screen simultaneously, which allowed for visual comparisons between …


Emotional Factors Affecting Face-Name Memory : The Role Of Valence And Arousal During Encoding, Stephanie Ann Kazanas Jan 2016

Emotional Factors Affecting Face-Name Memory : The Role Of Valence And Arousal During Encoding, Stephanie Ann Kazanas

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

The emotion literature has maintained that emotional stimuli are prioritized over neutral stimuli: Emotional words and images are detected faster, processed more automatically, and remembered better. However, the benefit from processing emotional stimuli can also be affected by valence, wherein some emotion advantages are driven by positive emotion and others by negative emotion. This is particularly evident in the face memory literature, in which researchers have investigated the role of expressed emotion in learning new faces. For example, some have found that happy faces are more memorable than angry and neutral faces. However, when comparing memory for happy faces with …


When "Nothing" Captures Attention : Automatic Visuospatial Attentional Capture By A Gap In A Circle, Matthew Aaron Thomas Jan 2016

When "Nothing" Captures Attention : Automatic Visuospatial Attentional Capture By A Gap In A Circle, Matthew Aaron Thomas

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Abstract


I Can See What You Are Saying : Auditory Labels Reduce Visual Search Times, Kit Wing Cho Jan 2015

I Can See What You Are Saying : Auditory Labels Reduce Visual Search Times, Kit Wing Cho

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

The present study explored the mechanisms underlying the self-directed speech effect, the finding that relative to silent reading of a label (e.g., “DOG”), saying it aloud reduces visual search reaction times (RTs) for locating a target picture among distractors. Experiment 1 examined whether this effect is due to a confound in the differences in the number of cues in self-directed speech (two) vs. silent reading (one) and tested whether speech, per se, is required for the effect. Self-directed speech did not reduce search RTs more than hearing only a pre-recorded auditory presentation of a label, both of which reduced RTs …


Effect Of Brief Mindfulness Meditation On Expressive Writing, Alvin Poon Jan 2013

Effect Of Brief Mindfulness Meditation On Expressive Writing, Alvin Poon

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

An impressive body of research indicates that expressive writing, which encourages participants


Exploring The Impact Of Meditation On Attentional Allocation To Emotion, Sychopathology, And Acute Stress, In A Community Sample With Mixed Anxiety And Depression, Nicholas Thomas Van Dam Jan 2013

Exploring The Impact Of Meditation On Attentional Allocation To Emotion, Sychopathology, And Acute Stress, In A Community Sample With Mixed Anxiety And Depression, Nicholas Thomas Van Dam

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Attempts to define mindfulness in the clinical and psychological sciences have been marred by contradictions, inconsistencies, and controversies. In this wait-list (WL) controlled mindfulness meditation training (MMT) study, the efficacy and potential mechanisms of MMT was tested in a community sample with undiagnosed, but significant, symptoms of anxiety, depression, and stress. In a pre/post design, which also included 3 month follow-up, participants completed self-report measures, participated in a psychosocial stress task (before and after which they completed self-report mood questionnaires and had physiological and salivary neuroendocrine markers collected), and completed an emotional attentional blink paradigm. Compared to WL (n = …


The Differential Effects Of Genetic And Dietary Alterations In Folate Status On Prefrontal Cortical Functions, Jessica Amanda Ash Jan 2011

The Differential Effects Of Genetic And Dietary Alterations In Folate Status On Prefrontal Cortical Functions, Jessica Amanda Ash

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Folate status plays an essential role in embryogenesis and brain development; however, its importance in supporting cognitive functioning throughout adulthood is less clear. The present study was interested in examining the effects of genetic and dietary alterations in folate status on prefrontal cortical functions in mice, modeling a common polymorphism in the MTHFD1 gene in folate metabolism. A factorial design was used crossing two genotypes (mice with a gene trap insertion in the Mthfd1 gene exhibiting 50% decreased Mthfd1 expression: Mthfd1gt/+ mice or wildtype mice) with two levels of dietary folate (folate sufficient or folate deficient). The mice were tested …


Pcbs And Measures Of Attention And Impulsivity On A Continuous Performance Task Of Young Mohawk Adults, Bita Behforooz Jan 2011

Pcbs And Measures Of Attention And Impulsivity On A Continuous Performance Task Of Young Mohawk Adults, Bita Behforooz

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Past animal and human studies have shown that exposure to PCBs can result in a wide range of negative toxic effects. However, only a few studies have investigated the relationship between PCB exposure and attention and impulsivity. The present study examined the relationship between current body burden levels of PCBs and attention and impulsivity in young adults ages 17 to 21 from the Mohawk Nation of Akwesasne. The community is concerned because PCBs from industrial effluent have contaminated the local ecology and entered the Mohawk's food chain. Attention and impulsivity were measured by errors of omission and errors of commission …


Between-Object Superiority And The Effects Of Preview On Object-Based Attention In Occluded Objects, Yongna Li Jan 2010

Between-Object Superiority And The Effects Of Preview On Object-Based Attention In Occluded Objects, Yongna Li

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Object-based attention accounts assume that visual attention selects one object at a time and more efficiently processes properties belonging to the attended object relative to properties belonging to different objects. Within-object superiority (faster RTs and fewer errors for targets on the same object than for targets on different objects) supports object-based attention accounts. However, a contrasting effect, between-object superiority, has also been found. The present nine experiments were designed to distinguish between within-object and between-object superiority effects in objects with occlusion. The present results showed that between-object superiority can be obtained for occluded objects and that this effect is influenced …


The Influence Of Emotion On Attention : Examining The Processing Of Negative And Positive Emotion Words In The Dot Probe Task, Tina Sutton Jan 2010

The Influence Of Emotion On Attention : Examining The Processing Of Negative And Positive Emotion Words In The Dot Probe Task, Tina Sutton

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

The influence of emotion on attention has been examined more closely in recent years using a variety of paradigms. Öhman (1993) suggested that participants more readily pay attention to negative information than neutral information. The current work was designed to expand upon these findings by examining both negative and positive emotion word processing in a non-clinical population using the dot probe task. Experiments 1a and 1b examined the supraliminal and subliminal processing of negative and positive emotion words presented in separate blocks. The results revealed that participants responded faster to the probe when it appeared in the same location as …