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Neural Correlates Of Individuation And Subordinate-Level Categorization Of Other-Race Faces In Infancy, Kelly Roth

Doctoral Dissertations

Perceptual narrowing is a domain-general process in which infants move from a broad sensitivity to a wide range of stimuli to developing expertise within often experienced native stimuli (Maurer & Werker, 2014). One outcome of this is the own-race bias, characterized by an increasing difficulty in discriminating other-race faces with age and experience for those raised in a racially homogenous environment (Anzures, Quinn, Pascalis, Slater, Tanaka, & Lee, 2013). Recent theorists have proposed that this is due to a categorization-individuation process, wherein infants begin to categorize non-native stimuli, such as other-species’ faces, but individuate native stimuli, such as often-experienced human …

Attentional Control In Young Drivers: Does Training Help Or Hinder Bottom-Up Processing In A Dynamic Driving Environment?, Sarah Elizabeth Yahoodik

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Anticipating hidden hazards on the road is a critical skill for safe driving, one that many young and novice drivers lack. Training programs are shown to improve hazard anticipation performance in young drivers, but whether these training effects persist in the presence of salient and potentially distracting stimuli remains relatively less explored. In this study, we examined whether the effectiveness of an existing driving training program, Risk Awareness Perception Training (RAPT), on increasing latent hazard anticipation on the road persisted with extraneous bottom-up stimuli in the road environment. Forty-one young drivers, aged 18-21, completed a series of driving scenarios with …

The Role Of Attentional Processes In The Associations Between Syndemics And Hiv Risk, Raymond L. Moody

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Sexual minority men (SMM) remain the group most affected by HIV in the United States. The term “syndemic” has been used to describe high levels of comorbidity and additive effects that some factors—childhood sexual abuse, intimate partner violence, sexual compulsivity, substance use, and depression—have on HIV transmission risk behavior (TRB). Previous research provides support for an HIV syndemic among SMM, but mechanisms linking syndemic factors and driving the association between the factors and TRB are less understood. Some research suggests that executive attention and emotion dysregulation are linked with several syndemic factors. As such, the aims of this dissertation were …

Promoting Attention In The Classroom Using The Play, Learn, And Enjoy Curriculum, Virginia Gallup Larsen

Dissertations, 2020-current

This study examined the effects of the Play, Learn, and Enjoy curriculum on on-task behavior among a sample of second-grade students identified as displaying attention regulation difficulties. The Play, Learn, and Enjoy curriculum trains children a broad range of self-regulation skills through game-based activities. The curriculum bridges neurocognitive perspective on self-regulation with the Vygotskian socio-cultural framework. Six children participated in the study. An A-B-A¹ concurrent baseline across participants single-case design was utilized. Pre- and post-intervention direct measures of attention and inhibition control were also employed for each participant using selected tests from the NEPSY-II. Results showed declines in off-task …

The Influence Of Childhood Trauma And Ptsd Symptoms On Attention And Adhd Symptoms In Adulthood: An Eeg Study, Kylie M. Jupp

USC Aiken Psychology Theses

Objective: The influence of childhood trauma on clinical and cognitive functioning, specifically attention, has a large research base. However, the majority of studies have examined response inhibition to measure attention, and very few studies have evaluated how childhood trauma influences attentional control behavior and brain activity. Additionally, I aimed to integrate the use of the Allostatic Load Theory (ALT) to examine the outcome of negative attentional outcomes through the input of traumatic stressors. I addressed the above limitation and incorporated the ALT by investigating the influence of childhood trauma, community violence, and PTSD symptoms on attention performance and brain activity …

A Psychometric Evaluation Of Computerized Attention Measures In Young Children With Neurofibromatosis Type 1, Sara Katharine Pardej

Theses and Dissertations

Children with neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) often demonstrate difficulties with attention and executive functioning that can be evident even starting at a young age. Despite this consistent finding in the literature, there has been no research to determine which measures of attention are most suitable for use with children with NF1. Recently, there have been several computerized measures of attention and executive abilities that have become available to researchers and clinicians. This study explored the National Institute of Health Toolbox Flanker, Dimensional Change Card Sort, and List Sort Working Memory; Cogstate Identification; and Conners Kiddie Continuous Performance Test, second edition …

Attention Capture By Episodic Long-Term Memories: Evidence From Eye Movement Data, Allison Eleanor Nickel

Theses and Dissertations

Successfully navigating the world on a moment-to-moment basis requires the interaction of multiple cognitive processes. Therefore, studies that examine when and how these fundamental processes interact can provide important insights into how we behave. Many studies indicate that long-term memory can facilitate search for a target object (e.g., contextual cueing), however, the ways in which long-term memory might capture attention and disrupt goal-directed behavior have not been well studied. In five experiments, questions about whether encoded objects might capture attention, even when they are task-irrelevant, were addressed. Each experiment began with an encoding phase, where participants were instructed to commit …

The Relationship Of Executive Function And Alpha Band Activity During The Eriksen Flanker Task: An Eeg Study, Destiny A. Willis

USC Aiken Psychology Theses

Objective: Neural frequencies, measured by electroencephalogram, can be indicative of certain cognitive states. One oscillation, called the alpha wave, has become a proxy for the cognitive ability related to attention. Research suggests that anxiety may result in atypical alpha oscillations when engaging in an attention task, thereby also resulting in potentially dysfunctional attentional abilities. The current study aimed to investigate the relationship between alpha wave frequency, executive function, trait anxiety symptoms, depressive symptoms, and response selection.

Method: The Eriksen flanker task was used to measure response selection, while an electroencephalogram recorded alpha brainwave activity (N = 47). This study incorporated …

Let's Get Physical: The Dual-Task Costs Of Multiple Motor Responses, Taylor Nicole Hutson

Masters Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

Dual-task costs occur when attention is divided among two or more concurrent tasks. Most dual-task studies involve paradigms where participants complete two, concurrent cognitive tasks; in these studies, performance on one or both tasks are slower and/or less accurate. The goal of this study was to examine whether dual-task costs would exist when participants completed a cognitive task while walking and whether those costs would be greater when the cognitive task required a motor-based response or when the task was more difficult. Twenty-two college students completed four blocks of a visual search task while walking. The difficult and the manual …

Evaluating The Diverted Attention Condition In A Trial-Based Functional Analysis, Kyle Frank

Thesis Projects

The diverted attention condition of a functional analysis is similar to the standard attention condition; however, instead of the therapist engaging in another task and ignoring the participant, the therapist provides attention to a confederate while diverting attention away from the participant. Contingent upon the occurrence of problem behavior, attention is diverted back to the participant. This study evaluated the diverted attention condition using a trial-based functional analysis format. Results of the standard functional analysis for both subjects were undifferentiated, whereas results of the trial-based functional analysis showed an attention function for one subject through the use of a diverted …

The Effects Of Interruption Relevance And Complexity On Primary Task Resumption And Mental Demand, Brandon Allan Fluegel

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

In the present study, undergraduate students viewed patient charts and entered numerical values from these charts into a medical record database. They were unexpectedly interrupted by secondary tasks that differed in relevance and complexity. The secondary tasks varied by whether they facilitated or inhibited (i.e., relevant or irrelevant) rehearsal of the suspended task and whether they placed a demand on working memory (i.e., high complexity or low complexity). The primary measures of interest were the duration of time needed to resume the primary task and perceived mental demand. The Memory for Goals model (Altmann & Trafton, 2002) predicts that task …

Effects Of Transparency And Haze On Trust And Performance During A Full Motion Video Analysis Task, Sarah C. Leibner

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Automation is pervasive across all task domains, but its adoption poses unique challenges within the intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) domain. When users are unable to establish optimal levels of trust in the automation, task accuracy, speed, and automation usage suffer (Chung & Wark, 2016). Degraded visual environments (DVEs) are a particular problem in ISR; however, their specific effects on trust and task performance are still open to investigation (Narayanaswami, Gandhe, & Mehra, 2010). Research suggests that transparency of automation is necessary for users to accurately calibrate trust levels (Lyons et al., 2017). Chen et al. (2014) proposed three levels …

Examining The Role Of Perceptual Biases In Health Care Utilization Among Adults, Sandra L. Oviedo Ramirez

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

A large body of literature has identified significant racial and ethnic disparities in health care and health outcomes. In an effort to gain an understanding of how to achieve health equity, it is crucial that we broaden our search for factors beyond access factors that may explain these observed disparities. The present study examined how cultural differences related to attention (context vs. focal) and attribution (internal vs. external) influence individuals' propensity to identify symptoms as potential markers of poor health, and ultimately, report less utilization of professional health care services. Using a community sample of 252 (n = 134 Latinos …

African-American Fathers’ Perspectives Of Their Sons’ Diagnosis And Treatment Of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Renee Von Raub

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Parents’ perspectives about children’s Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) diagnosis and treatment are crucial in managing their children’s ADHD. While research existed on mothers’ perspectives of ADHD treatment, there was little research on the perspectives of African American fathers about their sons’ ADHD. The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to explore African Americans fathers’ perspectives of their sons’ diagnosis and treatment for ADHD. Family systems theory served as the conceptual framework. The research question was designed to explore African American fathers' perspectives and lived experience related to their sons' diagnosis of and treatment for ADHD. Ten biological fathers …

The Process Of Therapeutic Change In The Attention Training Technique, Benjamin J. Laman-Maharg

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

Background: An unacceptably large proportion of individuals remain symptomatic after receiving first-line interventions. The attention training technique (ATT) is a potentially effective treatment augmentation and standalone treatment that may help improve the treatment of psychological disorders. The machanisms of therapuetic change of ATT remain understudied. This study is a randomized controlled trial of ATT compared to progressive muscle relaxation (PMR) that examined mindfulness and attentional control as potential mechisms of therapeutic change.

Method: A convenience sample of 64 participants (Mage = 20.13, SD = 3.65; 42.2% Male; 64.1% non-Hispanic White; 23.4% Black; 9.4% Hispanic/Latino; 3.1% Other) were randomly assigned to …

The Differences In Visuospatial Attentional Distribution Between Synesthetes And Non-Synesthetes, Identified Through Covert Visual Search, Kirsten Helena Ostbirk

Senior Projects Fall 2020

Synesthesia is a condition whereby sensory stimuli evoke unusual additional sensory perceptions and experiences, and can be identified through a visual search task. Grapheme-colour synesthetes have shown increased efficiency in visual search tasks, which some have hypothesized is a result of synesthetic colours drawing attention to the target stimulus, and have likened it to a weakened “pop-out” effect. Visual search has also been used to measure visuospatial attentional distribution, and findings from this method have supported the gradient model of attention, which proposes that cognitive resources are the most concentrated centrally in our visual field, and taper off, such that …

Frontal Brain Injury: Effects On Flexibility, Impulse Control, And Attention, Christopher Matthew O'Hearn

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) is defined as an impact to the head, penetration of the skull, or rapid deceleration of the skull, resulting in an alteration of brain function or neurological deficit. Cognitive deficits are common following TBI and often go unresolved due to a lack of effective treatments. These deficits often perseverate into the chronic post injury phase, so the development of rehabilitative strategies is imperative. Behavioral flexibility, impulse control, and attention are a few cognitive processes that are commonly affected by TBI. The current research compares these processes between rats with and without a severe frontal brain injury …

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 …

Minocycline As A Treatment For Traumatic Brain Injury-Induced Impulsive And Attentional Deficits, Kristen M. Pechacek

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) impacts millions worldwide and can cause lasting psychiatric symptoms. Chronic neuroinflammation is a characteristic of post-injury pathology and is positively associated with psychiatric conditions such as ADHD and bipolar disorder. Therefore, the current study sought to treat TBI-induced impulsivity and inattention using minocycline, an antibiotic with anti-inflammatory properties. Rats were trained on the five-choice serial reaction time task (5CSRT), a measure of motor impulsivity and attention. After behavior was stable on the 5CSRT, rats received either a bilateral frontal TBI or sham procedure. Minocycline was given at either 1 h post-injury or beginning at 8 weeks …

Induction And Transferral Of Flow In The Game Tetris, Kevin John O'Neill

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

We looked at the facilitation and transfer of a flow state in a cognitive context. Subjects played a manipulated version of the game Tetris, and we gathered data on their gameplay performance on pre- and post-tasks, as well as a set of questionnaires which measure flow and perceived task effort. The altered version of Tetris includes an artificial intelligence agent that continually assesses the participant’s skill and adapts the challenge level of the game to match the participant’s skill. An adaptive condition characterized by challenge-skill balance was hypothesized to induce flow, reduce perception of effort, and improve performance. We found …