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Eyes Open In The Dark, Brittany A. Forrest
Eyes Open In The Dark, Brittany A. Forrest
Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository
An unusual dissertation that presents a science fiction autobiographical narrative, following a trial of trauma and identity dysphoria. Through a trans-queer biological female lens, the vulnerable tone of the author invites the reader into wording that describes matters they will care for on a human level. This study probes the question of what lives within the silence of our perceptions by appraising reverberations between interactions that coerce the human condition. Interrogating memory is inevitable when questioning how defense mechanisms interrelate and adapt to human needs. This study penetrates the complexities of perception fabrications, power dynamics, sensory perceptions, systemic moralities, and …
Working Memory During The Menstrual Cycle: A Study Of The Role Of The Different Phases Of The Menstrual Cycle On Working Memory, Daniella Brownrigg
Working Memory During The Menstrual Cycle: A Study Of The Role Of The Different Phases Of The Menstrual Cycle On Working Memory, Daniella Brownrigg
Brescia Psychology Undergraduate Honours Theses
This study investigated the role of the menstrual cycle phases (Follicular, Luteal and Menstruation) on working memory components (verbal and visuospatial). Eighty-eight undergraduate students attending Brescia University college completed a survey regarding: demographics, menstrual cycle information and working memory cognitive tasks. The cognitive tasks were the Corsi Block Tapping Test and a shorter version of the Hooper Visual Organization test for visuospatial working memory; and the Forward Digit Span Test and the Semantic Verbal Fluency Subset: Animals from the Barcelona Test for verbal working memory. Participants were categorized into the different menstrual phases they were experiencing. No significant differences were …
Is Social Rank Correlated With Cognitive Ability In Black-Capped Chickadees?, Gloria Hyun Young Cho
Is Social Rank Correlated With Cognitive Ability In Black-Capped Chickadees?, Gloria Hyun Young Cho
Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository
Traditionally, dominant animals have been regarded as better competitors in all aspects of life, including cognition. However, the survival and reproductive advantages of being a dominant chickadee are surprisingly modest. It is possible that subordinate individuals compensate for the disadvantages of a lower rank with better cognitive abilities. If dominants are monopolizing prime food sources, subordinates may have developed better associative learning skills by learning to associate novel types of stimuli with food rewards. In this thesis, I asked whether dominance rank is correlated with cognitive ability in Black-capped Chickadees. I determined dominance rank in six flocks of six chickadees, …
Formation Of Implicit Memories From A Narrative Played During Sleep, Amanat Ludhar
Formation Of Implicit Memories From A Narrative Played During Sleep, Amanat Ludhar
Undergraduate Honors Theses
Though, it was previously thought that the sleeping brain was dormant, research suggests that participants can process salient stimuli and form implicit memories of simple stimuli (e.g. words) during sleep. Thus, the current study aimed to determine whether participants could form implicit memories of a narrative played during sleep, and what role different sleep stages played in this memory formation. Participants were played a story while taking a nap, and EEG was used to track time spent in different sleep stages. Later, participants completed an implicit memory task where they were asked to differentiate between animal and non-animal words through …
Exploring Cognitive Maps Through Sketching, Melissa M. Nantais
Exploring Cognitive Maps Through Sketching, Melissa M. Nantais
Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository
Abstract
Periodic testing has been found to improve the accuracy of participants’ cognitive maps when an onscreen map is provided, however, it is unclear whether the same results would occur without the onscreen map. The current study investigated whether drawing a map periodically while exploring the virtual environment Silcton would improve cognitive map accuracy. Participants explored Silcton and were stopped every 4 minutes to either sketch a map of Silcton, identify items seen in Silcton, or colour an unrelated picture, and a baseline group was not stopped. All groups drew a final sketch map and completed a direction estimation task. …
Unsettling The Homeland: Fragments Of Home And Homeland Among Iraqi Exiles In Amman, Jordan, Abdulla Majeed
Unsettling The Homeland: Fragments Of Home And Homeland Among Iraqi Exiles In Amman, Jordan, Abdulla Majeed
Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository
For the past 30 years, imperial military invasions and political meddling in Iraq, and a long history of a repressive Ba’athist regime disfigured the nation, displaced Iraqis from their homeland, and unsettled their relationship to it. By examining the narratives of Iraqi exiles who have diverse migration genealogies, socioeconomic backgrounds, and political trajectories in Amman, Jordan, this thesis looks at how exile shapes how the homeland is imagined, remembered, and performed. Based on fieldwork and interviews conducted in Amman between May and September of 2017, the thesis explores: 1) Why certain narratives and elements of the past are employed, while …
Individual Differences In The Allocation Of Visual Attention During Navigation, Mikayla Keller
Individual Differences In The Allocation Of Visual Attention During Navigation, Mikayla Keller
Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository
There are large individual differences in the ability to create an accurate mental representation (i.e., a cognitive map) of a novel environment, yet the factors underlying cognitive map accuracy remain unclear. Given the roles that landmarks and cognitive map accuracy play in successful navigation, the current study examined whether differences in the landmarks that individuals look at while navigating are related to differences in cognitive map accuracy. Participants completed a battery of spatial tests: some that assessed spatial skills prior to a navigation task, and others that tested memory for the environment following exploration of a virtual world. Results indicated …
Image Memory For Hyperpalatable Foods In University Aged Females, Leila M. Mackay
Image Memory For Hyperpalatable Foods In University Aged Females, Leila M. Mackay
Brescia Psychology Undergraduate Honours Theses
Hyperpalatable foods are high in sugar and/or fat and highly processed. These foods increase dopamine in the brain similar to other rewards, such as drugs of abuse, producing pleasure and an enhanced drive to consume them. Undergraduate students (n = 44) completed an explicit memory task where they were asked if they recalled various types of food (high sugar, high fat, sugar+fat, fruits, vegetables and breads) and non-food images. Questionnaires evaluating eating patterns were also completed. It was hypothesized that hyperpalatable foods would be recalled better and faster than less-palatable foods or non-food images. The study found that hyperpalatable …
Does Sleep Enhance The Consolidation Of Implicitly Learned Visuo-Motor Sequence Learning?, Jeremy Viczko
Does Sleep Enhance The Consolidation Of Implicitly Learned Visuo-Motor Sequence Learning?, Jeremy Viczko
Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository
Sleep has been shown to facilitate the consolidation (i.e., enhancement) of simple explicit (i.e., conscious) motor sequence learning (MSL). It remains unclear the degree to which this applies to implicit (i.e., unconscious) MSL. Employing reaction time and response generation tasks, we investigated the extent to which sleep is involved in consolidating implicit MSL, specifically whether the motor or the spatial cognitive representations of a learned sequence are enhanced by sleep, and whether these changes support the development of explicit sequence knowledge across sleep but not wake. Our results indicate that spatial and motor representations can be behaviourally dissociated for implicit …
Dancing In The Dark: Sleep-Dependent Motor Skill Memory Consolidation And Periodic Limb Movement Disorder, Valya Sergeeva
Dancing In The Dark: Sleep-Dependent Motor Skill Memory Consolidation And Periodic Limb Movement Disorder, Valya Sergeeva
Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository
Periodic Limb Movement Disorder (PLMD) is a neurodegenerative disease characterized by dysfunction of the striatum and brief, repetitive limb movements during sleep. PLMD can severely disrupt non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep. Motor skills learning and memory consolidation are dependent on striatal activation, the latter enhanced by NREM sleep. Therefore, we investigated whether individuals with PLMD had learning and sleep-related memory deficits, and whether this putative deficit was related to sleep quality or symptom severity. 14 adults with a PLM index >15/hr underwent two nights (baseline, training) of polysomnographic recording. 15 age-matched healthy controls underwent three nights (baseline, undisturbed training and …
The Ha-Ha Holocaust: Exploring Levity Amidst The Ruins And Beyond In Testimony, Literature And Film, Aviva Atlani
The Ha-Ha Holocaust: Exploring Levity Amidst The Ruins And Beyond In Testimony, Literature And Film, Aviva Atlani
Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository
ABSTRACT
Jewish humour sheds a crude light on the social, political, and historical realities of the Holocaust. Paradoxically, contentiously, doses of levity during this period were very much a reality, and even a psychological necessity. The purpose of my thesis is to explore the historical, social, and political ramifications of such laughter provoking manifestations. In doing so, the nuances are highlighted which are found within the laughter of the ghettos, the transit camps, and the concentration camps. Furthermore, some of these jokes, and their subsequent variations, reappear within the discourse of children of survivors. The dissertation explores how some of …
Effects Of Classroom Design And Atmosphere Towards Affective Reactions And Memory Of Content, Brittney Bonnick
Effects Of Classroom Design And Atmosphere Towards Affective Reactions And Memory Of Content, Brittney Bonnick
Undergraduate Honors Theses
The purpose of the present study was to investigate how a classroom’s design can alter an
individual’s memory of content and affective reactions towards the experience. 123 University of
Western Ontario Undergraduate students who were part of a first year psychology participation
pool listened to a video lecture on schizophrenia and then completed two paper and pencil
questionnaires. The first was a multiple-choice assessment of participant memory for lecture
material, and the second was a Likert scale on the perceived learning experience. The
atmosphere of the classroom as well as the design of the desk arrangements was changed for
different …
Working Memory And Music Perception And Production In An Adult Sample, Keara L. Gillis
Working Memory And Music Perception And Production In An Adult Sample, Keara L. Gillis
Undergraduate Honours Theses
This study examined the relationship between working memory and music perception and production in an adult population. Music perception and production was assessed using The Vocal Auditory Motor Development Assessment (VAMDA). Working memory was examined using both a forward and backward digit span test. A significant positive correlation was found between working memory and melody discrimination, while no significant relationship was found between working memory and pitch discrimination and production. Result implications and future research directions are discussed.
Musical Mood And Musical Arousal Affects Different Stages Of Learning And Memory Performance, Tram Nguyen
Musical Mood And Musical Arousal Affects Different Stages Of Learning And Memory Performance, Tram Nguyen
Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository
This thesis examined whether the effect of music on memory is attributable to musical mood, musical arousal, context, or some combination of these factors. In Experiment 1, participants performed a face-name paired-association task while music was played in the background. In Experiment 2, the perceptual context (Experiment 2A) and emotional context (Experiment 2B) of music was examined more thoroughly. Experiment 3 examined whether the context effect of musical mood and musical arousal occurs in a recall task (Experiment 3A), a recognition task (Experiment 3B), and an association task (Experiment 3C). The results showed that low arousal music enhanced memory while …
Model Socialist Town, Two Decades Later: Contesting The Past In Nowa Huta, Poland, Kinga Pozniak
Model Socialist Town, Two Decades Later: Contesting The Past In Nowa Huta, Poland, Kinga Pozniak
Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository
This work examines people’s experiences of the postsocialist transformation in Poland through the lens of memory. Since socialism’s collapse over two decades ago, Poland has undergone dramatic political, economic and social changes. However, the past continues to enter into current politics, economic debates and social issues. This work examines the changes that have taken place by looking at how socialism is remembered two decades after its collapse in the Polish former “model socialist town” of Nowa Huta. It explores how ideas about the past are produced, reproduced and contested in different contexts: in Nowa Huta’s cityscape, in museums, commemorations, and …
Causality And Similarity In Autobiographical Event Structure: An Investigation Using Event Cueing And Latent Semantic Analysis, Christopher M. O'Connor
Causality And Similarity In Autobiographical Event Structure: An Investigation Using Event Cueing And Latent Semantic Analysis, Christopher M. O'Connor
Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository
The influence of similarity- and causally-based relations on the organization of autobiographical events was investigated using extended strings of related event memories. These strings were elicited using an event cueing paradigm in which participants generated descriptions of memories from their life, which were then presented as cues to subsequent event memories. In Experiment 1, similarity between generated events was investigated using participants’ similarity ratings, Latent Semantic Analysis, and experimenter judgements of shared event properties. For events close together in a string, event owners’ similarity ratings were higher than non-owners’, and non-owners’ ratings were comparable to similarity calculated using LSA. In …