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Rethinking Attention Control: An Individual Differences Approach, Vincent A. Medina
Rethinking Attention Control: An Individual Differences Approach, Vincent A. Medina
LSU Doctoral Dissertations
While there is extensive literature on visual spatial attention, less is known about auditory spatial attention, especially in terms of attention control. There is also a growing literature highlighting the importance of considering individual differences in attention control ability. Given these points, the purpose of this study was twofold. The first was to understand how auditory attention control is influenced by spatial location as well as vision. The second was to examine whether individual differences in attention control ability can predict task performance in that context. We utilized two tasks for these purposes. Experiment 1a consisted of a cross-modal Stroop …
An Erp Study Of The Effects Of Iconic And Nonsense Gestures On Memory Formation, Brianna E. Cairney
An Erp Study Of The Effects Of Iconic And Nonsense Gestures On Memory Formation, Brianna E. Cairney
LSU Master's Theses
Co-speech gesture is an important part of human communication and aids in comprehension, learning, and memory. The addition of iconic gestures to speech has been shown in prior work to enhance memory for the speech. However, it remains unclear as to whether this benefit requires gestures to be meaningful, or, conversely, if any attentionally-engaging gesture will enhance memory. In the current study, we tested two theories to explain the mnemonic benefits of co-speech gesture: Dual Coding Theory, which attributes these benefits to multimodal encoding and enhanced imageability, and Attentional Highlighting Theory, which posits that gestures draw more attention to concurrent …
Mental Imagery In The Regulation Of Differential Fear Conditioning: A Multimodal Investigation Involving Self-Report, Psychophysiology, And Brain Imaging, Tyler Daniel Robinson
Mental Imagery In The Regulation Of Differential Fear Conditioning: A Multimodal Investigation Involving Self-Report, Psychophysiology, And Brain Imaging, Tyler Daniel Robinson
LSU Doctoral Dissertations
Mental imagery is a common component in a range of emotion regulation techniques. However, the effectiveness and neural mechanisms of regulation via mental imagery are underexplored due to a lack of studies targeting mental imagery specifically. This discrepancy results in uncertainty regarding the mechanism of regulation in existing paradigms. Biased competition for attentional resources presents a plausible model by which a mental imagery-based distracter can downregulate response to an emotional stimulus. If visualizing an imagined distracter effectively regulates emotional response, the inclusion of mental imagery components in other techniques represents a potential confound. To address this discrepancy, this dissertation investigates …
Attention As A Mechanism For Object-Object Binding In Complex Scenes, Kacie Mennie
Attention As A Mechanism For Object-Object Binding In Complex Scenes, Kacie Mennie
LSU Doctoral Dissertations
The current study attempted to determine whether direct binding between objects in complex scenes occurs as a function of directed attention at encoding. In Experiment 1, participants viewed objects in one of these different types contexts: unique scenes, similar scenes, or arrays with no contextual information. Critically, only half of the objects were attended for each encoding trial. Participants then completed an associative recognition task on pairs of items created from the previously studied scenes. Test pairs consisted of two attended or unattended objects, and were associated with a unique scene, a similar scene, or an array. Evidence of binding …
Influencing The Allocation Of Attentional Resources In Tracking: Evidence For A Combined Parallel And Serial Mechanism, Justin Merrill Ericson
Influencing The Allocation Of Attentional Resources In Tracking: Evidence For A Combined Parallel And Serial Mechanism, Justin Merrill Ericson
LSU Doctoral Dissertations
The ability to track multiple moving objects (e.g. cars on a roadway, players and/or balls in a sporting event, pedestrians in a crowded space) has been thought to be a parallel process, such that all the objects are tracked simultaneously (Howe et al., 2010). Others have asserted that some serial mechanism is involved in the tracking process, suggesting that there are shifts of attention from object to object in order to successfully track (Oksama & Hyönä, 2008). Subsequent research has demonstrated that changes in trajectory can attract attention (Howard & Holcombe, 2010) and that these localized changes in trajectory negatively …
Memory For Elements Of A Complex Scene : Binding And The Influence Of Attention, Stephanie L. Martin
Memory For Elements Of A Complex Scene : Binding And The Influence Of Attention, Stephanie L. Martin
LSU Doctoral Dissertations
Memory of a complex event includes a multitude of features (e.g., objects, people, and actions) as well as the overall context (e.g., going to a picnic). To recall a complex event you must bind together these features and context into an episodic memory representation. This process of binding creates the subjective experience that certain details belong together. In two experiments, I examined whether particular types of information are bound together (object-to-object, object-to-context) within a memory representation of a scene and how attention may influence this process. Participants viewed a series of scenes and their attention was drawn to some objects …
What You Attend To Is What You Remember : Investigating The Unit Of Representation In Visual Working Memory, Amanda Elaine Van Lamsweerde
What You Attend To Is What You Remember : Investigating The Unit Of Representation In Visual Working Memory, Amanda Elaine Van Lamsweerde
LSU Doctoral Dissertations
The unit of representation in visual working memory (VWM) is a matter of some debate. The object benefit occurs when more features are remembered when they are combined into fewer objects. This has been used to support the perspective that objects are the unit of representation in VWM. However, the object benefit occurs only for two features from different dimensions (e.g., a blue circle: color and shape) but not two features from the same dimension (e.g., a red-and-blue bi-colored square: two colors). This suggests that both objects and features may be important in determining VWM capacity. The purpose of this …
Examining Reliability And Validity Of The Roadsign Perception Test, Justin Hull Ory
Examining Reliability And Validity Of The Roadsign Perception Test, Justin Hull Ory
LSU Master's Theses
The Road Sign Perception Test (RSPT) is a newly developed assessment procedure related to driver advisement, and its psychometric properties have not yet been examined systematically. The present study examined the construct validity and the reliability of RSPT measurements. Cronbach’s α and test-retest reliability statistics were completed, as were correlations reflecting on the test’s construct validity. Results indicated that the RSPT possesses marginal test-retest reliability, adequate internal consistency for duration of stimulus presentation and for specific stimuli, but low for number of signs presented. RSPT performance was significantly correlated with convergent variables measuring aspects of attention, working memory, and spatial …
Assessing Attentional Bias And Cerebral Laterality In Specific Phobia Using A Dichotic Listening Paradigm, Whitney Shay Jenkins
Assessing Attentional Bias And Cerebral Laterality In Specific Phobia Using A Dichotic Listening Paradigm, Whitney Shay Jenkins
LSU Master's Theses
Researchers have found fear to impact a variety of cognitive variables in individuals with specific phobia. Attentional bias is a cognitive variable that has received considerable attention in the specific phobia literature; however, the existing literature follows only one line of attentional bias—bias as encoded through images, words, or other content presented visually. This study aimed to expand on this area by assessing attention and cerebral laterality in individuals with specific phobia using a dichotic listening paradigm (i.e., via auditory means). Results indicated that participants with specific phobias do not significantly differ from controls in terms of the number of …
The Role Of Task-Appropriate Processing, Context, And Attention Allocation In Prospective Memory: A Multinomial Modeling Approach, Benjamin Anderson Martin, Ii
The Role Of Task-Appropriate Processing, Context, And Attention Allocation In Prospective Memory: A Multinomial Modeling Approach, Benjamin Anderson Martin, Ii
LSU Doctoral Dissertations
This study investigated the influences of attention and retrospective memory processes on prospective memory. In Experiment 1, participants who processed prospective memory cues under conditions that did not coincide with the processes required for making judgments in an ongoing task showed greater levels of performance at the expense of the attentional resources needed to complete the ongoing task. This differed compared to participants who processed cues under conditions that required the same processes needed to performance the ongoing task. In Experiment 2, the reinstatement of contextual features associated with prospective memory cues from the time of intention formation, or encoding, …
Psychological And Neuropsychological Correlates Of Postconcussional Disorder, Joy Helena Wymer
Psychological And Neuropsychological Correlates Of Postconcussional Disorder, Joy Helena Wymer
LSU Doctoral Dissertations
Chronic symptoms of Postconcussional Disorder (PCD) occur in a significant minority of mild brain injury patients. The latest research suggests an interactionistic perspective as the most logical and empirically supported pathogenesis for the development and maintenance of PCD. The interactionistic perspective implicates organic factors in the development of acute symptoms of PCD, and psychological factors in the maintenance of chronic symptoms. Possible psychological factors relevant in the maintenance of PCD symptoms include a grief response, a coping hypothesis, and the development of dysfunctional coping loops. Providing support for a psychological etiology of symptom maintenance is research indicating reduction of chronic …
The Role Of Attention In Affect Perception: An Examination Of Mirsky's Four Factor Model Of Attention In Chronic Schizophrenia, Dennis R. Combs
The Role Of Attention In Affect Perception: An Examination Of Mirsky's Four Factor Model Of Attention In Chronic Schizophrenia, Dennis R. Combs
LSU Doctoral Dissertations
Attention and affect perception was examined in a sample of sixty-five persons with chronic schizophrenia. Attentional skills may be related to deficits in affect perception due to a lack of attention to important information contained in the face. Deficits of this sort can dramatically inhibit appropriate social functioning. However, there is a lack of empirical research on this topic. Mirsky's four factor model of attention was used as a broad-based assessment of attentional functioning. The four factors of attention were: 1) Focus-Execute, 2) Encode, 3) Sustain, and 4) Shift. Neuropsychological measures reflective of attentional factor were administered. In this study, …