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The Development Of Face Morphing Task To Assess Self Other Differentiation, Esen Karan

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Self-Other Differentiation (SOD) refers to a developmental process of acquiring a consolidated, integrated, and individuated sense of self. SOD develops at a) perceptual (e.g., facial perception) and b) representational (e.g., traits, mental states, and beliefs) levels. Impairments in representational SOD (R-SOD) are associated with many forms of psychopathology, particularly borderline personality disorder (BPD) and narcissistic personality disorder (NPD). Few studies to date have examined the perceptual aspects of SOD (P-SOD), which are hypothesized to develop from infancy onwards in tandem and in interaction with R-SOD. Given that the human face is one of the key characteristics that humans use to …

Visual Entrainment Of Perception-Related Neural Oscillations As A Mechanism For Maintaining Rhythmic Temporal Expectations Across A Wide Range Of Frequencies, Michael James Gray

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Visual sensitivity fluctuates rhythmically, in-synch with ongoing, EEG-recorded neural oscillations across a wide range of frequencies (~1-25hz). Some recent work has suggested that these perception-related neural oscillations can be entrained by rhythmic visual stimulation. Evidence is also emerging that the entrainment of ongoing oscillations in visual and auditory cortices is involved in rhythmic temporal expectations. In the introduction chapter, I attempt to bridge these bodies of literature and hypothesize that rhythmic visual stimuli automatically entrain ongoing, perception-related neural oscillations and that this mechanism supports the maintenance of rhythmic temporal expectations. Chapters 2 and 3 address this hypothesis from different angles. …

The Relationship Between Perceived Sedentary Behaviour And Psychological Health, Kelsey Sick

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The present study examined relationships between individuals’ perceptions of their level of sedentary behaviour, as compared with other people their age, and mental health and well-being. Adults (n = 374, M_age= 60% between 18 and 24) completed the online Perceived Sedentary Behaviour and Psychological Health Survey which assessed perceptions of sedentary behaviour on a typical weekday and weekend day, mental health and well-being (i.e., depression, state anxiety, perceived stress, mental well-being, mental health function), and potential covariates that have known associations with mental well-being (e.g., sociodemographic characteristics, health status factors, actual sitting time). Perceived sedentary behaviour …

Behavioral Hypervigilance In A Normative Population, Karly Weinreb

Theses and Dissertations

Hypervigilance is conceptualized as a symptom of trauma-related disorders, however it can also occur in a normative population. To distinguish normative hypervigilance from trauma-related hypervigilance, 372 participants (123 trauma-exposed and 249 non-trauma-exposed) completed a questionnaire assessing hypervigilance in contexts. Trauma-exposed participants reported greater levels of hypervigilance in 3 contexts.

Judging Facial Expressions Of Emotion: Effects Of Gender, Raine Palladino

Theses and Dissertations

This study examined how quickly people recognize happy, neutral or angry emotional expressions on faces that varied in gender presentation and femininity/masculinity of facial features. Facial features influenced judgments of emotion more for women than men. Neutral expressions were more likely seen as angry on a woman’s face.

Fluency & Over The Counter Drug Warning Labels, Jonathan M. Cecire

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

Fluency is defined as the ease with which something is processed (Jacoby & Dallas, 1981; Okuhara, 2017). Recent research has shown that the fluency of a drug’s name can have an effect on people’s perceptions and evaluation judgments (Dohle & Siegrist, 2013, Dohle & Montoya, 2017). Research has also shown that the fluency of information can have an effect on people’s memory and performance (Diemand-Yauman, Oppenheimer, & Vaughan, 2011). The purpose of this study was to see how manipulating the fluency of warning labels could affect people’s perceptions, adherence, memory, and behaviors. Results showed that labels with fluent formats improved …

Seeing You From Your Point Of View: Perspective-Taking And First Impression Accuracy, Kathryn Graeff

Masters Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

This study assessed whether perspective-taking (considering another’s perspective, thoughts, and feelings; Davis, 1983) causes greater distinctive accuracy (judging another’s unique traits), normative accuracy (judging another as similar to the average person and positively), and distinctive assumed similarity (judging another’s personality as similar to one’s own personality) in first impressions of personality. College students (N = 429) received either perspective-taking instructions or no specific instructions before watching videos of seven individuals (targets) answering getting-to-know-you questions. Participants then rated each target’s personality. Taking the targets’ perspectives did not improve distinctive accuracy or distinctive assumed similarity. However, participants who reported actively trying or …

Real World Vs. Media Representations Of Relationships, Cassandra Thomasson

Honors College Theses

In this study, we investigated the correlations between media representation and real world views towards minority groups, specifically towards those who identify as LGBT+. To this end, participants completed questionnaires related to their personal views on real life issues, such as sexism and openness to diversity, as well as their feelings toward films featuring minority characters. Participants (N = 119) also watched trailers featuring, separately, LGBT+ characters, disabled characters, or characters who were neither, and rated how relatable they found the characters and how interested they were in seeing the film in its entirety. Correlations were conducted, and participants …

The Generalization Of Fear Condition Between Viewed And Imagined Percepts, Lauryn Michelle Burleigh

LSU Master's Theses

Mental images can provoke intense emotional states (Holmes & Matthews, 2010). Imagery and perception have common neural and physiological mechanisms, including activation of the early visual areas (Albers et al., 2013). We tested the prediction that individuals can acquire fear to imagined percepts and if this fear transfers to viewing percepts, using fMRI and self-reported measures to determine participants’ fear. The participants completed a task in which they viewed and imagined two stimuli, and were fear conditioned when imagining the CS+. Participants are only told that mild electrical stimulation will be paired with one of the stimuli, but not which …

Six Of One, Une Demi-Douzaine De L’Autre: Detecting Cross-Language Code-Switching In A Continuous Narrative, Melissa Kadish

Senior Independent Study Theses

This Independent Study examined how cross-language code-switching is processed and perceived. The following experiment compared how long English-French bilinguals, English monolinguals, and English-speaking French-language-learners took to detect instances of French/English code-switching in a semantically-rich narrative. Bilinguals displayed shorter change-detection response latencies than language learners and monolinguals, but the latter two groups did not significantly differ. These results provide insight into how the observed cognitive differences between bilinguals and monolinguals may develop, and offer support for the multi-language lexical processing theory of language interference. This study also addresses potential sociocultural origins of the observed language-level differences in code-switching perception by examining …

Integration And Segmentation Conflict During Ensemble Coding Of Aspect Ratio, Elric Matthew Elias

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The visual system often integrates information that "goes together". Once information has been integrated, summary information (e.g., average emotion or average size) can be extracted; this occurs during ensemble coding. Integration thus allows for fast and efficient generalizations about sets to be made. In contrast, the visual system sometimes segments input that does not go together. For example, the perception of objects can be exaggerated away from natural category boundaries (e.g., a perfect circle is a category boundary; it is neither "flat" nor "tall"). Segmentation allows the visual system to make quick categorical distinctions. Much of the time, integration …

The Role Of Cues And Kinematics On Social Event Perception, Estefania Berrios

Honors Undergraduate Theses

The belief that intentions are hidden away in the minds of individuals has been circulating for many years. Theories of indirect perception, such as the Theory of Mind, have since been developed to help explain this phenomenon. Conversely, research in the field of human kinematics and event perception have also given rise to theories of direct perception. The purpose of the study was to determine if intentionality can be directly perceived rather than requiring inferential processes. Prior research regarding kinematics of cooperative and competitive movements have pointed toward direct perception, demonstrating participants can accurately judge a movement as cooperative or …

High School Students' Perceptions Of Safety Concerns Predicts School Avoidance, Ann Marie Howard

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

School violence is a growing concern and an impending danger for American youth. Students' perceptions of violent school incidents may lead to fear and this fear may lead to school avoidance. Although researchers have found that teenage pregnancy and working to support family are two of the main reasons that students stay home from school, there has been no research conducted on whether students' perceptions of safety concerns, solely focusing on the presence of guns, gangs, student bullying, and fear of victimization, predict their decision to stay home from school. Therefore, based on social disorganization and resilience theories, the purpose …

Effects Of Diagnostic Labels On College Students' Perceptions Of Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Sarah Grace Cowell

Honors Theses

The Center for Disease Control reports current research that indicates 1 in every 68 children in the United States has the diagnostic label of Autism Spectrum Disorder. Research literature of the past 20 years has warned of the possible dangers of labels, such as Autism Spectrum Disorder, and the potentially negative impact these labels can have on an individual throughout a lifetime.

This project investigates college students' perceptions of the label Autism Spectrum Disorder in regard to a child's educational potential and later employment. College students viewed a four-minute video of a child in solitary play. One-half of the participants …

Is Perceived Intentionality Of A Virtual Robot Influenced By The Kinematics?, Jordan Sasser

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Research has shown that in Human-Human Interactions kinematic information reveals that competitive and cooperative intentions are perceivable and suggests the existence of a cooperation bias. The present study invokes the same question in a Human-Robot Interaction by investigating the relationship between the acceleration of a virtual robot within a virtual reality environment and the participants perception of the situation being cooperative or competitive by attempting to identify the social cues used for those perceptions. Five trials, which are mirrored, faster acceleration, slower acceleration, varied acceleration with a loss, and varied acceleration with a win, were experienced by the participant; randomized …

The Effect Of Perception Biases On Associated Value Of Stimuli, Jordan Broussard

Undergraduate Theses, Professional Papers, and Capstone Artifacts

Negative and positive stimuli appear to have their own unique effects on mood, behavior, and even underlying perceptions. Previous experiments have shown that people have the tendency to focus more on negative stimuli than positive; this is referred to as the “negativity effect”. The present study examined this bias, as well as the level of truth that people associate with positive or negative stimuli. In this experiment, students were split into groups and given either a “positive” or “negative” news article to read. Then, they were presented with two scenarios consisting of professors providing either “negative” or “positive” feedback to …

A Book And Its Cover: The Effects Of Dynamic And Static Facial Expressions On The Perction Of Personality Traits, Jonathan Ojeda

All Master's Theses

This study used three dynamic and three static images of older adult men depicting either smiling, scowling, or neutral facial expressions to examine the influence of motion on emotion identification and stereotype activation, specifically the Halo Effect, in older adults (55-85 years). To that end, two hypotheses emerged: 1) older adults will be more accurate in identifying facial expressions when viewing dynamic facial expressions than static facial expressions, and 2) participants exposed to the dynamic stimuli would experience greater levels of the Halo Effect with the greatest levels in the smiling facial expression condition. A 2 (stimulus type: dynamic and …

Using Eeg To Examine The Top Down Effects On Visual Object Processing, Joseph D. Borders

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

Object recognition entails a complex interplay between top-down and bottom-up signals. Yet, limited research has investigated the mechanisms through which top-down processes, such as task context and behavioral goals impact the neural basis of visual object processing. Using electroencephalography (EEG), we studied the temporal dynamics of task and object processing to identify how early the impact of task can be observed. We recorded ERPs from participants as they viewed object images from four categories spanning animacy (Inanimate: roller-skate, motorbike; Animate: cow, butterfly) and size (Large: motorbike, cow; Small: roller-skate, butterfly) dimensions under four task conditions comprising conceptual (naturalness, size) and …

Millennial Retail Employees Experiences And Perceptions Of Leaders With Body Image Modifications, Jennifer Mcclure

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Millennials in retail account for a large portion of the U.S. workforce and have the highest number of body image modifications from tattoos, piercings, and/or gauges. Following Moustakas concept of perception, the purpose of this transcendental phenomenology study was to explore how Millennial-aged retail employees describe and experience leaders with body image modifications from tattoos, piercings, and/or gauges. Participants were sought from various retail locations and were required to be born between 1981 and 1996. Data were collected through interviews with 6 participants and the data were analyzed using Moustakas modification of the Van Kamm Method. The results showed that …