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Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Theses/Dissertations

2007

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Young Children's Use Of Causal Connections During Storytelling : The Role Of Context And Individual Differences In Attention., Danielle D. Brown Dec 2007

Young Children's Use Of Causal Connections During Storytelling : The Role Of Context And Individual Differences In Attention., Danielle D. Brown

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Narrative causal understanding is related to a variety of school-related skills such as reading comprehension, and memory. Previous research shows a developmental trend in the ability to use and understand causal connections that begins at age 4 and continually improves up through ages 10 and 11. Researchers posit that this developmental trend in one aspect of narrative ability is explained by an increase in narrative knowledge; children learn more about what is required in narratives they get older. There is a dearth of research on other possible influences on narrative ability. In two experiments, the current study uses a storytelling …


A Comparison Of Attentional Reserve Capacity Across Three Sensory Modalities, John Brill Jan 2007

A Comparison Of Attentional Reserve Capacity Across Three Sensory Modalities, John Brill

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

There are two theoretical approaches to the nature of attentional resources. One proposes a single, flexible pool of cognitive resources; the other poses there are multiple resources. This study was designed to systematically examine whether there is evidence for multiple resource theory using a counting task consisting of visual, auditory, and tactile signals using two experiments. The goal of the first experiment was the validation of a multi-modal secondary loading task. Thirty-two participants performed nine variations of a multi-modal counting task incorporating three modalities and three demand levels. Performance and subjective ratings of workload were measured for each of the …


The Relative Sensitivity Of An Olfactory Identification Deficit In Individuals With Schizotypal Personality Features, Vidyulata Kamath Jan 2007

The Relative Sensitivity Of An Olfactory Identification Deficit In Individuals With Schizotypal Personality Features, Vidyulata Kamath

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Olfactory identification deficits have received recent attention as a potentially useful endophenotype for schizophrenia. Examination of this deficit in individuals with schizotypal personality features (SPF) offers an alternative approach to multiple confounds present when examining individuals with schizophrenia. The aim of the current study was to compare the relative sensitivity of performance on measures of olfaction identification and sustained attention to the presence of SPF. Twenty-six undergraduates were defined as having SPF based on scoring in the top 10% of the Abbreviated Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire (SPQ-B; mean age 19.6, SD = 1.1; 62% female). These individuals were compared to twenty-six …