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Full-Text Articles in American Studies
Reading Cruft: A Cognitive Approach To The Mega-Novel, David J. Letzler
Reading Cruft: A Cognitive Approach To The Mega-Novel, David J. Letzler
Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects
Reading Cruft offers a new critical model in which to examine a genre vital to modern literature, the mega-novel. Building on theoretical work in both cognitive narratology and cognitive poetics, it argues that the mega-novel is primarily characterized by its inclusion of a substantial amount of pointless text ("cruft"), which it uses to challenge its readers' abilities to modulate their attention and rapidly shift their modes of text processing. Structured into five chapters respectively devoted to subgenres in which mega-novels have been grouped--the dictionary novel, the encyclopedic novel, the Menippean satire, the picaresque and frame-tale, and the epic and allegory--it …
Does Crowding Obscure The Presence Of Attentional Guidance In Contextual Cueing?, Steven William Fiske
Does Crowding Obscure The Presence Of Attentional Guidance In Contextual Cueing?, Steven William Fiske
USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations
The contextual cueing effect was initially thought to be the product of memory guiding attention to the target location. However, the steep search slopes obtained in contextual cueing indicate an absence of attentional guidance. We hypothesized that crowding could be obscuring the presence of attentional guidance and investigated this possibility in 2 experiments. Crowding was manipulated by varying the density of items in the local target region in a contextual cueing task. We observed a significant reduction in search slopes between the novel and repeated conditions when crowding was reduced. Enhancing crowding eliminated the contextual cueing effect. These findings suggest …
The Role Of Contextual Associations In The Selection Of Objects, Noah Patrick Sulman
The Role Of Contextual Associations In The Selection Of Objects, Noah Patrick Sulman
USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations
This paper describes a sequence of experiments addressing basic questions about the control of visual attention and the relationship between attention and object recognition. This work reviews compelling findings addressing attentional control on the basis of high-level perceptual properties. In five experiments observers were presented with a rapid sequence of object photographs and instructed to either detect or selectively encode a verbally cued object category. When these object categories (e.g. "baseball") were preceded by contextual images associated with a given object category (e.g. "baseball diamond"), observers were less likely to accurately report information about the target item. This effect obtained …
Visual Search For Smoking Stimuli: Detection And Distraction, Jason A. Oliver
Visual Search For Smoking Stimuli: Detection And Distraction, Jason A. Oliver
USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations
Extensive research has shown that the attentional systems of addicted individuals are biased towards drug-related stimuli, but despite several decades of effort these results have frequently been inconsistent. Though commonly believed to result from addiction and dependence, cognitive research would suggest that frequent exposure to drug-related stimuli could affect the attentional processing of drug-related cues even if no actual drug use occurs. The present investigation examined attentional bias for smoking cues using a novel visual search paradigm amongst smokers currently in nicotine withdrawal and fully satiated smokers, as well as a non-smoker control group. Variables related to smoking behavior, as …
From Real To Reel: Performances Of Influential Literacies In The Creative Collaborative Processes And Products Of Digital Video Composition, Deborah Kozdras
From Real To Reel: Performances Of Influential Literacies In The Creative Collaborative Processes And Products Of Digital Video Composition, Deborah Kozdras
USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations
In this study, I used a lens of performance theory to examine the creative collaborative processes of middle school students who composed digital videos. More specifically, I investigated the multiliteracies involved in a filmmaking camp and how students performed those literacies in ways that influenced the composition processes and the resulting texts. In order to study collaborative composition processes, I used ethnographic methods. In order to analyze data, I employed a mixed methodology of constant comparative analysis and dramaturgical analysis of interactions in three main informant groups in order to understand how students used multiple literacies to influence the composition …
Comparing The Effectiveness Of Behavioral Contracts That Use Function Based Reinforcers Versus Highly Preferred Items For Attention Maintained Behaviors, Dánica M. Diáz
USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations
Behavioral contracts were used to reduce the socially inappropriate and stigmatizing behaviors of adult men diagnosed with an intellectual disability. All three participants were residing in an intensive residential habilitation facility and receiving 24 hour supports due to the intensity of their problem behaviors. A multiple baseline across subjects with a series of reversals within the intervention phase was used to compare and evaluate the effectiveness of two types of behavioral contracts: one based on the function of the behavior and the other based on highly preferred items. Brief functional analyses were conducted to determine the function of the participants' …
The Role Of Interference In Moderating The Relationship Between Working Memory Capacity And Cued-Recall, Umit Akirmak
The Role Of Interference In Moderating The Relationship Between Working Memory Capacity And Cued-Recall, Umit Akirmak
USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations
Although much research has been done on how well working memory predicts processing of consciously activated information, research on the possible influences of working memory on automatically activated information is scarce (Barrett, Tugade, & Engle, 2004). Working memory capacity (WMC) may be related to how much information is activated automatically by either aiding ease of access to relevant information or by its role in inhibiting irrelevant thoughts and information (i.e., noise). The purpose of the present study was to examine the contribution of individual differences in WMC on implicit and explicit processes in cued recall. Participants studied target words and …
Health And Behavioral Problems Associated With Symptoms Of Pediatric Sleep Disorders, Rachel B. French
Health And Behavioral Problems Associated With Symptoms Of Pediatric Sleep Disorders, Rachel B. French
USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations
The purpose of this study was to examine prevalence rates of symptoms of several sleep disorders in young children, and the relationship between symptoms of pediatric sleep disorders and other childhood problems. Two-hundred-seventy-six children aged 2 to 5 years were studied through examination of a pre-existing database. Children rated as high risk for having a sleep disorder displayed significantly more aggressive behavior and attention problems, as compared to children whose sleep was rated in the normal range. However, no relationship was found between symptoms of sleep disorders and body mass index, asthma, or allergies. In addition, no relationship was found …
The Influence Of Valenced Images On Perceptual Learning, Noah Sulman
The Influence Of Valenced Images On Perceptual Learning, Noah Sulman
USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations
This study aimed to determine whether the rate of perceptual learning in a vernier discrimination task could be influenced by affective images. Forty-eight (30 Female, 18 Male) subjects were instructed to indicate the direction of an offset over 620 trials. Subjects were primed with either negative, positive or neutral photographs before making the discrimination on all test trials. Feedback regarding offset performance was provided on each trial. Despite initial pilot data indicating that subjects primed with negative, arousing images improved performance over those primed with either neutral or positive images, there was ultimately no reliable advantage for any of the …
The Effects Of Multimedia Annotations On L2 Vocabulary Immediate Recall And Reading Comprehension: A Comparative Study Of Text-Picture And Audio-Picture Annotations Under Incidental And Intentional Learning Conditions, Zhaohui Chen
USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations
This dissertation investigated the effects of multimedia annotation on L2 vocabulary learning and reading comprehension. The overarching objective of this study was to compare the effects of text-picture annotation and audio-picture annotation on L2 vocabulary immediate recall and reading comprehension. This study also sought to examine the different effects under incidental and intentional learning conditions. The participants were 78 intermediate adult ESL learners from three universities in northwest U.S. The participants read an Internet-based English text. Twenty target words, annotated in either text-picture or audio-picture, were embedded in the reading text. The participants accessed the annotations by clicking on the …