Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Facial Recognition As It Relates To The Obstruction Of Holistic Processing By Partial Occlusion, Karen B. Raymond

Honors College Theses

Facial recognition is an important cognitive function in communication and is how we process, remember, and recall facial information. Research concerning processing styles and their effects on facial recognition accuracy is a prominent subject within the field of cognitive psychology. Holistic processing and featural processing have been experimentally manipulated in various ways with an aim to determine which of these processing styles would aid with accurate recognition. The current study is a replication of a previous study that examined the effects of masks on face information processing and recognition. This study assesses the effects of partial occlusion on face information …

Further Investigating Suggestibility And False Memory, Angelina M. Blanchette

Honors College Theses

This study investigated suggestibility in the context of effects of misinformation on memory. In the current study, participants viewed a video followed by comprehension questions followed by two sets of true/false questions and then the same set of comprehension questions including information in the true/false questions that was inconsistent with the video and comprehension questions negatively affected memory compared to the control condition. These findings are discussed in terms of theories relating to how misinformation affects memory.

Influence Of Increased Options On Performance Generalization Across Two Variations Of The Monty Hall Dilemma, Robert A. Southern

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The Monty Hall dilemma (MHD) is a probability puzzle at which humans consistently fail to adopt the optimal winning strategy. The participant chooses between three identical doors, behind one of which is a valuable prize. After the participant makes their initial decision, the host reveals that there is nothing behind one of the two remaining doors, then asks the participant if they would like to stay with their originally selected door or switch to the remaining unopened door. The optimal choice is to switch to the previously unchosen door, which increases the probability of winning from 33% to 67%. Despite …

Developing Sensory Behavioral Assays For Zebrafish Autism Model, Shannon Wagner

Honors College Theses

Individuals of all ages can suffer from a wide variety of symptoms and disabilities that could be diagnosed as Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Due to new methods and technology, individuals are now being diagnosed in the first two years of their life, which is when the signs of ASD are initially exhibited. Individuals diagnosed with ASD share many similar disabilities and symptoms such as hyperactivity to social, visual, and auditory stimuli, as well as hyposensitivity to olfactory stimuli. Neural circuit-based alterations are widely considered as a cause for these behavioral aberrations. We have created behavioral assays using zebrafish larvae to …

Illusory Boundaries And Perceived Access To Rural Mental Health Care, Caitlin M. Shelby

Honors College Theses

This study examined the potential effects of illusory boundaries (in the form of county lines on a map) on distance judgments, specifically distance to mental health care (therapy) and perceived accessibility to said mental health care. 47 undergraduate psychology students completed our study through SONA on Qualtrics. Participants were presented with a series of 10 maps. Each map had two pins, one labelled “you are here” and the other labelled “therapy location” with a key on the bottom for reference (however, participants were instructed to not use their fingers as a measurement tool to keep the distance judgment a perceived …

Does Enhancing Mind Perception Affect Conspiracy Belief?, Jorge R. Noguera - Sepulveda

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study was conducted to determine the effectiveness of a novel mind perception manipulation. Mind perception is currently theorized to be an essential aspect of a number of human social psychological processes. Thus, a successful manipulation would allow for the causal study of those processes. This manipulation was created in an attempt to explore the downstream impact of mind perception on the endorsement of conspiracy theories. Conspiracy theories are steadily becoming more and more prominent in social discourse. Endorsement of conspiracy theories are beginning to show real world ramifications such as a danger to human health (e.g., in the anti-vaccination …

Examining The Effects Of Energy Drinks On Academic Performance, Alyssa P. Roberson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Reports of energy drink (ED) consumption have grown among the United States population. Research suggests reasons for consumption vary across populations, including increased attention and enhanced endurance performance. However, ED consumers could suffer from negative effects of ED, including health problems, caffeine overdose, and death. Energy drink consumption is also linked to substance use. Despite risks of consuming ED, heavy use of EDs remains among college students, often to help with academic performance; however, research has not examined effects of ED consumption on perceived and actual academic performance. This study evaluated relationships among ED consumption, self-efficacy, and academic performance in …

The Effects Of Alcohol Priming On Age Perception And Attractiveness Ratings, Brooks B. Kolberg

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Sexual assault and alcohol have often been linked together (Abbey et.al, 2004; Collins & Messerschmidt, 1993). Also, 29% of rape victims are between the ages of 12 and 17 (Greenfield, 1997). Research suggests people who are more impulsive are more likely to be sexually aggressive (Mouilso, Calhoun, & Rosenbloom, 2013); however, less is known regarding the underlying mechanisms of the relationship between alcohol and sexual assault of minors. This study addressed this knowledge gap by (1) examining the effects of alcohol priming on attractiveness ratings and age perception of individuals who could be perceived as adolescent, and (2) investigating the …

The Effect Of Religious Dress On Perceived Attractiveness And Trustworthiness, Courtney Swank

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The hijab, a symbol of modesty and privacy in the Islamic faith, negatively affects ratings of perceived attractiveness. Although postcolonial feminism strives to portray women as not one universal group, but as an incorporation of different races, ethnicities, social classes, and other cultures, the Western world may not be where it endeavors to be. In this study the impact of the hijab on people’s perceptions of attractiveness was examined. Participants rated four target photos of the same woman with and without a hijab, and with or without cosmetics. Attractiveness and trustworthiness was then assessed in each condition, between genders, in …

The Effects Of Pointing Gestures On Visual Attention, Samaria J. Hamilton

Honors College Theses

Visual attention is a process that involves concentrating on select features, such as sensory cues, within the complex environment. Sensory cues within the visual field capture and redirect our attention. Previous research on eye gaze revealed that direct gaze captures attention. In the present study, pointing gestures and motion cues were tested together in a visual search task to examine their effects on attention. Participants were instructed to identify a target letter presented on one of four hands. Initially, two hands displayed a pointing gesture while the other two displayed an open gesture. Next, a target letter appeared, one open …

Examining The Effects Of Enclosure Size At Training And At Test In Spatial Reorientation, Zebulon K. Bell

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Previous research has begun to shed light on the differentiated influence of enclosure size on cue use during reorientation (Sturz, Forloines, & Bodily, 2012). Namely, the question remains of why both feature (i.e., objects or landmarks in the enclosure) and geometric (i.e., shape of the enclosure) cues are differentially affected by enclosure size, and the extent to which local (i.e., wall lengths and corner angles) and global (i.e., principal axis of space) geometric cues are affected by enclosure size. Further, it remains unclear whether training size, testing size, or the relationship between training and testing size influences the use of …

Dual Task Testing Of The Adaptive Combination View In Spatial Reorientation, Donald G. Sullens

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

If an organism is trained to approach a location within an enclosure the organism will approach the correct location and it’s geometrically identical location within the environment upon removal of any features. This phenomenon has been turned spatial reorientation, and further studies on how, and to what, organisms reorient have conducted in the last several decades. In the reorientation literature, two theories have surfaced to fill the void left by the rejection of the initial reorientation theory, the Geometric Module theory. I attempt look to discern if the synonym judgement dual task will hinder reorientation in a similar or different …

The Effect Of Social Influence On Perception Of Tornado Warnings, Jason A. Parker

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Tornado activity annually results in many deaths throughout the U.S. As a result, the emergency alert system (including tornado warnings) has made considerable advancements throughout the past few decades. However, continued improvements could be made to warning content that aid to facilitate adaptive decision-making by increasing individuals’ motivation to respond. One method that could increase adaptive responses to warnings is by including the modality of descriptive social information within the warning. Research suggests that normative social influence acts as a powerful motivator for individuals to conform toward the witnessed or perceived behaviors of others. The current study examined the impact …

Cognitive And Emotional Processes Involved In The Experience Of Objects As Holy Or Transcendent, Lotte J. Pummerer

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In recent years, attitudes about religion/spirituality have become more pluralistic (Pew Research Center, 2015a). At the same time, the number of individuals who identify themselves as nonreligious, atheist or agnostic are growing (Pew Research Center, 2015b), yet we are lacking words and research to describe their attributions of transcendence in language not bound to religious concepts. This study aims at examining both concepts – holiness and transcendence – in their similarities and differences through assessing cognitive and emotional processes involved in experiences of objects.

The study consisted of two parts with a total of 206 Christian and 52 nonreligious/atheistic/agnostic participants. …

The Effects Of Construal Level On Stigmatizing Attitudes Toward An Individual With Mental Illness, Jeremy Glenn Gay

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

People with mental illness often face stigmatization by society. However, little research has examined cognitive factors that may activate or dissipate stigmatizing attitudes toward those with mental illness. Construal level, or the extent that people focus on abstract generalizations versus concrete details of events, may be one such cognitive factor. Two contradictory hypotheses emerged concerning how construal may affect stigmatizing attitudes. One hypothesis suggests that abstract construals will decrease stigmatization because abstract construals tend to increase the activation of similar goals, thus leading to a similarity focus. In contrast, another hypothesis suggests that abstract construals will increase stigmatization because abstract …

Do Placement And Repetition Of Information In Pictorials Affect Comprehension And Memory Of Medication Instructions?, Jessica Le

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine how text and picture pairings affected comprehension and memory for medication instructions. Participants viewed instructions on how to prepare a mock oral suspension drug. These instructions either had the picture repeat the information in the text, or complement information in the text. The text instructions were also either integrated into the pictures, or were separated from the pictures. Next, participants were assessed on their comprehension and memory including memory for the order of the steps and their belief in their ability to carry out this task effectively. The results indicated that participants …

Coloring Expression Perception: An Attempt At Altering The Automatic Perception Of Strangers, Amber Blazer

Honors College Theses

Western society is filled with metaphors that carry through generations. Perhaps the most commonly known metaphor is that involving the colors black and white. Black is the color of choice for villains and demons while white is the color chosen for angels and heroes. The current research sought to explore exactly how far this metaphor might be carried over in real life in a series of two experiments. In the first experiment, neutral faces were surrounded in black and white to see if participants would perceive the faces in black as more aggressive than those surrounded by white. Results indicated …

Understanding Tendencies Of Aggressive Behavior And Cognition As Related To Alcohol Use And Intimate Partner Violence, Taylor D. Thomas Ms.

Honors College Theses

The term intimate partner violence (IPV) refers to any act of aggression (physical or emotional) committed within an intimate relationship by one partner against the other, regardless of gender, sexual intimacy, or sexual orientation. One of the leading risk factors for IPV is the regular abuse of alcohol (National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, 2014). High levels of alcohol consumption predict an increase in aggression in individuals with aggressive dispositions (Barnwell et al., 2006). Extensive research exists on the relationship between alcohol use and IPV, yet there is a dearth in the literature investigating the complexities of the alcohol use-IPV relationship …

Tornado Trouble: How Can Current Tornado Warnings Be Improved?, Jonathan P. Evans

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

There are many unnecessary deaths from tornadoes every year (NOAA.org, 2013). Although there have been great advancements in tornado warning systems (Coleman, Knupp, Spann, Elliot, & Peters, 2010), more changes to systems could be made to motivate people to take action in preparation for tornadoes (Brotzge & Donner, 2013). Protection motivation theory outlines the process by which we assess threats and decide whether or not preventative actions are worth performing. If the threat is perceived as severe enough and the preventative actions are seen as capable of mitigating the threat, the individual is motivated to act (Rogers, 2000). One means …

An Examination Between High And Low Optimistic Ncaa Division I Student-Athletes' Perceptions Of Preferred Leadership Behavior In Sport: A Qualitative Investigation, Alexander C. Roorda

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Numerous researchers have examined preferred sport leadership behaviors from both the coach and athlete perspectives (Beam, Serwatka, & Wilson, 2004; Chelladurai, & Carron, 1983; Freakley, Czech, Harris, & Burdette, 2012; Turman, 2013; Weinburg, & Gould, 2010). However, there is limited research in student-athlete personality dispositions and how those might influence student-athlete perceptions of preferred leadership behaviors. The purpose of the present study was to examine views of leadership in light of certain personality dispositions. This research examined the potential influence of optimism (Abramson, et al, 2000) on qualitative descriptions of preferred leadership behaviors using the Revised Leadership Scale for Sport …

Anger In The Courtroom: The Effects Of Attorney Gender And Emotion On Juror Perceptions, Christian B. May

Honors College Theses

This study sought to examine the effects of gender stereotypes of emotional expression on jurors’ perceptions of an attorney’s competence. Participants watched a video of a closing statement of a male or female attorney expressing either anger or neutral emotions and were asked to give a verdict and rate the attorney’s competence. Participants rated an angry male attorney highest in competence and an angry female attorney lowest in competence. Results also showed that participants who viewed a male attorney were more likely to attribute the attorney’s emotions to the situation compared to participants who viewed a female attorney. The implications …

Effects Of Perceptual Fluency On Reasoning And Pupil Dilation, Juan Diego Guevara Pinto

Honors College Theses

Research on perceptual disfluency has examined the effects of perceptually demanding stimuli on information processing and reasoning, suggesting that disfluent stimuli elicit slower and more effortful processing. Recent criticism of perceptual disfluency, however, suggests that the effects disfluent stimuli have on processing are marginal, and that they are mediated by individual differences. Participants completed a computerized reasoning task presented in either a fluent (i.e., easy-to-read font) or disfluent format (i.e., hard-to-read font) while pupil diameter was measured by an eye-tracker system. Pupillometry is an established reliable measure of mental activity that reflects differences in cognitive load. Results showed no performance …

Ego Depletion And Boredom: Does Boredom Compromise Future Acts Of Self-Control?, John Lemay

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study explored how boredom might influence self-control when participants believed that willpower is unlimited or limited. After completing one of two questionnaires, which induced the belief that willpower is either unlimited or limited, participants then completed one of three tasks. The tasks consisted of a non-ego depleting self-control task, an ego-depleting self-control task, and a task shown to induce boredom, with the nondepleting and depleting conditions having been replicated from research by Job, Dweck, and Walton (2010). In the non-depleting condition, participants completed a task that involved crossing out all occasions of the letter “e” found on two pages …

Predictors Of Bullying In An Adolescent School Sample, Schell Hufstetler

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Author's abstract: Bullying is a pervasive problem in our society. Contributing to this problem is the fact that bullying is not well understood. This makes it difficult to design successful interventions. The current study aims to create a complete picture of bullying in order to increase understanding of this behavior. For this study, 59 adolescents completed a survey packet including measures of bullying behaviors and other variables expected to relate to bullying. The results revealed that bullying is a problem for both genders. Multivariate analyses revealed males to be more directly and indirectly aggressive, but there were no significant gender …

"...Bless Her Little Heart!": The Culture Of Honor And Emotion Recognition, Forrest J. Rackham

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Author's abstract: Some researchers assert that cultural display rules may explain differences in perceiving emotions (Matsumoto, Yoo, & Chung, 2010). The current study examined the display rule of masking within the Southern culture of honor. It was hypothesized that masking within the culture of honor negatively affects emotion perception sensitivity, particularly in the speed and accuracy of recognizing anger. Southern undergraduate students were primed with the culture of honor and then presented with the Emotional Expression Multimorph Task. Participants chose one of the six emotions (i.e., sad, happy, surprise, fear, disgust, or anger). It was hypothesized participants in the masking …