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Full-Text Articles in Psychology

Language Use Statistics And Perceptual Simulation In Language Processing, Alena Hejl May 2016

Language Use Statistics And Perceptual Simulation In Language Processing, Alena Hejl

Linguistics Honors Projects

Humans’ ability to comprehend language seems to rely on both mental reconstructions of what we have experienced in the world and statistically-based expectations of how language is used. This study adapted a comparison of perceptual and statistical explanations of word comprehension in the auditory modality. Participants completed a series of trials in which they heard cue words, some of which were spatially oriented (e.g., sky, ground), and then completed a letter identification task. In this task, the letter appeared on the computer screen in either a congruent location or an incongruent location. The position of the letter at the top …


The Role Of World Knowledge And Episodic Memory In Scripted Narratives, Micah L. Mumper Jan 2013

The Role Of World Knowledge And Episodic Memory In Scripted Narratives, Micah L. Mumper

Psychology Honors Projects

Readers recruit information from both general world knowledge and episodic memory during reading comprehension. The present experiment used eye tracking to investigate the time-course of how these two sources of memory interact. Participants read passages describing scenarios in which an actor performs a role that was either scriptually appropriate or inappropriate. Half the passages containing the inappropriate role-filler were preceded by an episodic justification for this scriptural violation. Using the same paradigm, Cook and Myers (2004) found context had an early influence on the integration of the role-filler, but world knowledge showed a later effect in the post-target region. The …


What Is The Optimal Subsidy For Exercise? Informing Health Insurance Companies' Fitness Reimbursement Programs, Molly E. Frean May 2012

What Is The Optimal Subsidy For Exercise? Informing Health Insurance Companies' Fitness Reimbursement Programs, Molly E. Frean

Economics Honors Projects

Health care costs account for 17% of US GDP and many programs and policies seek to reduce these costs. This paper focuses on exercise as preventive care due to its immense physiological benefits. I model the profit-maximizing choice of health insurance companies to subsidize exercise and the utility-maximizing choice of individuals to engage in exercise using a traditional principal-agent framework. I then use principles from behavioral economics and psychology to critique these models and provide further insight into understanding our underconsumption of such preventive services. I end with an evaluation of current programs and suggestions for improvement using empirical findings.


Facial Expression Processing Is Holistic Or Feature-Based Depending On Stimulus Format: Evidence From The Composite Face Illusion And Gaze-Contingent Stimulus Presentations, Emily R. Prazak Apr 2012

Facial Expression Processing Is Holistic Or Feature-Based Depending On Stimulus Format: Evidence From The Composite Face Illusion And Gaze-Contingent Stimulus Presentations, Emily R. Prazak

Psychology Honors Projects

Controversy exists over whether facial expression recognition is a holistic or feature-based process. The present research explored whether stimulus format (photographic vs. schematic) affects the type of processing used. In a composite/noncomposite expression recognition task, holistic processing was observed for photographic stimuli and feature-based processing was observed for schematic stimuli. Moreover, holistic processing in the photographic condition increased when more than one individual was presented. Results suggest that facial expression processing is holistic under natural viewing conditions and provide a potential resolution to the previous controversy. Such findings may be corroborated by an ongoing follow-up study using gaze-contingent stimulus presentations.


Curiosity, Demand Characteristics, And The Tip-Of-The-Tongue State, Chelsea Voskuilen May 2010

Curiosity, Demand Characteristics, And The Tip-Of-The-Tongue State, Chelsea Voskuilen

Psychology Honors Projects

The tip-of-the-tongue (TOT) state is generally described as the feeling that one knows a target word and recall of this word is imminent, although the word is currently unrecallable. Research suggests participants’ beliefs about their own knowledge affect the level and type of curiosity experienced while in a TOT state. This study examined the interaction between demand characteristics and specific types of curiosity experienced while in a TOT state. Demand characteristics were expected to affect the type of curiosity experienced, with participants in the high-demand group experiencing more negative forms of curiosity and the low-demand group experiencing more positive forms …


The Effects Of Handedness And Bilateral Saccadic Eye Movements On False Alarms In Recognition Memory, Lisa Weinberg Apr 2010

The Effects Of Handedness And Bilateral Saccadic Eye Movements On False Alarms In Recognition Memory, Lisa Weinberg

Psychology Honors Projects

Handedness can be used as a marker for interhemispheric interaction, which can produce memory benefits. Bilateral saccadic eye movements can be used to manipulate levels of interhemispheric interaction. This study measured the effects of handedness and bilateral saccadic eye movement on memory using the Deese-Roediger-McDermott paradigm. This study predicted a memory advantage for left-handers and mixed-handers without eye movements and an advantage for right-handers with the eye movements. The results do not support these predictions but do suggest that handedness is a factor in episodic memory performance. The analyses for this study were run using A’ to compare false alarm …


Event Segmentation And Memory Retrieval In Reading Comprehension, Charles Baker Brenner Apr 2010

Event Segmentation And Memory Retrieval In Reading Comprehension, Charles Baker Brenner

Linguistics Honors Projects

Comprehending text involves the convergence of top-down, expectation-driven processes and bottom-up, stimulus-driven processes. The precise nature of this convergence, however, is not well understood. The current study used narrative time shifts and shifts in protagonist goal, both hypothesized to encourage event-segmented memory representations, to investigate the interaction between automatic and constructive memory processes during reading. The addition of time and goal shifts was found to have no effect on the automatic retrieval of information from memory. The results are interpreted as support for the bottom-up account of retrieval of information during reading, and for the idea that the top-down account …


Mental Imagery And Basketball: A Comparison Of Cognitive-Specific And Flow Imagery, Evan Welo May 2009

Mental Imagery And Basketball: A Comparison Of Cognitive-Specific And Flow Imagery, Evan Welo

Psychology Honors Projects

Flow is a psychological state that is associated with optimal performance. Sports such as basketball are conducive to an individual experiencing flow because they have rules that structure and focus attention. Past research indicates that sports related mental imagery practice improves athletic performance; however few studies to date have systematically included the characteristics of flow in their sports mental imagery interventions. The present study compared the efficacy of a ―flow‖ and a standard basketball mental imagery intervention at improving performance on a basketball-shooting task. No significant differences were found between groups, but both reported increases in flow experiences.