Psychology Commons^™

Aggression In And Out Of The Surrounding Space, Marissa Incer

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Social isolation is a type of punishment used to address misbehavior in individuals, such as children with time-outs and prisoners in solitary confinement. It was thought to be an effective method for teaching good behavior or alleviating tense situations. However, this type of punishment may worsen the punished individual’s aggression depending on the environment of isolation. The current study was divided into two experiments. In the first experiment, participants were isolated in a small (2x2 feet) or large (6x6 feet) space to observe if the space alone affected their aggression. In the second experiment, a frustration-inducing task was given to …

Cognitive Decline And Contact Sports: The Relationship Between P3 Amplitude And Sub-Concussive Head Impact, Elizabeth Kerman

Undergraduate Honors Theses

The present study sought to explore the effect of repetitive sub-concussive head impacts on the P3 event-related potential (ERP) amplitude and measures of movement kinematics. University students participating in collision, contact, and non-contact sports at the club and varsity level completed a cued visuomotor adaptation task. Results indicated that participants who estimated experiencing four or more sub-concussive head impacts per week display a significantly reduced P3 amplitude across both normal and adaptive trials. Additionally, participants who estimated experiencing less than four sub-concussive head impacts per week displayed no significant changes in P300 amplitude between “switch” and “stay” trials. This research …

Examining Measures Of Eeg As Biomarkers For Autism Spectrum Disorder, Shuhan Liang

Undergraduate Honors Theses

A central aim of this study was to determine whether there are consistent differences in a variety of ERPs and/or resting state measures of EEG between children diagnosed with ASD and psychiatric controls. Additionally, we aimed to determine whether any of those differences would generalize to the neural correlates of continuous measures of autistic tendencies in the general population. We classified EEG data into three categories: basic sensory responses, cognitive/perceptual ERPs, and resting state measures. Our study indicated that basic sensory responses and cognitive/perceptual event-related potentials (ERPs) did not differentiate autistic individuals from controls. For resting-state measures, the high gamma …

Investigating The Relationship Between N2pc And Rapid Saccadic Eye Movements, Kezhen Qi

Undergraduate Honors Theses

In this study, we investigated the impact of temporal variability on the N2pc component during overt and covert visual search tasks, with a focus on potential differences in the efficiency of search strategies. Employing an eye tracker and a modified algorithm for saccade detection, our analysis considered the potential influence of eye tracker performance and data cleaning methods on the interpretation of results. Additionally, we adopted ERPimage analysis to enhance the rigor of our statistical examination. Our findings confirmed the temporal relationship between the N2pc and first saccade onset, with the N2pc occurring after the saccade. Furthermore, we identified a …

The Cognitive & Educational Implications Of Color Use In Drawing To Learn, Juliana F.M. Cantarutti

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Drawing to Learn (D2L) is a learning aid that encourages STEM students to interact with abstract concepts in STEM by sketching. D2L is not an intuitive skill, and researchers strive to provide students with guidelines on how to master this method. One potential way to enhance the D2L method for students is by incorporation of visual cues, specifically color. While many students choose to incorporate color into their models without explicit instruction to do so, we have found no research on: a) why students use color in sketching, b) its effects on D2L. This study used interviews, surveys, and course …

Do You Salt Your Soup: Investigating The Effect Of Interference Control On The Cognitive Reflection Test, Matthew Lowrie

Undergraduate Honors Theses

The present study seeks to examine the role of interference control in solving the Cognitive Reflection Test (Frederick, 2005). Participants were given the CRT, CRT-2, and completed a novel adaptation of the Stop-Signal Task called the Change-Signal Task. The Change-Signal Task is similar to a stop-signal paradigm except that the participant must switch their response when a change-signal is present in the Change-Signal Task instead of withholding a response. This study found that interference control as assessed by the Change-Signal Task was important for determining performance on the CRT-2 but not for the CRT. Implications of these findings and interpretations …

Error Commission And Aging: Using Single-Trial Movement Kinematics To Decode The Time-Course Of Response Monitoring Processes During Complex Decisions In Older And Younger Adults, Emily Norton

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

We are constantly making decisions in everyday life that involve interactions with our environment: from simple behaviors like deciding to reach for your cup of coffee to complex behaviors like deciding which route to take to work. It is well known that these decisions require constant monitoring, such that decision-making is not a discrete event and requires initiation, monitoring, and evaluation for success. This process can be seen during error-corrections, in which an initial plan was implemented, an error was recognized, and a new plan was implemented to correct the initial response. While we have learned a great deal about …

Memory Suppression: The Importance Of Baseline Learning For The Think/No-Think Task, Curtis Rogers

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Studies using the think/no-think task have never addressed the baselines they use throughout the experiment. This study's primary goal was to investigate the effect differing baselines for word-pair learning (50% vs. 75%) would have on the think/no-think task. A replication of Anderson and Greene’s 2001 study using the Think/No-Think task was performed using either a 50% or 75% baseline as a threshold for participants moving to the think/no-think phase of the experiment. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this study implemented the think/no-think task online. Recall was evaluated using same and independent-probe memory tests.

Firstly, this study replicated the think/no-think effect …

Age-Related Differences In Inhibitory Function: Investigation Of Simon And Flanker Conflicts In Erps, Rachel Scrivano

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

It is unclear whether or not older adults experience more difficulty managing cognitive conflict by inhibiting distracting stimuli and/or ignoring irrelevant information than younger adults. A common procedure used to measure inhibitory function is through the use of congruent and incongruent stimuli. Specifically, past literature that used tasks like the Simon and flanker have found differing effects on reaction times and various event-related potential (ERP) amplitudes and latencies, suggesting that either inhibitory function is a unitary mechanism or multifaceted. Moreover, research exhibits uncertainty for whether or not age influences deficits to inhibitory function. Another way to measure inhibitory deficits with …

Faculty Change From Within: The Creation Of The Wmsure Program, Cheryl L. Dickter, Anne H. Charity Hudley, Hannah A. Franz, Ebony A. Lambert

Arts & Sciences Articles

Underrepresented students have less knowledge of research experiences available on campus and are less likely to feel supported by faculty than represented students. To address these issues and increase the number of underrepresented undergraduate researchers, faculty at the William & Mary created the William & Mary Scholars Undergraduate Research Experience (WMSURE). Community based and participatory research methods were used to work with students in developing research questions and in collecting and analyzing quantitative and qualitative data about their academic and personal experiences. This led to the development of academic and research advising services, workshops, faculty education, and research funding to …

Autistic Traits And Social Anxiety Predict Differential Performance On Social Cognitive Tasks In Typically Developing Young Adults, Cheryl L. Dickter, Joshua A. Burk, Katarina M. Fleckenstein, C. T. Kozikowski

Arts & Sciences Articles

The current work examined the unique contribution that autistic traits and social anxiety have on tasks examining attention and emotion processing. In Study 1, 119 typically-developing college students completed a flanker task assessing the control of attention to target faces and away from distracting faces during emotion identification. In Study 2, 208 typically-developing college students performed a visual search task which required identification of whether a series of 8 or 16 emotional faces depicted the same or different emotions. Participants with more self-reported autistic traits performed more slowly on the flanker task in Study 1 than those with fewer autistic …

Characterizing Switching And Congruency Effects In The Implicit Association Test As Reactive And Proactive Cognitive Control, Joseph Hilgard, Cheryl L. Dickter, Bruce D. Bartholow, Hart Blanton

Arts & Sciences Articles

Recent research has identified an important role for task switching, a cognitive control process often associated with executive functioning, in the Implicit Association Test (IAT). However, switching does not fully account for IAT effects, particularly when performance is scored using more recent d-score formulations. The current study sought to characterize multiple control processes involved in IAT performance through the use of event-related brain potentials (ERPs). Participants performed a race-evaluative IAT while ERPs were recorded. Behaviorally, participants experienced superadditive reaction time costs of incongruency and task switching, consistent with previous studies. The ERP showed a marked medial frontal negativity (MFN) …

Neurotransmitter Systems And Age Related Cognitive Decline: A Focus On Attention And Plasticity, Christine Teal Kozikowski

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

No abstract provided.

Neurocognitive Mechanisms Of Social Influence On Emotion, Emily Catherine Willroth

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

No abstract provided.

Influences Of Science Fiction And Fantasy Fandom On Bias, Melissa Anne Gomez

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

No abstract provided.

Evaluation Of A Brief Neurometric Battery For The Detection Of Neurocognitive Changes Associated With Amnestic Mild Cognitive Impairment And Probable Alzheimer's Disease, Emily Christine Cunningham

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

No abstract provided.

Influence Of Emotional Stimuli On Working Memory In Schizotypy, Docia L. Demmin

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

No abstract provided.

Eeg Methods For The Psychological Sciences, Cheryl L. Dickter, Paul Kieffaber

Arts & Sciences Book Chapters

No abstract provided.

Cognitive And Physiological Moderators Of Daily Smokers' Early Neural Attentional Biases To Smoking And Nonsmoking Cues, Patrick John Hammett

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

No abstract provided.

Individual Differences In Three Types Of Motive Congruence: Normative, Configural And Temporal, Chris Clement Martin

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

No abstract provided.

College Students' Implicit Attentional And Affective Responses To Alcohol Cues, Chelsie Marie Young

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

No abstract provided.

The Impact Of Warning Label Exposure On Attentional Bias To Smoking Cues In Smokers And Nonsmokers, Anna Kathleen Harris

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

No abstract provided.

Attitudes Towards Volunteerism And Individuals With Disabilities In High School Students As A Function Of Educational System In South Korea, Hee K. Baek, Cheryl L. Dickter

Arts & Sciences Articles

Volunteerism has positive effects for both society and the individuals who engage in volunteering. Numerous studies have focused on the positive relationship between adolescents’ volunteering experiences and their psychological and social development, while other studies have assessed the positive attitudinal changes of adolescent volunteers in frequent contact with individuals with disabilities. However, few studies have focused on the role of education on students’ perceptions of individuals with disabilities. The present study investigated the volunteering experiences of students enrolled in American and Korean educational system schools in South Korea. Results revealed that the American-system students volunteered more often and had more …

Conditioned Flavor Preferences In Children, Victoria Heinrichs Marshall

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

No abstract provided.

Attention To And Categorization Of Monoracial And Racially Ambiguous Faces, Julie Ann. Kittel

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

No abstract provided.

Student Trust In Teachers And Its Relationship To Student Identification With School, Student Perceptions Of Academic Press, And Achievement, Regina A. Bankole

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

Research has documented a plethora of evidence that children's perceptions of their relationships with caregivers, specifically teachers, impacts learning outcomes, including academic engagement and achievement (Furrer & Skinner, 2003; Owens & Johnson, in press; Stipek, 2002; Wentzel, 1997), identification with school (anderman, 2003; Bonich, 2007; Goodenow, 1993; McGannon, 2003; Meloro, 2006; Mitchell, 2004;) and academic press (Bonich, 2007; Lee & Smith, 1999; Middleton & Midgley, 2002). Yet the research base from the student perspective on the pertinent elements that influence meaningful relationships between students and teachers, namely trust, is largely missing.;The purpose of this study was to examine the construct …

Spontaneous Categorization: Assessment Of Implicit Stereotype Content Awareness, Ivo Ivanov Gyurovski

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

No abstract provided.

Visual Attention And Distraction: Contribution Of Orexins, Adam Harrison Hirsh

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

No abstract provided.

The Positivity Effect: Is It A Memory Retrieval Bias?, Jennifer Maureen Pryor

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

No abstract provided.

The Effects Of Stereotypical Cues On The Social Categorization And Judgment Of Ambiguous-Race Targets, Virginia A. Newton, Cheryl L. Dickter, Ivo Gyurovski

Arts & Sciences Articles

The current study was conducted to test the hypotheses that categorization and subsequent judgments of ambiguous-race targets would be affected by contextual stereotypical cues, and moderated by personality traits of the perceiver. Participants viewed a social networking profile of an ambiguous-race individual with Black, White, or neutral stereotypical information presented in a between-subjects design. In accordance with hypotheses, results indicated that the ambiguous-race targets were categorized congruently with the stereotypical information. Additionally, several of the subsequent judgments about the target’s traits differed as a function of this stereotypic information as well as personality traits of the perceiver, such as prejudice …