Psychology Commons^™

Detecting Structure In Glass Patterns: An Interocular Transfer Study, Dawn Vreven, Jarrod Berge

Dawn L Vreven

Glass patterns are visual stimuli used here to study how local orientation signals are spatially integrated into global pattern perception. We measured a form aftereffect from adaptation to both static and dynamic Glass patterns and calculated the amount of interocular transfer to determine the binocularity of the detectors responsible for the perception of global structure. Both static and dynamic adaptation produced significant form aftereffects and showed a very high degree of interocular transfer, suggesting that Glass-pattern perception involves cortical processing beyond primary visual cortex. Surprisingly, dynamic adaptation produced significantly greater interocular transfer than static adaptation. Our results suggest a functional …

The Legal Significance Of The Psychological Ability To Appreciate The “Other”, Paul F. Rothstein

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

Recently the U.S. Supreme Court, citing neurological and psychological studies, held that because juveniles are deficient in appreciating consequences to others, they should never be given the death penalty. The author found, in his years as a legal scholar, educator, and practitioner, that “appreciating the ‘other’”--putting oneself in the position of others---is critical to law and the study of law in more than the obvious ways.

The author became aware of empirical studies and psychological experiments demonstrating that children below a certain age have trouble seeing things from another’s vantage point, and found that the facility to do so develops …

The Evolution Of Conservative Attitudes As A Complement To Cognitive Threat Detection Mechanisms, Russ Clay

Theses and Dissertations

Conservatism reflects a general attitude structure characterized by a preference for traditional social practices and an aversion to uncertainty and threat. Though the social environment undoubtedly plays a role in shaping conservative attitudes, recent studies suggest that trait-level characteristics may contribute to their development as well. The present research investigated trait-level cognitive threat detection ability as a factor which may influence the development and maintenance of conservative social attitudes. A computer simulation indicated that socially conservative attitudes may function as a strategy for increasing the survival rate of an individual with poor threat detection ability living in a relatively dangerous …

Hoodie Today, Gown Tomorrow: An Ideological Rhetorical Analysis Of Gender-Neutral Clothing, Meridith Irene Styer

Masters Theses

The fields of psychology and sociology have long understood the importance of clothing in self-formation, this study extrapolates this social-science understanding into the realm of rhetorical analysis. This study looks at gender-neutral clothing and its role in meaning making and self identification for women. With a rhetorical basis from Richards and Ogden, this research uses the feminist works of Brummett and Butler to uncover both the positive and negatives effects of gender-neutral clothing on a woman's self-identification and perceptions. Through the presentation of a diffuse narrative and evaluation of the same, gender-neutral clothing is read and decoded for meaning. This …

Reading Between The Lines: Gender Perception Of Lean Media, Jennalee Conner

Masters Theses

Over the years, communication methods have evolved from face-to-face conversations to computer-mediated communication including: e-mail, instant message, and text message interactions. Since the methods have changed, a large aspect of communication, nonverbal cues, have become nearly impossible. These methods of communication that lack nonverbal cues are therefore referred to as lean media because they lack the richness of facial expression, vocal expression, and immediacy. In order to modify more recent forms of communication to include nonverbal cues, individuals have created their own nonverbal cues. While each individual is unique, though, genders normally tend to think or behave in similar fashion. …

Evaluating The Convergent Validity Of The Measure Of Emotional Connotations, Daniel N. Erosa

McNair Poster Presentations

The Measure of Emotional Connotations (MEC; Barchard, Kirsch, Anderson, Grob, & Anderson, 2012) is a new test that has been developed to measure the ability to perceive the emotional connotations of written language. To examine its convergent validity, the MEC will be correlated with the two emotion perception tasks on the Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test (MSCEIT; Mayer, Salovey, Caruso, & Sitarenious, 2003). These MSCEIT tasks are valid tests of emotion perception; thus, strong correlations would provide support for the MEC as a valid test of emotion perception.

Physiological Reactions To Uncanny Stimuli: Substantiation Of Self-Assessment And Individual Perception, Tatiana Ballion

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

There is abundant anecdotal evidence substantiating Mori’s initial observation of the "uncanny valley", a point at which human response to non-human entities drops sharply with respect to comfort (Mori, 1970), and the construct itself has a long-standing history in both Robotics and Psychology. Currently, many fields such as design, training, entertainment, and education make use of heuristic approaches to accommodate the anticipated needs of the user/consumer/audience in certain important aspects. This is due to the lack of empirical substantiation or, in some cases, the impossibility of rigorous quantification; one such area is with respect to the user’s experience of uncanniness, …

What's In A Name? The Influence Of An Adhd-Inattentive Type Label On Perceived Social Competence As Viewed By Mental Health Professionals And Teachers, Jason Arkin

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Objective: To determine whether the presence of an ADHD-PI label influenced adult perceptions of a female adolescent’s social competence. Method: Forty four primary and secondary teachers and 54 mental health professionals rated their perceptions based on a vignette that included or did not include the label ADHD-PI. Results: The ADHD-PI labeled vignettes elicited more negative perceptions of the child’s social acceptance and ability to make close friends. Also, mental health professionals rated the girl as more socially accepted, regardless of diagnosis. There were no other significant main effects and there were no significant interaction effects. Conclusion: The presence of an …