Cognition and Perception Commons^™

Examining Attitudes Towards Scientific Research, Charles Ian Johnston

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Undergraduate students are often anxious about participating in a research experience. In this study, students conducted research as part of their introductory biology course and were then surveyed using the Attitudes toward Research Scale, to understand their views on research. Students were surveyed at the beginning and end of the semester, and their scores in five attitudinal categories were compared. The attitudes examined were usefulness of research, positive attitudes towards research, relevance of research, difficulty of research and anxiety towards research. We hypothesized that participation in research as part of a course would improve students’ attitude toward research. Initial analysis …

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 …

Effect Of Instruction Language On English-Spanish Bilinguals' Speech Perception, Alexa Andrade

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Throughout the years, researchers have investigated the various advantages that may exist of being bilingual; however, it is unknown how switching between languages affects a person’s basic perception of speech sounds. The goal of this thesis was to determine whether Spanish-English bilinguals respond to auditory stimuli differently based on the language in which they receive task instructions. Participants were randomly assigned to receive instructions and complete the study entirely in English or Spanish, thus thinking in the language that they were assigned. In the study, participants listened to three different sets of recordings, which could be perceived as a word …

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 …

Optimizing Music Learning: The Effects Of Contextual Interference On Memorization, Carmen Andrea Wong

Undergraduate Honors Theses

The purpose of this study was to assess if blocked or interleaved practice learning was more effective for memorizing music, and to assess if metacognitive judgements aligned with performance. The study included 21 proficient pianists who regularly engage in piano practice. Participants learnt two excerpts and two technical studies, and played them from memory on both day 1 and day 2 of testing. Performances were recorded and rated by an expert in the field on a percentage scale. A two-way repeated measures ANOVA analysis revealed no significant main effect of day on practice schedule, (F(1,20) = .15, p = 0.70, …

Indicators Of Deception: Science Or Non-Science, Kristina Vasquez

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Deception detection is used by many law enforcement professionals who work in interviews and interrogations. The ability to detect deception or having knowledge on the signs of deception is very important in not only law enforcement, but in other careers and everyday life. The question remains: is deception detection a science or not a science? There are three areas where someone can learn how to detect deception and those are verbal communication, non-verbal communication, and paralanguage. The use of verbal communication looks at what the person is saying with their words. The use of non-verbal communication looks at what someone …

The Moderating Role Of Social Support In Stigma And Symptoms Of Anxiety And Depression, Taylor Phillips

Undergraduate Honors Theses

In this study, we examine the relationship between having a support system and the stigma individuals face with depression and anxiety symptoms. The aim of this study was to examine if having a support system acts as a buffer between perceived stigma and mental health symptoms. For this study, I conducted an online survey to measure symptoms of depression and anxiety, experiences with both perceived and internalized stigma, and social support. While 93 total participants engaged in the survey, only 52 fully completed the survey and passed two attention-check questions to ensure no invalid participation (e.g., BOTS) were present. In …

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 …

Exploring The Relationship Between Misophonia Severity And Anterior Insular Cortex Activity, Nicole M J Sedlak

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Misophonia is an under-recognized neuropsychological condition involving a severe sensitivity towards specific sounds called triggers. The aim of this study was to investigate how activity in the anterior insular cortex (AIC) differed with varying levels of sound sensitivity (SS); misophonia being the most severe. Data was collected from university undergraduates/young adults (N = 31). Participants completed an online survey to assess their misophonia severity and symptoms. A case study was conducted on some of the students (N = 4) to assess misophonia at a neurological level. In addition to experiencing a heightened sensitivity to sounds, the misophonia group reported having …

Time Perception After Emotional Induction, Abigail Crowne

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Current literature establishes trends where valent stimuli can create a subjective experience of retrospective or prospective time. The purpose of this study is to examine the consequences of estimating time that has passed as a result of valence mood induction. Time seems to pass more slowly when we are not in a pleasant state. What if a self-induced mood could change our perception of time that has passed? To answer this question, our study required participants to write about specific memories about incidents of joy or sadness, or about the classroom around them for a control condition. There was no …

Childhood Development: How The Fine And Performing Arts Enhance Neurological, Social, And Academic Traits, Katherine Rowe

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Abstract

Childhood development has always been a major topic when studying psychology and biology. This makes sense because the brain develops from the time a child is conceived to the time that child has reached around the age of twenty-seven. Doctors, psychologists, and sociologists look at numerous things when studying childhood development. However, how common is it for researchers to study how the fine and performing arts affect childhood development? Sociologists tend to be extremely open and mindful of all aspects of things such as culture, sexuality, religion, and even age. By taking a sociological standpoint when studying the arts …

The Effect Of Knowledge Of Upcoming Haptic Feedback On Normal And Pantomime Grasps, Nathan J. Katz

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Normal grasping actions towards real objects are target-directed, mediated via real-time visuomotor control, and provide haptic feedback. Studies of visual form agnosic patient DF suggest that pantomime (pretend) grasps are different; they recruit the visual Ventral stream (inferior temporal cortex), while normal grasps recruit the visual Dorsal stream (posterior parietal cortex). This functional duality underlies the eponymous Two Visual Systems Hypothesis (TVSH). Critics of the TVSH emphasize the multimodal nature of sensory processing and propose a model, termed the Common Source Hypothesis (CSH), of a single more localized system. Existing studies of natural prehension during interleaved trials of normal and …

Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation To Assess Motor System Excitability Fluctuations During Auditory Anticipation And Beat Perception, Johannes G.P Teselink

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Humans tend to spontaneously move to the regular beat of musical rhythm. Beat perception is the tendency to sense and anticipate the regular time positions (beats) that movements synchronize with. The neural motor system plays an important role in beat perception, but the dynamics of excitability in the motor system associated with beat perception have not been characterized. This project investigated motor system excitability fluctuations using transcranial magnetic stimulation and electromyography during perception of beat-based and non-beat-based rhythms. We applied single-pulse TMS over the left primary motor cortex of healthy participants as they listened to three types of rhythms that …

The Mental Number Line In Domestic Chicks, Samantha Noyek

Undergraduate Honors Theses

The estimation of number by humans shows evidence for a mental number line in which magnitude increases from left to right. Rugani, Vallortigara, Priftis, and Regolin (2015) recently reported a similar mental number line in domestic chicks. This is an unexpected result given the role of language and culture in the human mental number line. Animals do not possess language or arithmetic concepts like the mental number line. Because the results reported by Rugani et al. (2015) seem improbable from this perspective, my study sought to determine whether the observations of Rugani et al. (2015) occur reliably. I tested for …

Traditional Masculinity & Advertising Image Approval, Danielle W. Kailing, Peggy Cantrell Phd

Undergraduate Honors Theses

This project investigates the relationship between adherence to traditional masculinity and approval of selected advertising images. Because traditional masculinity includes characteristics supportive of aggression and dominance; I hypothesize that an increase in adherence to traditional masculinity will correlate with approval of the violence found in some print advertisements. Participants include 259 men who completed an anonymous, online, survey. Adherence to masculinity is measured using the Male Role Norm Inventory-Revised (MRNI-R) (Levant, et. al, 2007). Each picture is scored on a 5-point Likert Scale. As hypothesized, an increase in total MRNI-R score, is significantly correlated with an increase in the approval …

The Effects Of Musical Mood And Musical Arousal On Visual Attention, Angela B. Marti Marca, Tram Nguyen, Jessica Grahn

Undergraduate Honors Theses

The presence of music is a visceral part of the human experience and its influence on cognitive function is a growing area of research in psychology. In particular, perceptual properties of music (mood and arousal) have been shown to significantly affect performance. There has been minimal research in the field on the interaction of mood and arousal and their influence on attention, thus the purpose of this study. Fifty undergraduate students currently enrolled at the University of Western Ontario were recruited for this study. Given that music is a highly subjective experience, participants rated an assortment of music clips on …

Investigating Transposed Letter Effects In Korean Using Masked Priming, Arum Song Yi Jeong

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Typographical errors caused by transposing two letters in a word (e.g., jugde for JUDGE) are often readily misperceived as the words themselves. This phenomenon, known as the transposed letter (TL) effect, has been used widely in studying letter position coding in reading. Previous research by Lee and Taft (2009) found no TL effects in Korean, a nonlinear script, causing Lee and Taft to argue that the processing of letter position information varies as a function of the orthographic structure of a language. In particular, Lee and Taft suggested that, given the orthographic structure of Korean syllables, TL nonwords should …

Investigating The Effects Of Header Display Formats On Reading Webpages, Matthew J. Hennessy

Undergraduate Honors Theses

This thesis investigated the influence of format (static vs. dynamic) and relevance (relevant vs. not relevant) on the creation of effective Web site header displays. Through evaluation of current trends in header display design, the aim of this research was to offer plausible explanatory mechanisms within the perceptual and visual systems, along with practical recommendations for both users and designers alike. While presenting 100 undergraduate students with simplified Web page interfaces containing only a header and paragraph text, looking time was measured followed by score on a set of text-comprehension questions. Score was then considered as a function of header …