Cognitive Psychology Commons^™

False Recognition: Revisiting The Account For Pictorial Encoding, Katarina Jovanovic

Western Libraries Undergraduate Research Awards (WLURAs)

False recognition is an inaccurate claim of having previously encountered a non-presented test item. Exceptionally high levels of false recognition are observed when participants are exposed to lists of semantically related words. Israel and Schacter (1997) showed that presenting pictures of items with their auditory label during the encoding phase significantly reduced false recognition relative to presenting only words with their auditory label. The current study excluded the auditory labels and instead investigated whether presenting pictures of items along with words during encoding would also reduce false recognition relative to presenting the written words only. The results provided no evidence …

A Transdiagnostic Examination Of Cognitive Heterogeneity In Children And Adolescents With Neurodevelopmental Disorders, Sarah Al-Saoud, Emily S. Nichols, Emma G. Duerden, Loretta Norton

Western Libraries Undergraduate Research Awards (WLURAs)

Children and adolescents with neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs) demonstrate extensive cognitive heterogeneity that is not adequately captured by traditional diagnostic systems. Using a transdiagnostic approach, a retrospective cohort study of cognitive functioning was conducted with a large heterogenous sample (n = 1529) of children and adolescents 7 to 18 years of age with NDDs. Measures of short-term memory, verbal ability, and reasoning were administered to participants with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autism spectrum disorder (ASD), comorbid ADHD/ASD, and typically developing (TD) participants using a 12-item web-based neurocognitive testing battery. Unsupervised machine learning techniques were implemented to create a self-organizing map (SOM), …

Less Computer Access: Is It A Risk Or A Protective Factor For Cyberbullying And Face-To-Face Bullying Victimization Among Adolescents In The United States?, Jun Sung Hong, Miao Wang, Rekha Negi, Dexter R. Voisin, Lois M. Takahashi, Andre Iadipaolo

Department of Educational Psychology: Faculty Publications

The present study investigates whether less computer access is associated with an increase or decrease in cyberbullying and face-to-face bullying victimization. Data were derived from the 2009–2010 Health Behavior in School-Aged Children U.S. Study, consisting of 12,642 adolescents aged 11, 13, and 15 years (Mage = 12.95). We found that less computer usage was negatively associated with cyberbullying victimization and face-to-face bullying victimization. The findings from the study have implications for research and practice.

Predicting An End To One's Relationship, Kenneth Tan, Smu Office Of Research

Research@SMU Infographics

Breakups happen from time to time, and research has shown that people who actively consider breaking up start taking steps to end the relationship. However, breakup decisions do not typically revolve around just one person. We tend to consider our partner’s thoughts and feelings too! In a paper by SMU Assistant Professor of Psychology Kenneth Tan and his co-researchers, they wondered if people also thought about whether their partners had plans to break up – also termed perceived partner dissolution consideration (PPDC). If so, how accurate are these perceptions?

Sex Differences In Stress Reactivity, Brain Morphology, And Oxytocin In The Hypothalamus Of The Gray Short-Tailed Opossum (Monodelphis Domestica), Esperanza I. Zacarias, Daniela Rodriguez, Alexandra Chalons, Sasawan Heingraj, Nicole Altamirano, Joseph Rafac, John L. Vandeberg, Mario Gil

Research Colloquium

Understanding the effects of stress on behavior and cognition is important due to its impact on mental health and wellbeing (Schneiderman et al. 2005). Translational animal research can contribute to the development of new treatments that can improve therapeutic outcomes and our understanding of the neurobiology of stress. In the present study, we complement behavioral stress reactivity with immunohistochemical localization of oxytocin in the hypothalamus, a neuropeptide that regulates stress (Neumann & Slattery, 2016). Oxytocin has potential therapeutic use for mental health disorders (Neumann & Slattery, 2016), and the effects of oxytocin seem to be sexually dimorphic (Love, 2018). Using …

Investigating The Language Of Time: Evaluating The Use And Comprehension Of Before And After, Kimberley R. Henderson

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Before-initial sentences are thought to be more difficult to comprehend than after-initial sentences because they structurally mismatch the temporal order of real-world events (Münte et al., 1998). Although event knowledge is known to affect how people understand before/after-initial sentences, little is known about the role of language knowledge in comprehending these sentences. A corpus analysis of before/after-initial sentences revealed that before typically is paired with a pronoun (Before he…) whereas after is paired with verb-ing (After leaving…). Participants' eyes were tracked while they read Before/After-pronoun/verbing sentences. Reading times did not match the …

Making Decisions "In The Dark": Learning Through Uncertainty In Clinical Practice During Covid-19, Urvashi Vaid, Henriette Lundgren, Karen E. Watkins, Deborah Ziring, Grace A. Alcid, Victoria J. Marsick, Dimitrios Papanagnou

Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine Faculty Papers

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to explore how decision making and informal and incidental learning (IIL) emerged in the clinical learning environment (CLE) during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic. The authors' specific interest was to better understand the IIL that took place among frontline physicians who had to navigate a CLE replete with uncertainty and complexity with the future goal of creating experiences for medical students that would simulate IIL and use uncertainty as a catalyst for learning.

METHOD: Using a modified constructivist, grounded theory approach, we describe physicians' IIL while working during times of heightened uncertainty. …

Recall Me Maybe: The Effects Of Music-Evoked Mood On Recognition Memory, Caroline Grace Coey, Youstina Tadros, Sinead Doogan, Melody Alvarez

Science University Research Symposium (SURS)

The current study aims to further explore the relationship between musically evoked emotional states and recognition capabilities. Previous research has demonstrated emotional congruency between musical stimuli and subsequent task performance (Mitterschiffthaler et al., 2007). The background music’s emotional valence provides additional insight into how to guide the perception of events and how music-evoked emotions can impact memory (Scherer & Zentner, 2001; Hanser et al., 2015). For instance, happy people will have an easier time remembering positive experiences, rather than sad, or negatively valanced ones while those who are sad will better remember negative experiences, rather than happy, or positively valanced …

Impact Of Media Consumption On Automatic Associations, Davis Eddleman, Taylor Allen, Wesley Gerndt, Amilya Bryant, Ninivet Ossa

Science University Research Symposium (SURS)

The concept of studying media’s effects on implicit and explicit bias has been studied many times in the field of psychology. Previous research has shown exposure to media coverage containing stereotypes of minorities increased implicit bias (Arendt & Northup, 2015; Dixon & Maddox, 2005; Arendt et al., 2015) and explicit bias (Arendt et al., 2015). This pool of research has previously focused on crime stories and right-wing political advertisements that contain stereotypical tropes of out-group minorities. In these studies, generally, there has been an effect such that priming stereotypes surrounding dark-skinned individuals, may activate automatic associative stereotypes, such as the …

Resting-State Functional Connectivity Correlates Of Attentional Bias In An Emotional Free Viewing Paradigm: An Eye-Tracking Investigation, Andrew Hauler

All NMU Master's Theses

Threat detection, the process of searching complex environments for harmful stimuli, represents a vastly important job that promotes the biological fitness of the organism. Decades of experimental evidence suggests individuals either diagnosed, or at risk for, affective disorders display altered patterns of attentional engagement (hypervigilance or maintenance) with external stimuli; referred to as attentional biases. To date, the extent to which underlying neural mechanisms drive attentional biases, both in affective disorders as well as unselected populations, remain to be resolved. Thus, using eye-tracking and a passive emotional free viewing task, this study set to clarify resting-state network contributions from three …

Mind, Body And Race: A Look Into How Implicit Biases Influence The Perception Of Emotion, Faiza Ahmad, Adam Anderson, James Dalton Rounds, Christina Chick, Alize Hill

Research Symposium

Background: Most research examining the effects of implicit race-based biases in emotion perception has focused on the perception of Black faces as being angry. Limited work has been done examining the perception of “approach” emotions such as fear. Furthermore, most studies have predominantly used White subjects. Our study examined the role of implicit racial biases in shaping the perception of both anger and fear in White, Black and Asian participants.

Methods: 78 participants completed a Go/NoGo task in which they were asked to categorize different race faces as portraying either anger or fear. Participants would be asked to press the …

Investigating Visual Vigilance Following Chronic Behavioural Immune System Activation, Jessica Hurtubise

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The behavioural immune system (BIS) is a coordinated set of cognitive, affective, and behavioural responses that minimize pathogen contact. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the majority of research on the BIS was limited to situations of acute pathogen threat. These studies identified that personal predispositions and environmental stimuli interact and lead to cognitive changes, including perceptual enhancements and attentional biases, as well as sensations of disgust. The cognitive and affective changes that follow pathogen exposure motivate pathogen avoidance behaviours and reduce the risk of infection. The BIS is highly adaptive in the context of acute pathogen threat, but less is …

The Self-Reference Effect On Memory Among 4- To 6-Year-Olds: The Role Of Active Encoding And Cognitive Abilities, Alicia Nicole Bartlett

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The self-reference effect (SRE) is the enhanced memory for information encoded with reference to oneself relative to information encoded with reference to another non-intimate person or the linguistic properties of a word (Rogers et al., 1977). This effect is measured with an encoding task and a surprise recall and/or recognition task. An important distinction among encoding tasks is whether they involve active or passive engagement with the to-be-remembered information. Tasks with active engagement require the participant to identify the relation between the referent and target object and then to perform a mental (e.g., evaluate desirability of objects) or physical (e.g., …

Exploring The Relationship Between Of Subjective And Objective Cognition Among Older Adults Living In Canada, Astrid Dawn Coleman

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The older adult population in Canada is growing rapidly, increasing the prevalence and burden of conditions that impact these individuals, such as dementia. Given that early detection and intervention are strongly associated with better disease outcomes, understanding the progression from healthy aging to dementia is critical. Two factors contributing to disease progression are cognitive impairment on objective neuropsychological measures and subjective cognitive complaints. However, the association between individuals’ perceptions of their cognitive abilities and their performance on cognitive tests remains unclear. Therefore, the goal of this project was to gain insight into the relationship between subjective and objective cognitive functioning …

White Men In White Coats: Children’S Attributions Of Scientific Knowledge Based On Race And Gender, Lillian C. Holm, Mariel R. Cox, Khushboo S. Patel, Judith H. Danovitch

The Cardinal Edge

Children use others’ characteristics (e.g., intelligence and niceness) to evaluate how much a person knows (Landrum et al., 2016). However, little is known about how gender and race influence children's perception of adults' scientific knowledge. The current study examined how children ages 5-8 (N = 25; 11 girls, 14 boys) perceive adults’ scientific knowledge. In the first task, children saw 8 different adults of varying race and gender (White man, White woman, Black man, Black woman) and rated their knowledge using a five-point scale. Children then chose one person out of two adults who they thought knew more about a …

The Resilient Families Project @ Wayside’S Hotel Louisville: Strategies For Building Resilience, Mindfulness & Happiness In At-Risk Adults, Lexi N. Frederick, Hannah Parker, Angela Ely, Lora Haynes

The Cardinal Edge

The Resilient Families Project (RFP) provides educational experiences to strengthen evidence-based habits of resilience, mindfulness, and happiness in at-risk individuals. RFP holds programs for adults facing homelessness and women in drug/alcohol recovery who are housed by Wayside Christian Mission in their Emergency Shelter or Hotel Louisville.

RFP programs work to promote healthy attachment relations, a sense of belonging/purpose, and interactive reading, and children’s storybooks serve as the foundation for designing programs. The book “The Boy, The Mole, The Fox, and The Horse'' was reviewed through content analysis to emphasize diversity, equity, and inclusion, as well as RFP Core Ideas. Thanks …

Physical Time Within Human Time

The International Journal of Ecopsychology (IJE)

A possible solution is offered to help resolve the “two times problem” regarding the veridical and illusory nature of time. First it is recognized that the flow (passage) of time is part of a wider array of temporal experiences referred to as manifest time, all of which need to be reconciled. Then, an information gathering and utilizing system (IGUS) model is used as a basis for a view of manifest time. The model IGUS robot of Hartle that solves the “unique present” debate is enhanced with veridical and (corresponding) illusory components of not only the flow of time but also …

Graduate Student Award Winners In Educational Psychology: What Made Them Successful?, Kenneth A. Kiewra, Saima Hasnin, Jared Soundy, Priya Karimuddanahalli Premkumar, Chris Labenz

Department of Educational Psychology: Faculty Publications

Much is known about the factors that make some educational psychologists highly productive. Beginning nearly 25 years ago, Kiewra and colleagues began a series of six qualitative investigations to uncover the keys to scholarly success in educational psychology. The initial study (Kiewra & Creswell, 2000) investigated Richard Anderson, Richard Mayer, and Michael Pressley, who were ranked as the top scholars in a survey of educational psychologists. The second study (Patterson- Hazley & Kiewra, 2013), more than a decade later, investigated productive scholars Patricia Alexander, Richard Mayer, Dale Schunk, and Barry Zimmerman who were ranked as the top scholars in a …

The Joy Of Watching The Film Arrival With Whitehead And O’Donohue, Tricia Mayer

Journal of Conscious Evolution

This paper offers a discussion of the film Arrival that is situated in the perspective of philosophers Alfred North Whitehead and John O’Donohue. The themes discussed include language, communication, context, time, and reality and includes a speculative perspective that the philosophers may have contributed to interpretation of the film’s meaning. It concludes with a view of the relevance of the film in light of current technology advances in artificial intelligence and with the authors own reflection on how this film is relevant to her current research inquiry on the topic of joy

The Neural Correlates Of Bodily Self-Consciousness In Virtual Worlds, Evan A. Owens

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Bodily Self-Consciousness (BSC) is the cumulative integration of multiple sensory modalities that contribute to our sense of self. Sensory modalities, which include proprioception, vestibulation, vision, and touch are updated dynamically to map the specific, local representation of ourselves in space. BSC is closely associated with bottom-up and top-down aspects of consciousness. Recently, virtual- and augmented-reality technology have been used to explore perceptions of BSC. These recent achievements are partly attributed to advances in modern technology, and partly due to the rise of virtual and augmented reality markets. Virtual reality head-mounted displays can alter aspects of perception and consciousness unlike ever …

The Effects Of Isolated Affordances On Preschool Counting Improvement When Using A Digital Coloring App, Katherine Papazian

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Counting is an important preschool math skill that is necessary for building a strong foundation in mathematics. Previous research has demonstrated that guided counting activities can improve counting ability in preschoolers and that drawing on paper while learning can deepen processing, but research has not included digital drawing as a potential means of deepening processing while children count. This study developed a novel touch-screen app, which used a guided coloring activity to encourage effective counting skills and serve as a home numeracy tool that could be employed by all parents, including those with math anxiety. To evaluate the benefits of …

Brainwaves, Memory, And Reward, Rebecca Mccune

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The development of effective educational curricula for enhancing learning involves the crucial consideration of effort and rewards. In the realm of education, teachers commonly employ rewards as motivational tools. Traditionally, these rewards are given to students as a recognition of their successful performance. However, a thought-provoking idea emerges: What if we were to extend rewards to students not solely based on accurate answers, but also on the effort they invest, even in cases where their actual response might be incorrect? Our study explores the potential impact of this approach on the way information is absorbed and subsequently retained, specifically focusing …

Reviewing Research On Down Syndrome To Then Inform And Create A Children’S Book With A Child Protagonist Who Has Down Syndrome, Trey Williams

Honors Projects

Children's literature continually evolves, requiring a steadfast commitment to align with new insights into various disabilities for genuine and accurate portrayal. This project delves into leveraging research to craft a children's book featuring Bonnie Lynn, a protagonist with Down Syndrome, recognizing the growing presence of individuals with Down Syndrome in today's society and the imperative for empathetic understanding within this community.

New Perspectives: How A Dancefloor Of Paradigms Can Save The World, Gill R. Hall

Journal of Conscious Evolution

This paper explores how the consciousness of Indigenous peoples can facilitate the development of new paradigms to address global issues like climate change and adaptation to global warming. It explores how Indigenous and Western notions of consciousness differ and cannot be reconciled in contemporary models of consciousness without colonising Indigenous ways of knowing. It differentiates maternal and patriarchal consciousnesses and contrasts the body/heart pathway found in many Indigenous cultures with the mental field activity of the Western psyche. Using the concept of a multi-paradigmatic dancefloor, I propose a new model for developing global thinking on complex problems, inviting academics and …

Investigating Neural Mechanisms Associated With The Double Empathy Problem Using Fnirs Hyperscanning, Kate E. Turner

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The Double Empathy Problem posits that autistic social difficulties are due to differences in communication styles rather than an autistic deficit in theory of mind (ToM). We used fNIRS hyperscanning to examine whether neural synchrony in pairs with varying levels of autistic traits during social interactions supports the Double Empathy Problem. Participants with low and high autistic trait expression were paired creating High-High, Low-High, and Low-Low groups. Pairs completed two trials where they 1) listened to and 2) discussed stories that contained or lacked theory of mind elements, while brain activity was recorded within the ToM network. During conversation, High-High …

Oral Contraception And Cognition, Kathleen Gerencer

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Oral contraception is currently used by over 100 million women worldwide. Women utilize contraception not only to prevent pregnancy but also to manage a wide range of health concerns, such as acne and polycystic ovarian syndrome. Although this medication has granted women bodily autonomy, helped them attain higher levels of education, and helped them enter the workforce in greater numbers, little is known about the consequences outside of the intended contraceptive effects, specifically the cognitive and behavioral consequences. Moreover, because doctors can prescribe contraception after the first menstrual cycle and during puberty, it’s possible that this critical window of development …

Nutrition As A Modifiable Risk Factor For Cognitive Decline: Associated Cognitive And Physical Health Changes, Taylor Mcmillan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Dementia is defined as gradual, progressive loss of cognitive functioning, greater than what is expected of normal aging, resulting in functional impairment. There are several types of dementia clinical syndromes that are accompanied by unique patterns of cognitive dysfunction and neuropathological changes. Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most common type of clinical dementia syndrome, accounting for approximately 60-70% of cases. Neuropathological mechanisms associated with AD include the disruption of the cholinergic system, accumulation of amyloid-beta plaques and hyperphosphorylated tau, as well as vascular pathology. Vascular pathology complicates the characterization of clinical and neuropathic changes in AD, as there becomes significant …

Spontaneous Intrapersonal Synchrony And The Effect Of Cognitive Load, Ramkumar Jagadeesan

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Spontaneous intrapersonal synchronization is the spontaneous synchronization of periodic behaviors within an individual. It is less investigated than spontaneous interpersonal synchronization, the synchronization of periodic behaviors that occurs spontaneously between individuals integrated into a single system through coupling, caused by the exchange of sensory feedback between them. It was therefore hypothesized that periodic behaviors produced by an individual, a single system by default, would spontaneously be more synchronous through exchange of sensory feedback, coupling and integration within the individual, when the behaviors are produced simultaneously, compared to separately. Based on a postulate that explains spontaneous interpersonal synchronization as a strategy …

Fraction Magnitude Understanding Across Learning Formats: An Fmri Study, Chloe A. Henry

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Knowledge of fraction magnitudes are an important, but notoriously difficult mathematical concept to master. Behavioural work has begun to explore and compare the instructional tools used for fraction learning. However, how fraction instructional tools are processed in the brain remains an underexplored question. Therefore, in the present thesis, we used functional brain MRI methodology to examine the neural activity of adult participants while completing a fraction verification task using the number line and area model, two common methods of fraction learning. We found that both models commonly recruited fronto-parietal activity, the neural regions typically implicated in number processing. However, we …

Examining The Paradox Of Adult Second Language Word And Grammar Learning, Leah Brainin

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Background: Adults generally demonstrate advanced cognitive skills compared to children, with second language (L2) learning being a key exception, particularly within the grammar domain. As optimal vocabulary and grammar learning are believed to engage in distinct explicit and implicit learning mechanisms, respectively, the advanced neurocognitive mechanisms underpinning adults’ higher-order cognitive skills may particularly interfere with implicit grammar learning. The objective of this dissertation was to examine select neural and cognitive factors that may contribute to word and grammar learning differences.

In Study 1, I investigated the neural correlates of artificial vocabulary and morphology learning using functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy …