Cognition and Perception Commons^™

The Effects Of Emotionally Salient Unimodal And Multimodal Stimuli On Low-Level Visual Perception, Stephen Raymond Pierzchajlo

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Sensory information can both impair and enhance low-level visual feature processing, and this can be significantly modulated depending on the whether this information matches the visual sensory modality. Emotionally significant visual and auditory stimuli can have opposing effects on attention. While task-irrelevant emotionally salient visual stimuli can often impair task attention, task-irrelevant emotionally salient auditory stimuli have been shown to enhance aspects of attention. To date, no study has directly compared how emotionally salient information presented to different sensory modalities can affect low-level vision. Using Gabor patches of differing contrasts to measure the threshold of visual perception, we hypothesized that ...

Rethinking Metacognitive Intervention: A Scaffolded Exam Wrapper Strategy, Aaron Ridall

Education and Human Development Master's Theses

Students lack the behaviors and strategies that support success in postsecondary environments, which has led one-third of all college students to enroll in remedial courses (Bowen, Chingos, & McPherson, 2009). One particular executive function that low-achieving students are often without is metacognition, or thinking about thinking. Traditional models of education in the United States do not teach students how to analyze their performance even though metacognition is linked to improved academic performance (Young & Fry, 2008). This work presents a scaffolded metacognitive strategy to help low-achieving students improve their metacognitive skillfulness and examination performance.

Semantic Processing Of Nominal Metaphor: Figurative Abstraction And Embodied Simulation, Hamad Al-Azary

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

In a metaphor such as that lawyer is a shark, the concept lawyer, which is the metaphor topic, and the concept shark, which is the metaphor vehicle, interact to produce a figurative meaning such that lawyers are predatory. Some theorists argue that sensorimotor properties of the vehicle are the basis of metaphor comprehension (Gibbs & Matlock, 2008; Paivio, 1979; Wilson & Gibbs, 2007). As such, that lawyer is a shark is processed by an embodied simulation where sensorimotor imagery associated with sharks is simulated (e.g., sharks hunting in deep water). However, the long-standing assumption is that metaphors are processed abstractly and sensorimotor representations play no role (e.g., Gentner & Bowdle, 2008; Glucksberg, 2008). This thesis examines the role of sensorimotor simulation in processing metaphor. In Studies 1 – 2, participants rated metaphors on comprehensibility. The metaphors contained vehicles that varied on a semantic richness variable known as body-object interaction (BOI), which characterizes the degree to ...

School Of Rock: The Relationship Between Music Training And Academic Academic Achievement, Clayton Hadlock

Intuition: The BYU Undergraduate Journal in Psychology

Music education has been a key part of human culture for thousands of years (Cartwright, 2013). As children often begin to receive musical education during grade school, many researchers have begun to investigate whether musical training may benefit other areas of academics. This literature review evaluates the overall effectiveness of musical training on academic performance for three different age groups: pre- and elementary school children under 12 years old; middle and high school-age adolescents between 12 and 18 years old; and college and university students over 18 years old. Musical training here includes instrumental and vocal training, as well as ...

The State Of The Video Game Industry And Potential Implications Of Current Business Practices, Stephen Friend

Georgia Undergraduate Research Conference (GURC)

The State of the Video Game Industry and Potential Implications of Current Business Practices

Stephen J. Friend - Stephenfri89@gmail.com

• Student at South Georgia State University

Abstract

This study aims to highlight the state of the video game industry by examining “AAA” (triple A) development studios and publishing companies and their business structure along with their implementation of microtransactions and other monetary schemes. The fiscal returnings and statistic quarterly updates provided by GameIndustry.biz, GameRant, and Newzoo show companies such as Ubisoft and Electronic Arts(EA) are making more than 51% of their annual income from microtransactions. In conjunction, the ...

22 - “Make Me A Sandwich” - “Poof, You’Re A Sandwich!”: Ditransitive Syntax In The Brain, Haley Shea J. Barfield

Georgia Undergraduate Research Conference (GURC)

How does the brain distinguish between sentences with nearly identical structures? Neurolinguists have begun to form a fascinating picture of language in the brain in the decades since the first observation of event-related potentials during language tasks. A deeper understanding of syntactic activity—including pattern recognition, ambiguity resolution, and interpretation of functional constituents during sentence processing—would yield insights beneficial to the fields of language education, brain-computer interface, human-computer interaction, and neurolinguistic programs for language acquisition, speech therapy, and rehabilitation of communicative disorders.

To map the brain’s responses to sentence structures, we will use scalp electroencephalography (EEG) to measure ...

Social Media Representation And Self-Esteem, Charlton Lyons, Sevon Baxley

Georgia Undergraduate Research Conference (GURC)

Abstract

Since the latter half of the 20th century, technology or the digital revolution has evolved the way we communicate with others. Social media became a way to express one’s personal opinions on various topics. Individuals may present themselves differently on social media than in real life. This false presentation may be an issue that could affect social relationships. The misrepresentation of oneself is illustrated in the fact that most human beings would like to be viewed in a positive light by others (Green, 2013). In this research, we address the question; does self-esteem influence a person’s self-presentation ...

Procedural-Memory, Working-Memory, And Declarative-Memory Skills Are Each Associated With Dimensional Integration In Sound-Category Learning, Carolyn Quam, Alisa Wang, W. Todd Maddox, Kimberly Golisch

Speech and Hearing Sciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

This paper investigates relationships between procedural-memory, declarative-memory, and working-memory skills and adult native English speakers’ novel sound-category learning. Participants completed a sound-categorization task that required integrating two dimensions: one native (vowel quality), one non-native (pitch). Similar information-integration category structures in the visual and auditory domains have been shown to be best learned implicitly (e.g., Maddox et al., 2006). Thus, we predicted that individuals with greater procedural-memory capacity would better learn sound categories, because procedural memory appears to support implicit learning of new information and integration of dimensions. Seventy undergraduates were tested across two experiments. Procedural memory was assessed using ...

Never Again! Surviving Liberalized Prostitution In Germany, Sandra Norak, Ingeborg Kraus

Dignity: A Journal on Sexual Exploitation and Violence

This article, co-authored by a six-year survivor of the sex trade industry in Germany (Sandra Norak) and a psychologist and trauma therapist (Ingeborg Kraus), provides perspectives on the difficulty of withstanding the coercion of traffickers and the difficulties of exiting prostitution in a country in which prostitution has been legalized, normalized and made “a job like any other.” This normalization persuades survivors to believe their traffickers that it is a legitimate occupation and encourages them to endure the violence. Liberalization also has prevented the development of needed trauma services to those seeking to exit the sex trade industry.

A Phenomenology Of The Practice Of Music Therapy With Children, Shelby Tortorello

Senior Honors Theses

Music therapy has been demonstrated as an effective mode of therapeutic intervention for children in recent literature. There is extensive research suggesting benefits for various populations of children, namely: children in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), children who have experienced trauma, and children with disabilities. The current study served to address gaps found in the literature by conducting a phenomenology of professionally trained music therapists. Four board certified music therapists near major cities on the east coast were interviewed to comment on how they understand music therapy, and how they live out those understandings in their practice. It was ...

Object Handling With Contemporary Craft Objects: An Observational Study Of An Embodied, Social And Cognitive Process, Bruce Davenport, Neill James Thompson

The Qualitative Report

This study focuses on the ways that people interact around contemporary craft objects. The ambiguous quality of these objects holds people’s attention and inhibits autobiographical narratives. The study focused on the relationship between the perceptual language used by participants and the ways in which they interacted with the objects. The analytical approach taken here begins with close observation and careful description of single cases and working towards valid generalisations rather than imposing an interpretation from the outset by explicitly positing a hypothesis. Six pairs of women were invited to participate in object handling conversations in an art museum setting ...

The Relationship Between Body Image And Lifestyle Choices In College Students, Morgan Mcgaughey

International Social Science Review

This study examined the relationships between body image perceptions and lifestyle choices as well as demographic variables in college students. The participants included 258 students at East Texas Baptist University that were surveyed using a questionnaire constructed by the researcher. The survey included questions about sleep quality, nutrition, exercise, religiosity, body image perception, and demographics for the participants, taken from several other studies and scales. Each of the three body dissatisfaction scores had a positive correlation with one variable representing poor sleep quality. Amounts of moderate and vigorous exercise were shown to have a negative correlation with body dissatisfaction. Religiosity ...

Detecting Cognitive, Functional And Behavioral Response To Donepezil In Alzheimer’S Disease: The Role Of Attention Tasks, Clara Vila-Castelar

All Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Introduction: Cholinesterase Inhibitors (ChEIs) used in Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) have modest effects, heterogeneous treatment response, and it has been difficult to detect treatment response. The standard research and clinical outcome measure, the Alzheimer’s Disease Assessment Scale-Cognitive subscale (ADAS-Cog) aggregates multiple cognitive domains, and has limited sensitivity. We propose that because acetylcholine is directly linked to the cognitive domain of attention, and ChEIs increase available acetylcholine, measures of attention under high-load conditions could predict long-term cognitive, functional and behavioral response, and thus, unlike global measures, could be sensitive to treatment efficacy.

Method: We conducted a longitudinal, open label donepezil ...

Gratitude Intervention Modulates P3 Amplitude In A Temporal Discounting Task, Andrea L. Patalano, Sydney L. Lolli, Charles A. Sanislow

Charles A. Sanislow, Ph.D.

Exploring The Process Of Statistical Language Learning, Nicolette B. Noonan

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

In this thesis, I investigated the process of statistical word segmentation using a combination of behavioural, clinical, and neuroimaging approaches. Prior research has largely focused on the outcome of statistical learning approaches, with little research attention paid to the process of learning. In this body of research, I sought to address this issue. In Chapter 2, I examined how domain-specific and domain-general working memory interference effects on a statistical word segmentation task. I found that when completing a concurrent visuospatial or verbal working memory task, statistical language learning was impaired. Thus, this study provided some evidence that domain-general working memory ...

The Role Of Familiarity In Rhythmic Timing And Beat Perception, Joshua Hoddinott

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Behavioural and neural differences associated with strong and weak-beat rhythms may indicate that strong-beat rhythms are more familiar stimuli than weak-beat rhythms, or differences may be because intervals in strong-beat rhythms are more easily encoded relative to a beat. To test these different possibilities, participants were trained to reproduce strong-, weak-, and non-beat rhythms over 4 days, in an attempt to equate familiarity across the different categories of rhythms. On a fifth day, participants were tested on their ability to reproduce these same rhythms at learned, slower, and faster rates, as well as novel rhythms. Participants improved performance on all ...

Work Namaste: The Importance Of Mattering At Work, And How A Leader Can Create An Environment Where Employees Feel They And Their Work Matter, Rebecca J. Lamperski

Master of Applied Positive Psychology (MAPP) Capstone Projects

The concept of mattering is an underdeveloped, yet important component of an employee’s success in the workplace, and personal well-being. Deficit-based leadership strategies employed by many organizations can break-down the ability for an employee to feel that they and their work matter, however, the focus by leaders on mattering can lead employees to feel: my leader is invested in my success, I am noticed, I am cared about, I am depended upon, I would be missed if I were not here, my leader is interested in what I say and do, I am appreciated, and I am noticed for ...

Discrete Information Object Analysis Of Primary Flight Display Clutter, Kenneth Ward

National Training Aircraft Symposium (NTAS)

Modern aircraft utilize digital display screens to provide critical flight and system status information to pilots. As computing power has increased, the number of data sources and information presented has also increased, with the goal of increasing situational awareness. However, the display can become cluttered with extraneous or irrelevant information, to the detriment of pilot cognitive workload. Pilot perceptions of clutter vary with flight experience, introducing unique considerations in the flight training environment, given the experience difference between instructors and students. Researchers have studied the problem, identifying both the number of visual objects and information density as predictors of perception ...

Examining The Different Learning Strategies Between Extroverts And Introverts Among Flight Students At Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, John R. Brooks

National Training Aircraft Symposium (NTAS)

Extroverts and introverts have unique approaches to new materials that make learning more efficient. In fields like aviation, where quick learning and responses are required, students struggle because preferred comprehension strategies are not utilized. The research question is whether introverts/extroverts learn better when given the option to approach materials using strategies that match their personality type. A total of twenty-four participants from the Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University Flight Program will be chosen and placed into one of two different groups (extrovert/introvert) using a median split. The Eysenck Personality Questionnaire – Revised (EPQ-R) will determine personality trait (introvert or extrovert). All ...

Wellness And Karate, Cristina Kumpf

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The promotion of wellness is an integral part of the counseling field and is considered to be a central focus to the counseling process (Barden, Conley, & Young, 2015; Myers, 1992). The counseling profession adopted the concept of wellness because it harmonizes with many of the founding principles of the ACA and is seen as a process of questing toward optimal health and well-being in body, mind, and spirit (Barden, Conley, & Young, 2015; Myers, 1992; Myers, Sweeney, & Witmer, 2000). Additionally, ACA Code of Ethics (2014) state that counselors “engage in self-care activities to maintain and promote their own emotional, physical, and mental well-being to best ...