Predicting Similarity Judgments In Intertemporal Choice With Machine Learning, 2018 University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Predicting Similarity Judgments In Intertemporal Choice With Machine Learning, Jeffrey R. Stevens, Leen-Kiat Soh
Jeffrey Stevens Publications
Similarity models of intertemporal choice are heuristics that choose based on similarity judgments of the reward amounts and time delays. Yet, we do not know how these judgments are made. Here, we use machine-learning algorithms to assess what factors predict similarity judgments and whether decision trees capture the judgment outcomes and process. We find that combining small and large values into numerical differences and ratios and arranging them in tree-like structures can predict both similarity judgments and response times. Our results suggest that we can use machine learning to not only model decision outcomes but also model how decisions are …
Mesotocin Influences Pinyon Jay Prosociality, 2018 University of Nebraska - Lincoln
Mesotocin Influences Pinyon Jay Prosociality, Juan Duque, Whitney Leichner, Holly Ahmann, Jeffrey R. Stevens
Jeffrey Stevens Publications
Many species exhibit prosocial behavior, in which one individual’s actions benefit another individual, often without an immediate benefit to itself. The neuropeptide oxytocin is an important hormonal mechanism influencing prosociality in mammals, but it is unclear whether the avian homologue mesotocin plays a similar functional role in birds. Here, we experimentally tested prosociality in pinyon jays (Gymnorhinus cyanocephalus), a highly social corvid species that spontaneously shares food with others. First, we measured prosocial preferences in a prosocial choice task with two different payoff distributions: Prosocial trials delivered food to both the subject and either an empty cage or a partner …
University Students' Willingness To Assist Fellow Students Who Experience Alcohol-Related Facial Flushing To Reduce Their Drinking, 2018 University of Nebraska - Lincoln
University Students' Willingness To Assist Fellow Students Who Experience Alcohol-Related Facial Flushing To Reduce Their Drinking, Lanyan Ding, Lok-Wa Yuen, Ian M. Newman, Duane F. Shell
Department of Educational Psychology: Faculty Publications
This study explored bystanders’ willingness to help a friend who flushes when drinking to reduce his/her drinking. Alcohol-related facial flushing is an indicator of an inherited variant enzyme, aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH), that impairs alcohol metabolism and increases drinkers’ lifetime risk of certain aerodigestive cancers. Individuals who flush should reduce their alcohol exposure, but they may continue to drink if social pressures and rules of etiquette make not drinking socially risky. The analysis used data from 2912 undergraduate students from 13 universities in southwestern, central and northeastern China from a survey asking how they respond to someone’s flushing in various scenarios. …
Towards Improving Learning With Consumer-Grade, Closed-Loop, Electroencephalographic Neurofeedback, 2018 Bard College
Towards Improving Learning With Consumer-Grade, Closed-Loop, Electroencephalographic Neurofeedback, Zall Soren Hirschstein
Senior Projects Spring 2018
Learning is an enigmatic process composed of a multitude of cognitive systems that are functionally and neuroanatomically distinct. Nevertheless, two undeniable pillars which underpin learning are attention and memory; to learn, one must attend, and maintain a representation of, an event. Psychological and neuroscientific technologies that permit researchers to “mind-read” have revealed much about the dynamics of these distinct processes that contribute to learning. This investigation first outlines the cognitive pillars which support learning and the technologies that permit such an understanding. It then employs a novel task—the amSMART paradigm—with the goal of building a real-time, closed-loop, electroencephalographic (EEG) neurofeedback …
Developing Classroom Management Strategies In Non-Native Culture: A Single Case Study, 2018 University of Nebraska - Lincoln
Developing Classroom Management Strategies In Non-Native Culture: A Single Case Study, Xianquan Liu, Wayne A. Babchuk
Department of Educational Psychology: Faculty Publications
This single case study explored the practicum and student teaching experience of a native Chinese pre-service language teacher in order to better understand her process of developing classroom management strategies and the difficulties and challenges emerged in that process. In a broader sense, the case study aims to inform teacher preparation programs in terms of preparing Chinese teachers for secondary public schools in the U.S. The longitudinal study employed semi-structured interviews, classroom observation notes, teaching reflections and documents. Six themes — instructional challenges, coping strategies, cultural difference, language frustration, attitudes and feelings, and improvement — emerged from constant comparative analysis. …
Partners In School: An Innovative Parent-Teacher Consultation Model For Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder, 2018 Kennedy Krieger Institute & Johns Hopkins University
Partners In School: An Innovative Parent-Teacher Consultation Model For Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Gazi F. Azad Phd, Steven C. Marcus Phdd, Susan Sheridan Phd, David S. Mandell
Department of Educational Psychology: Faculty Publications
Little research examines the best ways to improve communication between parents and teachers of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and its effect on child outcomes. The present study tests an innovative parent-teacher consultation model, entitled Partners in School. The goal of Partners in School is to improve parent-teacher communication aboutevidence-based practices (EBPs), and subsequently, outcomes for children with ASD. Participants were 26 teachers and 49 parents of children with ASD from a large urban public school district. Parents and teachers completed measures of their communication and child outcomes prior to and after receiving consultation through Partners in School. Results …
Reasoning, Logic, And Development: Essay Review Of The Enigma Of Reason By Hugo Mercier And Dan Sperber, 2018 University of Nebraska - Lincoln
Reasoning, Logic, And Development: Essay Review Of The Enigma Of Reason By Hugo Mercier And Dan Sperber, David Moshman
Department of Educational Psychology: Faculty Publications
In 2011, Hugo Mercier and Dan Sperber published an influential article [Mercier & Sperber, 2011] arguing that human reasoning evolved for the purpose of argumentation and serves that purpose well. Additional publications followed and now, in The Enigma of Reason, Mercier and Sperber [2017] flesh out their theory. Individual reasoning is often fallacious, in their view, because it applies reasoning beyond the scope of its evolutionary purpose. Logic, rather than a basis for reasoning, is a formalized system developed by logicians that has little connection to actual human reasoning.
This is a rich and readable book that presents many intriguing …
Effects Of Selected Socio-Demographic Characteristics On Nutrition Knowledge And Eating Behavior Of Elementary Students In Two Provinces In China, 2018 China Center for Health Education
Effects Of Selected Socio-Demographic Characteristics On Nutrition Knowledge And Eating Behavior Of Elementary Students In Two Provinces In China, Ling Qian, Fan Zhang, Ian M. Newman, Duane F. Shell, Weijing Du
Department of Educational Psychology: Faculty Publications
Background: National and international child health surveys have indicated an increase in childhood obesity in China. The increase has been attributed to a rising standard of living, increasing availability of unhealthy foods, and a lack of knowledge about healthy diet. The objective of this study was to assess the effect of selected sociodemographic characteristics on the BMI, nutrition knowledge, and eating behavior of elementary school children. Methods: Multistage stratified cluster sampling was used. Information on demographics, nutrition knowledge, and eating behavior was gathered by means of questionnaires. The schools’ doctors provided the height and weight data. The study was set …
Health-Related Quality Of Life In Patients With Arthritis: A Cross-Sectional Survey Among Middle-Aged Adults In Chongqing, China, 2018 Chongqing Medical University
Health-Related Quality Of Life In Patients With Arthritis: A Cross-Sectional Survey Among Middle-Aged Adults In Chongqing, China, Yunshuang Rao, Xianglong Xu, Dengyuan Liu, Cesar Reis, Ian M. Newman, Liqiang Qin, Manoj Sharma, Jun Shen, Yong Zhao
Department of Educational Psychology: Faculty Publications
Background: Arthritis is a common disease in China, but few studies have been conducted to explore the associated health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and its influencing factors in Chongqing, China. This study aimed to explore the association of arthritis and HRQoL and probe factors affecting HRQoL among arthritis patients. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted in Chongqing, China. A total of 1224 adults were included in the analysis. Medical Outcomes Study Short Form 36 Health Survey (SF-36) was used to measure HRQoL. Multiple linear regression models (stepwise) and covariance analysis models were used to examine the association of arthritis with …
Influence Of Peer Pressure And Self-Efficacy For Alcohol Self-Regulation On Chinese University Physical Education Students’ Drinking Behaviors, 2018 University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Influence Of Peer Pressure And Self-Efficacy For Alcohol Self-Regulation On Chinese University Physical Education Students’ Drinking Behaviors, Lanyan Ding, Ian M. Newman, Eric S. Buhs, Duane F. Shell
Department of Educational Psychology: Faculty Publications
This study examined peer group influence on university student drinking in China and the indirect effects of peer pressure and self-efficacy for alcohol self-regulation. A total of 951 undergraduate university students (first, second and third year) from a university in central China completed questionnaires asking about perceived peer pressures, self-efficacy for alcohol self-regulation, and drinking frequency. Analysis of their answers showed that the drinking frequency among physical education (PE) students was higher than among the comparison group (History students). The PE students perceived greater peer pressure, and had lower self-efficacy for alcohol self-regulation, both of which contributed directly to drinking …
Evaluation Of A Cognitive Training Program For Older Adults With Mild To Moderate Cognitive Decline, 2018 Minnesota State University, Mankato
Evaluation Of A Cognitive Training Program For Older Adults With Mild To Moderate Cognitive Decline, Kelly Bergstrom
All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects
Older adults often experience varying levels of cognitive decline. Several interventions intended to help slow the effects of cognitive decline have been studied, including cognitive training. Cognitive training involves engaging individuals, typically in a group setting, in exercises that target specific cognitive domains, such as attention, perceptual speed, memory, language, and executive functioning. Literature on cognitive training provides mixed support for its efficacy. The purpose of the current study was to determine whether a manualized, in-person cognitive training program for individuals with mild to moderate cognitive decline would lead to an improvement in cognitive performance. The program targeted six cognitive …
A Phenomenological Exploration Of The Role Of Digital Technology And Media In Children’S Subjective Well-Being, 2018 University of South Dakota
A Phenomenological Exploration Of The Role Of Digital Technology And Media In Children’S Subjective Well-Being, Lisa Newland, Daniel Mourlam, Gabrielle Strouse
School of Education Faculty Publications
This phenomenological study examined children’s subjective well-being (N = 22) in rural and urban areas of the Midwestern United States, as part of a larger multinational comparative qualitative study of children's well-being. Children (8 to 12 years old) completed an extended, semi-structured qualitative interview and mapping exercise that prompted them to draw and describe the scope, aspects of, and influences on their subjective well-being. Phenomenological analyses of children’s responses were conducted to identify aspects of their contexts, including their use of digital technology and media (DTM), that were linked to children’s subjective well-being. Two main themes emerged; 1) children reported …
Sourcing Enchantment: From Elemental Appropriation To Imaginal Symbolics, 2018 California Institute of Integral Studies
Sourcing Enchantment: From Elemental Appropriation To Imaginal Symbolics, Schwartz, Michael
CONSCIOUSNESS: Ideas and Research for the Twenty-First Century
Critical theorists and social commentators agree that modernity and postmodernity suffer from historical pathologies of world disenchantment. What might be done? Drawing on John Sallis’ phenomenology of the elemental and Tibetan Buddhist teachings on elemental practices, this paper investigates the imagination in its doubling as imaginal in generating a symbolics of the self, world, and other that is always already enchanted; an aesthetics of existence where the world itself shows forth like a work of art replete with exorbitant logics.
Tasseography From Jung's Perspective, 2018 California Institute of Integral Studies
Tasseography From Jung's Perspective, Avetisian, Elizabeth
CONSCIOUSNESS: Ideas and Research for the Twenty-First Century
Approaching from Jung’s perspective this paper aims to understand how the unconscious communicates through symbolism that may be the basis for synchronicity arising from mantic procedures. A particular ritual of divination called tasseography will be studied whereby the seer interprets patterns in coffee grounds intuitively and by following a standard system of symbolism to foretell the seeker’s future life events or provide answers to seeker’s pressing life questions. The paper will examine various processes involved in the experience of tasseography and its ritual that enable the reader to predict the seeker’s future or bring light to the present or past …
Evidence Of Embodied Social Competence During Conversation In High Functioning Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder, 2018 College of the Holy Cross
Evidence Of Embodied Social Competence During Conversation In High Functioning Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Veronica Romero, Paula Fitzpatrick, Stephanie Roulier, Amie Duncan, Michael J. Richardson, R. C. Schmidt
Psychology Department Faculty Works
Even high functioning children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) exhibit impairments that affect their ability to carry out and maintain effective social interactions in multiple contexts. One aspect of subtle nonverbal communication that might play a role in this impairment is the whole-body motor coordination that naturally arises between people during conversation. The current study aimed to measure the time-dependent, coordinated whole-body movements between children with ASD and a clinician during a conversational exchange using tools of nonlinear dynamics. Given the influence that subtle interpersonal coordination has on social interaction feelings, we expected there to be important associations between the …
How To Prevent Unhelpful Personality Traits From Evolving Into Unhelpful Financial Behaviors: The Benefits Of Future Clarity, 2018 Charles Darwin University
How To Prevent Unhelpful Personality Traits From Evolving Into Unhelpful Financial Behaviors: The Benefits Of Future Clarity, Simon Andrew Moss, Eraj Ghafoori, Liam Smith
Journal of Financial Therapy
Many organizations have implemented programs to improve the financial behavior of impending retirees and other vulnerable demographics. These programs are predicated on the assumption that financial behavior is indeed modifiable. Yet, many enduring traits, such as emotional instability, could promote financial anxiety and provoke imprudent financial behaviors, limiting the utility of these programs. This study, however, tests the possibility that future clarity—the degree to which individuals perceive their future as vivid and certain—could diminish the extent to which emotional instability coincides with financial anxiety and imprudent financial behavior. Specifically, 1516 participants over 50 completed a questionnaire that gauges emotional instability, …
Chickens Play To The Crowd, 2018 University of Trieste, Department of Life Sciences
Chickens Play To The Crowd, Cinzia Chiandetti
Animal Sentience
The time was ripe for Marino’s review of chickens’ cognitive capacities. The research community, apart from expressing gratitude for Marino’s work, should now use it to increase public awareness of chickens’ abilities. People’s views on many animals are ill-informed. Scientists need to communicate and engage with the public about the relevance and societal implications of their findings.
The Effects Anxiety Has On Attentional Bias And Working Memory, 2018 University of South Carolina - Aiken
The Effects Anxiety Has On Attentional Bias And Working Memory, Breana Mcswain
USC Aiken Psychology Theses
Research has shown that anxiety impairs attention and working memory, especially when it comes to completing a mentally demanding cognitive task such as the emotional Stroop paradigm or the n-back task. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether state anxiety affects behavioral performance on executive function tasks. State anxiety was induced using negatively valenced images from the International Affective Picture System, while neutral images served as the control. We compared behavioral performance between individuals in the negative mood induction against those in the neutral mood induction. Trait anxiety was used as a covariate for both groups. This allowed …
Does Posture Impact Affective Word Processing? Examining The Role Of Posture Across Adulthood In An Incidental Encoding Task, 2018 Cleveland State University
Does Posture Impact Affective Word Processing? Examining The Role Of Posture Across Adulthood In An Incidental Encoding Task, Lucas John Hamilton
ETD Archive
Research in emotional aging has primarily investigated mechanisms that could explain the age-related increase in positive emotionality despite various age-related losses. Of particular note is the increasing importance of age-related positivity effects and underlying biological influences on affective processes. Despite evidence of weakened mind-body connectivity in older adulthood presented in the maturation dualism framework, research shows age-similarities in subjective and objective reactivity for certain negative emotional states across adulthood. Thus, robust physiological-experiential associations may still exist in later life. Investigations of integrated mind-body connectivity have lead researchers to examine the influence of posture on cognitive outcomes. Prior evidence has observed …
Recognition Memory Revisited: An Aging And Electrophysiological Investigation, 2018 Cleveland State University
Recognition Memory Revisited: An Aging And Electrophysiological Investigation, Elliot C. Jardin
ETD Archive
This study provides a better understanding of contributing factors to age differences in human episodic memory. A recurrent finding in recognition memory is that older adults tend to have lower overall accuracy and tend to make fewer false-alarm errors in judging new items, relative miss errors (Coyne, Allen & Wickens, 1986; Danziger, 1980; Poon and Fozard 1980). Two possible causes for decline in these abilities include an age-related decrement in speed of processing (Salthouse 1991) and changes in information processing ability due to entropy (Allen, Kaufman, Smitch, & Propper 1998a; Mallik et al., in preparation). Additionally, age differences may be …