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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

Diabetes Mellitus Affects Working Memory, Dylone C. Braganza, Emmanuel Flores, Lauren A. Crew, Ryan A. Wirt, Andrew A. Ortiz, Adam M. Mcneela, Jefferson W. Kinney, James M. Hyman Aug 2021

Diabetes Mellitus Affects Working Memory, Dylone C. Braganza, Emmanuel Flores, Lauren A. Crew, Ryan A. Wirt, Andrew A. Ortiz, Adam M. Mcneela, Jefferson W. Kinney, James M. Hyman

Spectra Undergraduate Research Journal

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) degrades the brain’s ability to remember, think, and carry out tasks. The exact cause is not known, but several risk factors have been identified, including diabetes mellitus (DM). DM causes elevated blood sugar levels due to reduced insulin production in the pancreas. The linkage between elevated glucose levels and the behavioral impairments are not fully understood, which was the focus of this study. Rats were trained to alternate directions in a maze to receive a reward on consecutive trials. After training, five rats were injected with streptozotocin (STZ), which induces hyperglycemia by injuring pancreatic beta cells. Three …


The Impact Of Musical Components On Retrieval Performance, Adkins Franklin Dane Jul 2019

The Impact Of Musical Components On Retrieval Performance, Adkins Franklin Dane

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Many students claim that they can study well while listening to music (Anderson & Fuller, 2010; Patton, Stinard, & Routh, 1983), but how does listening to music affect students’ ability to encode and recall studied information? Previous research on background music and attention has revealed mixed results, with some studies indicating that background music can help reduce inattentional blindness (Beanland, Allen, & Pammer, 2011), while others suggest that music may hinder the attention of the listener (by Shih, Huang, & Chaing, 2012). Additionally, individual differences in working memory capacity impact one’s ability to store and retrieve information, as well as …


Working Memory And Auditory Imagery Predict Sensorimotor Synchronisation With Expressively Timed Music, Ian D. Colley, Peter E. Keller, Andrea R. Halpern Jan 2019

Working Memory And Auditory Imagery Predict Sensorimotor Synchronisation With Expressively Timed Music, Ian D. Colley, Peter E. Keller, Andrea R. Halpern

Andrea Halpern

Sensorimotor synchronisation (SMS) is prevalent and readily studied in musical settings, as most people are able to perceive and synchronise with a beat (e.g., by finger tapping). We took an individual differences approach to understanding SMS to real music characterised by expressive timing (i.e., fluctuating beat regularity). Given the dynamic nature of SMS, we hypothesised that individual differences in working memory and auditory imagery—both fluid cognitive processes—would predict SMS at two levels: (1) mean absolute asynchrony (a measure of synchronisation error) and (2) anticipatory timing (i.e., predicting, rather than reacting to beat intervals). In Experiment 1, participants completed two working …


Score One For Jazz: Working Memory In Jazz And Classical Musicians, Bryan E. Nichols, Clemens Wöllner, Andrea R. Halpern Jan 2019

Score One For Jazz: Working Memory In Jazz And Classical Musicians, Bryan E. Nichols, Clemens Wöllner, Andrea R. Halpern

Andrea Halpern

Jazz musicians rely on different skills than do classical musicians for successful performances. We investigated the working memory span of classical and jazz student musicians on musical and nonmusical working memory tasks. College-aged musicians completed the Bucknell Auditory Imagery Scale, followed by verbal working memory tests and musical working memory tests that included visual and auditory presentation modes and written or played recall. Participants were asked to recall the last word (or pitch) from each task after a distraction task, by writing, speaking, or playing the pitch on the piano. Jazz musicians recalled more pitches that were presented in auditory …


Pitch Imitation Ability In Mental Transformations Of Melodies, Emma B. Greenspon, Peter Q. Pfordresher, Andrea R. Halpern Jan 2019

Pitch Imitation Ability In Mental Transformations Of Melodies, Emma B. Greenspon, Peter Q. Pfordresher, Andrea R. Halpern

Andrea Halpern

Previous research suggests that individuals with a vocal pitch imitation deficit (VPID, a.k.a. "poor-pitch singers") experience less vivid auditory images than accurate imitators (pfordresher & halpern, 2013), based on self-report. in the present research we sought to test this proposal directly by having accurate and VPID imitators produce or recognize short melodies based on their original form (untransformed), or after mentally transforming the auditory image of the melody. For the production task, group differences were largest during the untransformed imitation task. importantly, producing mental transformations of the auditory image degraded performance for all participants, but were relatively more disruptive to …


A Brain System For Auditory Working Memory, Sukhbinder Kumar, Sabine Joseph, Phillip E. Gander, Nicolas Barascud, Andrea R. Halpern, Timothy D. Griffiths Jan 2019

A Brain System For Auditory Working Memory, Sukhbinder Kumar, Sabine Joseph, Phillip E. Gander, Nicolas Barascud, Andrea R. Halpern, Timothy D. Griffiths

Andrea Halpern

The brain basis for auditory working memory, the process of actively maintaining sounds in memory over short periods of time, is controversial. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging in human participants, we demonstrate that the maintenance of single tones in memory is associated with activation in auditory cortex. In addition, sustained activation was observed in hippocampus and inferior frontal gyrus. Multivoxel pattern analysis showed that patterns of activity in auditory cortex and left inferior frontal gyrus distinguished the tone that was maintained in memory. Functional connectivity during maintenance was demonstrated between auditory cortex and both the hippocampus and inferior frontal cortex. …


Working Memory And Auditory Imagery Predict Sensorimotor Synchronisation With Expressively Timed Music, Ian D. Colley, Peter E. Keller, Andrea R. Halpern Jan 2018

Working Memory And Auditory Imagery Predict Sensorimotor Synchronisation With Expressively Timed Music, Ian D. Colley, Peter E. Keller, Andrea R. Halpern

Faculty Journal Articles

Sensorimotor synchronisation (SMS) is prevalent and readily studied in musical settings, as most people are able to perceive and synchronise with a beat (e.g., by finger tapping). We took an individual differences approach to understanding SMS to real music characterised by expressive timing (i.e., fluctuating beat regularity). Given the dynamic nature of SMS, we hypothesised that individual differences in working memory and auditory imagery—both fluid cognitive processes—would predict SMS at two levels: (1) mean absolute asynchrony (a measure of synchronisation error) and (2) anticipatory timing (i.e., predicting, rather than reacting to beat intervals). In Experiment 1, participants completed two working …


Score One For Jazz: Working Memory In Jazz And Classical Musicians, Bryan E. Nichols, Clemens Wöllner, Andrea R. Halpern Jan 2018

Score One For Jazz: Working Memory In Jazz And Classical Musicians, Bryan E. Nichols, Clemens Wöllner, Andrea R. Halpern

Faculty Journal Articles

Jazz musicians rely on different skills than do classical musicians for successful performances. We investigated the working memory span of classical and jazz student musicians on musical and nonmusical working memory tasks. College-aged musicians completed the Bucknell Auditory Imagery Scale, followed by verbal working memory tests and musical working memory tests that included visual and auditory presentation modes and written or played recall. Participants were asked to recall the last word (or pitch) from each task after a distraction task, by writing, speaking, or playing the pitch on the piano. Jazz musicians recalled more pitches that were presented in auditory …


Pitch Imitation Ability In Mental Transformations Of Melodies, Emma B. Greenspon, Peter Q. Pfordresher, Andrea R. Halpern Jan 2017

Pitch Imitation Ability In Mental Transformations Of Melodies, Emma B. Greenspon, Peter Q. Pfordresher, Andrea R. Halpern

Faculty Journal Articles

Previous research suggests that individuals with a vocal pitch imitation deficit (VPID, a.k.a. "poor-pitch singers") experience less vivid auditory images than accurate imitators (pfordresher & halpern, 2013), based on self-report. in the present research we sought to test this proposal directly by having accurate and VPID imitators produce or recognize short melodies based on their original form (untransformed), or after mentally transforming the auditory image of the melody. For the production task, group differences were largest during the untransformed imitation task. importantly, producing mental transformations of the auditory image degraded performance for all participants, but were relatively more disruptive to …


Predicting Second Grade Listening Comprehension Using Prekindergarten Measures, Crystle N. Alonzo, Gloria Yeomans-Maldonado, Kimberly A. Murphy, Beau Bevens, Language And Reading Research Consortium (Larrc) Jan 2016

Predicting Second Grade Listening Comprehension Using Prekindergarten Measures, Crystle N. Alonzo, Gloria Yeomans-Maldonado, Kimberly A. Murphy, Beau Bevens, Language And Reading Research Consortium (Larrc)

Communication Disorders & Special Education Faculty Publications

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine prekindergarten predictors of listening comprehension in second grade. Methods: Within a large, 5-year longitudinal study, children progressing from prekindergarten to second grade were administered a comprehensive set of prekindergarten measures of foundational language skills (vocabulary and grammar), higher-level language skills (inferencing, comprehension monitoring, and text structure knowledge), listening comprehension, working memory, and nonverbal processing, as well as second grade measures of listening comprehension. Results: A prekindergarten measure of listening comprehension-the Test of Narrative Language-and a prekindergarten measure of foundational language skills and working memory-the Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals-4 Recalling …


A Brain System For Auditory Working Memory, Sukhbinder Kumar, Sabine Joseph, Phillip E. Gander, Nicolas Barascud, Andrea R. Halpern, Timothy D. Griffiths Jan 2016

A Brain System For Auditory Working Memory, Sukhbinder Kumar, Sabine Joseph, Phillip E. Gander, Nicolas Barascud, Andrea R. Halpern, Timothy D. Griffiths

Faculty Journal Articles

The brain basis for auditory working memory, the process of actively maintaining sounds in memory over short periods of time, is controversial. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging in human participants, we demonstrate that the maintenance of single tones in memory is associated with activation in auditory cortex. In addition, sustained activation was observed in hippocampus and inferior frontal gyrus. Multivoxel pattern analysis showed that patterns of activity in auditory cortex and left inferior frontal gyrus distinguished the tone that was maintained in memory. Functional connectivity during maintenance was demonstrated between auditory cortex and both the hippocampus and inferior frontal cortex. …


Working Memory In Musicians Versus Non-Musicians: A Differential Study Using The N-Back Task, Kara Nonnemacher Apr 2014

Working Memory In Musicians Versus Non-Musicians: A Differential Study Using The N-Back Task, Kara Nonnemacher

The Research and Scholarship Symposium (2013-2019)

The current study investigates whether long-term musical training and practice are associated with greater working memory abilities. Other studies have shown that musicians have cognitive advantages over non-musicians, including working memory. Forty-six college-aged participants were given an auditory-spatial n-back test. The n-back test requires participants to determine whether or not each auditory and spatial stimulus in a sequence matches the stimulus n stimuli ago. In this study, n=2. Participants were classified as either a musician or non-musician based on their years of musical training. Comparing n-back scores between musicians and non-musicians showed no significant findings. Since …


Student Interpreters Show Encoding And Recall Differences For Information In English And American Sign Language, Jesse R. James, Kara I. Gabriel Jan 2012

Student Interpreters Show Encoding And Recall Differences For Information In English And American Sign Language, Jesse R. James, Kara I. Gabriel

All Faculty Scholarship for the College of the Sciences

This study investigated whether student interpreters encode and recall words differently in signed and spoken languages. Participants viewed and then recalled word lists, half of which were related through specific encoding strategies (i.e., experimental lists), and half of which lacked the availability of those strategies (i.e., control lists). Total words recalled and the temporal recall order were compared across experimental and control lists. Student interpreters utilised different strategies to remember words in English and American Sign Language (ASL), suggesting that student interpreters do not default to first-language (English) spoken strategies when encoding second-language (ASL) signed lists. However, the total number …