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Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons™
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- Development (2)
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Articles 1 - 15 of 15
Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences
Narratives Of Canadian Identity At The Ultimate Fighting Championship, Jared V. Walters
Narratives Of Canadian Identity At The Ultimate Fighting Championship, Jared V. Walters
Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository
The purpose of this dissertation was to examine the use of representations and symbols of Canadian identity within the event coverage produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship Corporation, in the context of its two key events, Ultimate Fighting Championship, and Fight Night, produced in Canada. To establish the historical context in which the sport developed in Canada, a narrative historiography of the political and legal struggles that led to the legalization and increasing popularity of Mixed Martial Arts, and the UFCC’s version of the sport, in particular. This first major part of the dissertation is contained in Study 1. The …
In Search Of Psychiatric Kinds: Natural Kinds And Natural Classification In Psychiatry, Nicholas Slothouber
In Search Of Psychiatric Kinds: Natural Kinds And Natural Classification In Psychiatry, Nicholas Slothouber
Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository
In recent years both philosophers and scientists have asked whether or not our current kinds of mental disorder—e.g., schizophrenia, depression, bipolar disorder—are natural kinds; and, moreover, whether or not the search for natural kinds of mental disorder is a realistic desideratum for psychiatry. In this dissertation I clarify the sense in which a kind can be said to be “natural” or “real” and argue that, despite a few notable exceptions, kinds of mental disorder cannot be considered natural kinds. Furthermore, I contend that psychopathological phenomena do not cluster together into kinds in the way that paradigmatic natural kinds (e.g., chemical …
How Do Humans Process Magnitudes? An Examination Of The Neural And Cognitive Underpinnings Of Symbols, Quantities, And Size In Adults And Children, Helen Moriah Sokolowski
How Do Humans Process Magnitudes? An Examination Of The Neural And Cognitive Underpinnings Of Symbols, Quantities, And Size In Adults And Children, Helen Moriah Sokolowski
Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository
A striking way that humans differ from other species is our unique ability to represent and manipulate symbols. This ability to process numerical magnitudes symbolically (e.g., ‘three’, ‘3’) is widely thought to be supported by an ancient system that evolved to process nonsymbolic numerical magnitudes (i.e., quantities). In this thesis, I present four empirical studies to uncover whether symbolic representations are indeed supported by the system that evolved to process quantities, or if symbolic representations are sub-served by a similar but ultimately distinct system.
In experiments 1 and 2, I investigate how the adult brain processes symbols and quantities using …
How Does The Brain Represent Digits? Investigating The Neural Correlates Of Symbolic Number Representation Using Fmri-Adaptation, Celia Goffin
Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository
How does the brain represent numerical symbols (e.g., Arabic digits)? Activity in left parietal regions correlates with symbolic number processing. Research with functional resonance imaging adaptation (fMRI-A) indicates that the intraparietal sulcus (IPS) exhibits a rebound (increase in activation) effect when a repeatedly presented number is followed by a new number. Importantly, this rebound effect is modulated by numerical ratio as well as the difference between presented numbers (distance). This ratio-dependent rebound effect could reflect a link between symbolic numerical representation and an approximate number system (ANS). In this doctoral dissertation, fMRI-A is used to investigate mechanisms underlying symbolic number …
Cognitive, Neural, And Educational Contributions To Mathematics Performance: A Closer Look At The Roles Of Numerical And Spatial Skills, Zachary C.K. Hawes
Cognitive, Neural, And Educational Contributions To Mathematics Performance: A Closer Look At The Roles Of Numerical And Spatial Skills, Zachary C.K. Hawes
Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository
The principal aims of this thesis were to (1) provide new insights into the cognitive and neural associations between spatial and mathematical abilities, and (2) translate and apply findings from the field of numerical cognition to the teaching and learning of early mathematics.
Study 1 investigated the structure and interrelations amongst cognitive constructs related to numerical, spatial, and executive function (EF) skills and mathematics achievement in 4- to 11-year old children (N=316). Results revealed evidence of highly related, yet separable, cognitive constructs. Together, numerical, spatial, and EF skills explained 84% of the variance in mathematics achievement (controlling for chronological age). …
The Relations Between Newcomer Integration Processes And Youth Athletes’ Perceptions Of The Group Environment In Competitive Ice Hockey, Jeffrey J. Chamberlain
The Relations Between Newcomer Integration Processes And Youth Athletes’ Perceptions Of The Group Environment In Competitive Ice Hockey, Jeffrey J. Chamberlain
Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository
Abstract
The ways in which new members are integrated into a particular group environment—also known as organizational socialization processes—have been shown to be a powerful predictor of newcomer adjustment in the workplace. Yet, there is a scarcity of research on how sport teams manage the integration of new team members, and the consequences of different tactics. The current research uses the recently developed Sport Team Socialization Tactics Questionnaire (STSTQ) to evaluate how socialization processes are systematically related to youth athletes’ perceptions of their group environment. Across two time points, 202 competitive adolescent ice hockey players (Mage = 14.47, …
Using Meditation To Improve Measures Of Attention In Older Adults, Sabrina Ford
Using Meditation To Improve Measures Of Attention In Older Adults, Sabrina Ford
Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository
Age-related cognitive decline greatly impacts quality of life for older adults. Previous research has indicated that meditation may act as a neuroprotective factor to prevent age-related cognitive decline. This thesis sought to replicate previous findings and investigate if a four-week meditation intervention would improve sustained attention. Participants 60 years and older (n=27, 17 female) were recruited and assigned to a focused-attention (FA) meditation or relaxation group which met for four weeks, three times a week. Resting-state EEG was used to collect individual alpha peak frequency (iAPF) and frontal alpha asymmetry (FAA). The Sustained Attention to Response Task (SART) was also …
Pattern Separation In The Ventral Visual Stream, Kayla Ferko
Pattern Separation In The Ventral Visual Stream, Kayla Ferko
Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository
Pattern separation is a neural computation thought to underlie our ability to form distinct memories of similar events. It involves transforming overlapping inputs into less overlapping outputs. In the ventral visual stream (VVS) there is considerable evidence for hierarchical transformation from feature-based visual representations to conjunctive whole-object representations, with the latter allowing for distinct coding even when objects have significant feature overlap. In the current study, we asked whether this transformation can be understood as pattern separation, and whether pattern separation can be observed even outside the context of classic recognition-memory tasks. To investigate pattern separation in the VVS, we …
Improving Stimulus Realism: The Effect Of Visual Dimension On Affective Responding, Shannon Compton
Improving Stimulus Realism: The Effect Of Visual Dimension On Affective Responding, Shannon Compton
Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository
For decades researchers have used 2D stimuli under the assumption that they accurately represent real objects. This assumption has been challenged by recent vision and neuroeconomics research which has found that 2D images can evoke different neural and behavioural responses than real objects. The current study continues this line of research in the field of affective cognitive neuroscience; a field where small effect sizes are common and rapid habituation to affective stimuli used in the lab often occurs. The present study uses realistic 2D and 3D emotional images to determine the impact of visual dimension on affective responding. Subjective ratings …
Neurodevelopmental Outcomes Of Infantile Hydrocephalus: An Fmri Case Study, Ikhlas Ahmed Hashi
Neurodevelopmental Outcomes Of Infantile Hydrocephalus: An Fmri Case Study, Ikhlas Ahmed Hashi
Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository
Ventricle dilatation caused by infantile hydrocephalus may result in extensive damage of the posterior cortex (parietal and occipital lobes). We hypothesize that pathological changes in the development of the posterior cortex can be linked to non-verbal learning disabilities in children with previous infantile hydrocephalus. This case study will investigate the neurodevelopmental outcomes of 3 treated hydrocephalus patients, when compared to a group of healthy control children (n = 12). Within the hydrocephalus group, patients displayed differences in non-verbal test performance as well as parietal brain activation during an fMRI number comparison task. We associated these differences with clinical variables such …
Resedent Study- Reducing Sedentary Behaviour May Slow Cognitive Decline In Older Adults With Mild Cognitive Impairment: A Pilot Study, Kirsten B. Dillon
Resedent Study- Reducing Sedentary Behaviour May Slow Cognitive Decline In Older Adults With Mild Cognitive Impairment: A Pilot Study, Kirsten B. Dillon
Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository
Physical activity (PA) has been shown to slow down dementia. Unfortunately, older adults spend most of their day in sedentary behaviours (SB). Breaking up prolonged bouts of sitting with intermittent bouts of light intensity PA may reduce glycemic variability in the brain; potentially mitigating cognitive decline. This study investigated how interrupting SB with 10 min bouts of light intensity PA 3x a day would affect mild to moderate cognitive impairment progression (primary outcome) in older adults residing in an assisted living facility. Participants (n=25) were assigned in clusters into a two arm 10-week single site pilot randomized controlled trial. Secondary …
Investigating How Neural Entrainment Relates To Beat Perception By Disentangling The Stimulus-Driven Response, Aaron Wc Gibbings
Investigating How Neural Entrainment Relates To Beat Perception By Disentangling The Stimulus-Driven Response, Aaron Wc Gibbings
Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository
Beat perception – the ability to perceive a steady pulse in music – is nearly ubiquitous in humans, but the neural mechanisms underlying this ability are unknown. A growing number of electroencephalography (EEG) studies suggest that beat perception is related to neural entrainment, a phenomenon in which cyclic changes in the excitability of populations of neurons synchronize with a rhythmic stimulus. However, the relationship between acoustically-driven and entrainment-driven neural activity is unclear. This thesis presents EEG research that extends our understanding neural entrainment is related to beat perception by characterizing, equating, and finally removing the stimulus-driven response in the neural …
The Effects Of Acute Aerobic Exercise And Caffeine On Working Memory And Caffeine Withdrawal, Anisa Morava
The Effects Of Acute Aerobic Exercise And Caffeine On Working Memory And Caffeine Withdrawal, Anisa Morava
Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository
Caffeine is one of the most widely used psychoactive substances worldwide. Although caffeine elicits cognitive benefits, there are concerns regarding caffeine’s effects on certain health domains. Acute, aerobic exercise has been shown to improve cognition. The effects of aerobic exercise in comparison to caffeine on working memory (WM) in non-caffeine and caffeine consumers remains unknown. Furthermore, the effects of aerobic exercise in reducing caffeine withdrawal symptoms has yet to be examined. In Phase I, twenty-nine non-caffeine and thirty caffeine consumers completed a WM assessment, followed by aerobic exercise and caffeine administration (counterbalanced). In Phase II, twenty-five caffeine consumers underwent a …
The Origins And Development Of Visual Categorization, Laura Cabral
The Origins And Development Of Visual Categorization, Laura Cabral
Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository
Forming categories is a core part of human cognition, allowing us to make quickly make inferences about our environment. This thesis investigated some of the major theoretical interpretations surrounding the neural basis of visual category development. In adults, there are category-selective regions (e.g. in ventral temporal cortex) and networks (which include regions outside traditional visual regions—e.g. the amygdala) that support visual categorization. While there has been extensive behavioural work investigating visual categorization in infants, the neural sequence of development remains poorly understood. Based on behavioral experiments, one view holds that infants are initially using subcortical structures to recognize faces. Indeed, …
Cultivating Knowledge: Agrarian Science And Ecological Engagements In Southern Ontario Agriculture, Kelly Linton
Cultivating Knowledge: Agrarian Science And Ecological Engagements In Southern Ontario Agriculture, Kelly Linton
Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository
Agriculture and climate change are interconnected processes, with agriculture implicated in rising green house gas emissions, deforestation, soil and water pollution, and reductions in biodiversity. Conversely, changes within ecology (including a warming climate), alter growing conditions for farmers. Farmers face changes in both temperature and precipitation, as well as an increase in adverse weather events that significantly threaten productivity and livelihoods.
Based on 40 unstructured interviews as well as informal conversations conducted among farmers in southern Ontario, Canada between the spring of 2014 and the winter of 2017, this dissertation seeks to contribute to a growing body of work that …