Psychology Commons^™

Executive Dysfunction And Reward Dysregulation: Interactions In Drug Addiction, Kristen Paula Morie

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Cocaine addiction is a serious public health hazard, and contributes to disastrous outcomes for individuals who suffer from it. Addiction is accompanied by an inability to control one's own behavior, and a preoccupation with cocaine at the expense of other rewarding pursuits. Previous research has suggested that difficulties with executive function and reward processing may underlie these problems, but the extent to which each contributes to addiction severity, or how these two factors may interact, remains to be elucidated. By using event related potential (ERP) measures in combination with information about self-reported anhedonia over three experiments, we set out to …

Age-Related Aspects Of Mirror-Use By Bottlenose Dolphins (Tursiops Truncatus), Rachel A. Morrison

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Bottlenose dolphins are neuroanatomically different and evolutionarily divergent from primates yet they exhibit mirror self-recognition (MSR), a rare cognitive ability in non-human animals. This research investigated the developmental and age-related aspects of MSR in this species. During a longitudinal study, a social group of bottlenose dolphins at the National Aquarium, Baltimore, MD were exposed to a mirror and their behavioral responses were recorded to: 1) further confirm the presence of MSR in this species, 2) determine the age of emergence of MSR and 3) draw comparisons with data documenting the emergence of this ability in humans and great ape species. …

When Less Can Be More: Dual Task Effects In Stuttering And Fluent Adults, Naomi Nechama Eichorn

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The present study tested the counterintuitive hypothesis that engaging cognitive resources in a secondary task while speaking could benefit aspects of speech production. Effects of dual task conditions on speech fluency, rate, and error patterns were examined in stuttering and fluent speakers based on specific predictions derived from three related theoretical frameworks. Twenty fluent adults and 19 adults with confirmed diagnoses of stuttering participated in the study. All participants completed two baseline tasks: (1) a continuous speaking task in which spontaneous speech was produced in response to given prompts; and (2) a working memory (WM) task involving manipulations of WM …

Factlessness & Faultlessness: Individual Differences & Dimensions Of Philosophical Dispute, Geoffrey Scott Holtzman

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This project addresses the question of why philosophical disputes persist, and tackles the problem of how we might better approach them. I demonstrate empirically several ways in which personality, gender, and other factors are associated with specific philosophical beliefs. Typically, one might assume that these individual difference factors are irrelevant to philosophy, and can only serve to bias philosophical disputants. Against this view, I present four case studies, which collectively highlight the different ways in which individual differences in lived experience may be inseparable from philosophical concepts themselves.

“Me & My Brain”: Exposing NeuroscienceʼS Closet Dualism, Liad Mudrik, Uri Maoz

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

Our intuitive concept of the relations between brain and mind is increasingly challenged by the scientific world view. Yet, although few neuroscientists openly endorse Cartesian dualism, careful reading reveals dualistic intuitions in prominent neuroscientific texts. Here, we present the “double-subject fallacy”: treating the brain and the entire person as two independent subjects who can simultaneously occupy divergent psychological states and even have complex interactions with each other—as in “my brain knew before I did.” Although at first, such writing may appear like harmless, or even cute, shorthand, a closer look suggests that it can be seriously misleading. Surprisingly, this confused …

Integrating Cognitive Science With Innovative Teaching In Stem Disciplines, Mark A. Mcdaniel, Regina F. Frey, Susan M. Fitzpatrick, Henry L. Roediger Iii

Books and Monographs

This volume collects the ideas and insights discussed at a novel conference, the Integrating Cognitive Science with Innovative Teaching in STEM Disciplines Conference, which was held September 27-28, 2012 at Washington University in St. Louis. With funding from the James S. McDonnell Foundation, the conference was hosted by Washington University’s Center for Integrative Research on Cognition, Learning, and Education (CIRCLE), a center established in 2011. Available for download as a PDF. Titles of individual chapters can be found at http://openscholarship.wustl.edu/circle_book/.

Influence Of Seductive Details, Belief-Congruence, And Repeated Testing On Memory For Controversial Information, Daniel Adam Nuccio

Theses and Dissertations

People often encounter conflicting information on a wide array of topics. How they evaluate this information in relation to their current beliefs, and the effects of other influences, such as the weight given to superficial aspects of the information (e.g. pictures, anecdotes, or jargon that are at most minimally related to an author's argument), has been of interest to researchers for many years. One component of their processing

and evaluation of this information is their memory for the information. This study set out to examine the following questions: (1) Is belief-congruent in

formation remembered better or worse than belief incongruent …

Effects Of Popular Music On Memorization Tasks, Kristin Sandberg, Sarah Harmon

Journal of Undergraduate Research at Minnesota State University, Mankato

This study investigated the effects that popular music has on memory performance. It was proposed that popular music would adversely affect both studying and memory recall. Forty introductory psychology students participated in the study. Subjects were given a list of fifty words to study in 6 ½ minutes, with music either being present or absent. This was termed the learning stage. In this study, four conditions were tested. In all 4 conditions, subjects were assigned to either a “music” pre-period or a “non-music” pre-period and a “music” post-period or a “non-music” post-period. After they had studied the words, subjects were …

Effects Of Race Of Attractiveness Ratings And Individuals Physical Attractiveness Stereotypes, Aaron Karst

Journal of Undergraduate Research at Minnesota State University, Mankato

The purpose of this research project was to investigate the “physical attractiveness stereotype”. Previous research suggests that the physical attractiveness plays an important role in how we ascribe certain personality traits. Weiten (2002) for example, noted the stereotype as people’s tendency “to ascribe socially desirable personality traits to individuals who are considered to be more attractive, seeing them as more sociable, poised, and well adjusted than those who are less attractive”. However, very little research has been conducted to explore the role race may have on the concept. The current study was conducted to explore the validity of the physical …

Distinguishing Observed Inattentive Behaviors In The College Classroom As They Correlate To Brain Wave Activity Utilizing A Wireless Electroencephalograph, Christopher J. Aura, Matthew R. Stanton

Journal of Undergraduate Research at Minnesota State University, Mankato

A significant amount of research has been devoted to the behavioral correlates of inattention in children (A.P.A., 2000; Arnold, 2000; Gordon & Barkley, 1998). It is proposed by the authors that college students, in their several years of experience, are much more capable of masking these trademark behaviors. When a child loses interest they will begin to openly look around the room, shift in their seat, or chat with their neighbors (Sandberg, Rutter & Taylor, 1978; Arnold, 2000). College students however, are proposed to candidly fidget, shift in their seat, or even maintain eye contact with their instructor while “daydreaming”. …

Sustained And Transient Reward Effect On Cognitive Control In Schizophrenia: The Relevance Of Negative Symptoms, Yu Sun Chung

All Theses and Dissertations (ETDs)

Schizophrenia (SCZ) is characterized by severe cognitive impairments and amotivation, generally referred to as negative symptoms, including anhedonia and/or avolition. Amotivation tends to exist in prodromal patients and persist over the illness course regardless of successful antipsychotic medications, which are known to reduce positive symptoms, including hallucination and delusions (e.g., (Horan, Blanchard, Clark, & Green, 2008; Tarbox et al., 2013). Importantly, amotivation is a promising predictor for later social functioning in SCZ, even after accounting for patients' cognitive impairments (e.g., (Evensen et al., 2012; Faerden et al., 2010). Despite this crucial impact on functioning outcome in SCZ, to date, no …

The Adversity Pop Culture Has Posed, Darel Joseph

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

I am a collage artist working with multiple mediums such as paint, photography, video, audio, and performance. As a New Orleans’ native, I have a unique history that is unflattering, for my history echoes that of America’s historical misdeeds. I make sociopolitical art because I am of a historically oppressed people. I make art that celebrates my diverse culture that is a collage of Native American, African, and New Orleans’ French Creole.

Media Influences On The Adolescent, Emily Reynolds, Amanda Sellman, Katy Sharp

Undergraduate Research Conference

No abstract provided.

Short-Term Visual Deprivation, Tactile Acuity, And Haptic Solid Shape Discrimination, Charles E. Crabtree

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The visual cortex of human observers changes its functionality in response to visual deprivation (Boroojerdi et al., 2000). Behavioral studies have recently documented enhanced tactile abilities following a short period of visual deprivation (Facchini & Aglioti, 2003; Weisser, Stilla, Peltier, Hu, & Sathian, 2005). The current study investigated the effects of visual deprivation on two unique tactile tasks. While Facchini and Aglioti observed significant effects of visual deprivation, neither Wong, Hackeman, Hurd, and Goldreich (2011) nor Merabet et al. (2008) observed these effects. Corroborating these more recent results, no difference in grating orientation discrimination performance was observed between the sighted …

The Effects Of Working Memory On Brain-Computer Interface Performance, Samantha A. Sprague

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and other neurodegenerative disorders can cause individuals to lose control of their muscles until they are unable to move or communicate. The development of brain-computer interface (BCI) technology has provided these individuals with an alternative method of communication that does not require muscle movement. Recent research has shown the impact psychological factors have on BCI performance and has highlighted the need for further research. Working memory is one psychological factor that could influence BCI performance. The purpose of the present study is to evaluate the relationship between working memory and brain-computer interface performance. The results indicate that …

Implicit Theories Of Intelligence And Learning A Novel Mathematics Task, Nathan Oehme Rudig

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The social-cognitive model of motivation states that students adopt a theory of the nature of intelligence that guides their goals in academia and their responses to academic setbacks. Students who believe intelligence is an unchanging entity within them are more likely to adopt goals to display high ability, hide low ability, and respond helplessly to failed schoolwork. Conversely, a student who believes intelligence is a measure of effort and persistence will be motivated to gather knowledge and acquire new skills. The current study investigated the role theories of intelligence play in the field of mathematics understanding. In two experiments, participants …

Explaining Implicit And Explicit Affective Linkages In It Teams: Facial Recognition, Emotional Intelligence, And Affective Tone, Mary M. Dunaway

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Over 80 percent of task work in organizations is performed by teams. Most teams operate in a more fluid, dynamic, and complex environment than in the past. As a result, a growing body of research is beginning to focus on how teams’ emotional well-being can benefit the effectiveness of workplace team efforts. These teams are required to be adaptive, to operate in ill-structured environments, and to rely on technology more than ever before. However, teams have become so ubiquitous that many organizations and managers take them for granted and assume they will be effective and productive. Because of the increased …

Impaired Theory Of Mind In Psychotic And Affective Disorders, Erik Nelson Ringdahl

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Psychotic symptoms in bipolar I disorder during mood episodes has been associated with several negative outcomes raising the question as to whether psychosis is a risk factor for a more severe form of this chronic and debilitating condition. However, relatively little research has been directed at understanding the relationships among social cognitive functioning in bipolar I disorder with and without a history of psychosis. Impaired social cognition has been identified as a putative endophenotypic markers in schizophrenia and the evidence is mounting as to whether similar impairments also exist in bipolar I disorder. Given the plethora of research supporting the …

Dual Task Interference In Low-Level Abilities: The Role Of Working Memory And Effects Of Mathematics Anxiety, Alex Michael Moore

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Mathematics anxiety is a negative affective reaction to situations involving mathematical thought and is commonly believed to reduce cognitive functioning by impairing the efficient use of working memory resources. The conventional theory describes that the processing disadvantage associated with high levels of math anxiety increasingly impairs performance as working memory demands increase in a math task. Despite this convention, recent reports demonstrate that the high math anxious disadvantage can be measured in tasks that are relatively free of working memory assistance (Maloney, Ansari, & Fugelang, 2011; Maloney, Risko, Ansari, & Fugelsang, 2010). The present study examines these relatively low level …

Looking At The Multiple Meanings Of Numeracy, Quantitative Literacy, And Quantitative Reasoning, H. L. Vacher

Numeracy

The subject of this journal goes by a variety of names: numeracy, quantitative literacy, and quantitative reasoning. Some authors use the terms interchangeably. Others see distinctions between them. Study of psycholinguistic and ontological concepts laid out in the literature of WordNet and familiarity with the papers in this journal suggests a vocabulary matrix consisting of four rows (word senses) and three columns (word forms, namely numeracy, QL, and QR). The four word senses correspond to four sets of synonyms: {numeracy}, {numeracy, QL}, {QL, QR}, and {numeracy, QL, QR}. Each of the word forms is polysemous: “numeracy” points to the first, …

Sales Performance And Intuition – The Role Of Gut Feelings, David Locander

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation extends the dual theory of salesperson information processing by examining the relationship between salespersons' emotional intelligence (EI) and their preference for and use of decision-making styles (intuition and/or deliberation) in the selling process. This dissertation contains two studies, Study 1 employs a descriptive research design and Study 2 uses experimental manipulations to investigate the role that intuition and deliberation play within the sales process. Data for both studies come from a sample derived from a national online panel of business to business salespeople.

Study 1, using a survey approach, assesses two competing models and one post hoc model …

May I Help You? How Stereotypes And Innuendoes Influence Service Encounters, Lauren Michelle Brewer

Doctoral Dissertations

"You only get one chance to make a good first impression." The dissertation focuses on marketing agents; among the most visible is the "service provider." Previous research establishes the important role of cognitive social schemata in determining the way consumers react to different types of marketing agents, including service providers. In the literature review, a classification schema is developed for service provider stereotypes derived from theory using social stereotypes. The development of the Service Provider Perception Framework (SPPF) creates a classification for the individual service provider along two main dimensions: competence and affect.

In services design (particularly situations involving a …

Perceptual Compensation In Individuals With Autism Spectrum Disorders, Elizabeth Anne Langston

Open Access Theses

Compensation for coarticulation is the extent in which an individual perceives the contextual variations of speech. When presented with an ambiguous consonant-vowel segment (e.g., a consonant halfway between /sa/ and /∫a/) research illustrates that a listener is likely to compensate for coarticulation with the following vowel. Therefore, a listener will be more likely to report an ambiguous speech sound as /s/ when it occurs before [u] than before [a]. Previous results have suggested that, within neurotypical individuals, the degree to which individuals compensate for coarticulation may be related to their Autism Quotient (AQ; Yu, 2010). However, this research did not …

Influence Of Referential Coding In A Choice Task Performed In A Simulated Driving Cockpit, Aiping Xiong

Open Access Theses

Driving and other tasks performed by the driver of a vehicle are spatial. Thus, it is important to understand how the driver represents the spatial environment. In laboratory studies, the Simon task is used to study spatial coding. Participants are to make a left or right response to a nonspatial stimulus feature, but the stimulus can occur in a left or right position. The Simon effect is that responses are faster when the stimulus location corresponds with the response location. That effect is not usually found for a go/no-go task in which only one response is made to one of …

Preschoolers’ Physical, Social, And Engineering Play Behaviors: Differences In Gender And Play Environment, Zachary S. Gold

Open Access Theses

This study explored gender differences in the occurrence of 66 preschoolers' (ages 3-to-5; 29 girls, 37 boys) physical, social, and "engineering thinking play" behaviors across three play environments: the traditional playground, the dramatic play area, and an environment in which children played with large, manipulable, loose parts. Previous research has indicated that young children are not engaging in enough physical play to maintain healthy lifestyles. Play may also have benefits for social competency and cognitive development. Observations of children's engagement with a new and engaging play material, Imagination Playground TM blocks, which are designed to foster imaginative and creative constructive …

A Holistic Intervention Program For Children From Low Socioeconomic Status Families, Jonathan S. E. Tang, Hwajin Yang, Sujin Yang

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

There is considerable evidence that children from families with low socioeconomic status (SES) are at risk of profound delays in cognitive development and educational achievement. Scholars and policy makers have therefore sought to identify the potential causes of these problems and to design interventions to narrow this achievement gap. With this goal, Neville et al. (2013) developed a family-based intervention (PCMC-A) to improve neurocognitive functions supporting selective attention in low-SES preschoolers. Involving both parents and children in the training, they demonstrated that the PCMC-A significantly improved nonverbal IQ, receptive language, neurocognitive functions supporting early attentional processing, parent-reported social skills, and …

Holding A Stick At Both Ends: On Faces And Expertise, Assaf Harel, Dwight J. Kravitz, Chris I. Baker

Psychology Faculty Publications

Ever since Diamond and Carey's (1986) seminal work, object expertise has often been viewed through the prism of face perception (for a thorough discussion, see Tanaka and Gauthier, 1997; Sheinberg and Tarr, 2010). According to Wong and Wong (2014, W&W), however, this emphasis has simply been a response to the question of modularity of face perception, and has not been about expertise in and of itself. It is precisely this conflation of questions of expertise and modularity, the consequent focus on FFA, and the detrimental effect this had on the field of object expertise research that we discussed as part …

Investigating Children's Intuitive And Analytical Thinking About Path Length As A Developmental Phenomenon, Cheryl Lynn Eames

Theses and Dissertations

Children's conceptions of length measurement has been the focus of research that has built on the work of Piaget and his colleagues to produce developmental accounts for the acquisition of conceptual and procedural knowledge. Prior research focused on children's developing conceptions of length measurement for straight or rectilinear paths; however, little is known about how these conceptions grow beyond the elementary grades. The present study increased the scope of this research beyond elementary grades to include middle and secondary level students, exploring the development of students' intuitive and analytical thinking for determining the length of a curved path across a …

Expert Approaches To Mental Toughness Development In The High Risk Sport Of Diving, Aaron D'Addario

Graduate School of Professional Psychology: Doctoral Papers and Masters Projects

Research focusing on mental toughness development and high risk sport is limited to one examination of elite gymnasts' perceptions. Coaches have acknowledged that mental toughness is important to performance success, while admitting they do not know effective development strategies. The aim of the current research is to address both these concerns by employing a grounded theory approach to ascertain elite diving coaches perceptions of mental toughness development and what mental toughness is. Seven diving coaches volunteered and were interviewed for an average of 49 minutes. They all coached an athlete that participated either in the world championships or Olympic games …

Effects Of Phonological Neighborhood Density On Lexical Access In Adults And Children With And Without Specific Language Impairment, Diana Almodovar

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The present study was designed to examine how adults, children with typical language development (TLD), and children with Specific Language Impairment (SLI) process words from sparse and dense phonological neighborhoods, using the Cross Modal Picture-Word Interference Paradigm. The participants were asked to label a picture presented on a computer screen, while ignoring auditory distractors (interfering words or IWs) presented over headphones. The target items were manipulated according to neighborhood density (high and low density words), and the auditory distractors were either identical to the target, a neutral distractor (good), phonologically related (by rhyme), or unrelated to the target item. The …