Psychology Commons^™

Expectations About Memory Change Across The Life Span Are Impacted By Aging Stereotypes., Tara T. Lineweaver, Andrea K. Berger, Christopher Hertzog

Scholarship and Professional Work - LAS

This study examined whether expectations about memory change with age vary for different personality types. Four adjectives from each of Hummert’s age-stereotype trait sets were selected to create 11 adjective clusters varying in both valence (positive versus negative) and relevance to memory functioning. Three hundred and seventy three participants in three age groups rated the memory abilities of target adults, defined by the adjective clusters, across the adult life span. Consistent with past studies, participants believed in age-related memory decline. However, participants rated target adults with positive personality traits as having better memory ability and less age-related memory decline than …

Cognitive Preference And Ethnic Identity Among Anglo And Native American High School Students, Chad Martin Novak

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

According to the Office of Educational Research and Improvement: A Project of the Stanford Institute for Higher Education Research, graduation rates for Native Americans from both secondary and post secondary institutions are dismally low at 58% and 7%, respectively. Some research addresses cognitive preference and other ethnic identity, but research animating the cognitive preference---ethnic identity interplay for high school students is absent. These limitations in access to educational opportunities lead to abbreviated quality life experiences and a restriction in individual efficacy and collective agency. The following project assessed ethnic identity using Phinney's Multigroup Ethnic Identity Measure and cognitive preference using …

Integrating Developmental And Free-Choice Learning Frameworks To Investigate Conceptual Change In Visitor Understanding, E Margaret Evans, Amy Spiegel, Wendy Gram, Judy Diamond

Department of Educational Psychology: Faculty Publications

Complex ideas like evolution—which run counter to common, but mistaken, intuitive knowledge like the 9-year-old’s quoted above—are challenging, both for exhibit developers and for the evaluation and research teams who assess the impact of exhibitions. It is always difficult to document measurable changes in deep conceptual understanding following a single visit to an exhibition (Allen, 2008, p. 58); Is this even possible with complex topics, such as evolution? In this article, we summarize a series of studies that may offer some help to exhibit developers and evaluators, as well as others who design and assess informal learning experiences. The studies …

The Effect Of Facial Resemblance On Alibi Credibility And Final Verdicts, Claudia Ochoa

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine an extra-legal variable that may affect the credibility of a defendant and the alibi corroborator's testimonies. In this study, the facial appearance of the alibi corroborator was manipulated to resemble the defendant or the trial judge to different degrees using facial morphing software. Participants serving as mock jurors provided verdicts for a trial summary and rated the credibility of an alibi corroborator. It was hypothesized that as the facial resemblance shared between an alibi corroborator and a defendant increased, the less credible the alibi corroborator's testimony would be perceived, resulting in an …

The Representation Of Multiple Translations In Bilingual Memory : An Examination Of Lexical Organization For Concrete, Abstract, And Emotion Words In Spanish-English Bilinguals, Dana M. Basnight-Brown

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Tokowicz and Kroll (2007) originally reported that the number of translations a word has across languages influences the speed with which bilinguals translate concrete and abstract words from one language to another. The current work examines how the number of translations that characterize a word influences bilingual lexical organization and the processing of concrete, abstract and emotional stimuli. Experiment 1 examined whether the number-of-translations effect reported previously could be obtained in a different task (i.e., lexical decision task) using the same materials presented by Tokowicz and Kroll. Decision latencies revealed no significant differences between concrete and abstract words, which suggested …

The Neuroscientific Study Of The Self: Methodological And Theoretical Challenges, Cynthia J. Najdowski, Samuel E. Winer

Psychology Faculty Scholarship

Neuroscientific research methods, such as brain imaging techniques, have increasingly been applied to social cognitive research efforts and, in particular, to the study of the self. In this essay we discuss the ability of such research to shed light on the emergent, dynamic psychological phenomenon of self. Although neuroscientific tools can be useful for gaining general knowledge about associated underlying structures, a careful consideration of the methodological and theoretical issues discussed herein is necessary to avoid simplifying or reifying the self.

The Effects Of Psychopathy And Machiavellianism On Cognitive Dissonance, Ashley Anne Murray

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Psychopathic traits include a lack of guilt, a lack of remorse, callousness and antisocial behaviors such as impulsivity and aggression. The current study examined the effects of psychopathic traits as measured by the Psychopathic Personality Inventory - Revised: Short Form (PPI-R: SF; Lilienfeld & Widows, 2005) and the Levenson Primary and Secondary Psychopathy Scales (LPSP; Levenson, Kiehl, & Fitzpatrick, 1995), and of Machiavellianism (MACH), as measured by the MACH-IV (Christie & Geis, 1970), on cognitive dissonance in a sample of 164 participants. The induced compliance paradigm of cognitive dissonance was implemented by instructing each participant to complete a boring task …

A Study Of Possible Pre-Cognitive Advantages Of Bilingualism, Marisela Gutierrez

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Past research has suggested that second language acquisition has a beneficial effect on the development of inhibitory control processes in children and adults. This has been referred to as the "bilingual advantage" and is most commonly quantified using the Simon task. Whether the bilingual advantage extends to precognitive mechanisms has not yet been examined. The goals of this study were to examine the bilingual advantage in university students; and to examine whether the bilingual advantage extends to the precognitive filtering mechanism of sensorimotor gating. It was predicted that, as compared to monolinguals, bilingual university students would have greater inhibitory control, …

Cognitive Modeling Analysis Of Decision-Making Processes In Young Adults At-Risk And Not At-Risk For Alcohol Dependence, Lori Anne Wagner

Graduate Dissertations and Theses

This study used the Valence-Expectancy Learning model, a mathematical cognitive model, to dissect young adult performance on the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT). Drinking behavior and monetary incentive were examined as predictors of performance on the IGT. No differences were found among groups when data were analyzed using traditional behavioral analyses. However, when the Expectancy-Valence Learning model was applied to the data, differences between groups were found related to attention and choice consistency. Importantly, the cognitive model was not a good fit for fifty-seven percent of the data, meaning that it did not succeed in explaining how the participants' choices were …

Young Women's Perspectives On Tanning In Solariums: A Constructivist Grounded Theory Study, Michelle Louise Russell

Theses : Honours

Despite Australia's general public awareness regarding the dangers of UVR exposure, young women continue to tan in solariums. This study utilised a qualitative approach with eight in-depth interviews to explore young women's perspectives on tanning in solariums. The 'core category' or storyline underlying participants' responses was 'being in control'. Three core themes emerged from the data: 'positive reinforcers', which related to attractions and motivations to tan, 'possessing knowledge' which concerned the different types of knowledge which participants held, and 'change' which represented participants' outcomes from external pressures. It was found that body image concerns and reinforcing rewards were motivators to …

Reasons For Migration And Cultural Distance In South African Women's Migratory Adjustment Experiences: A Phenomenological Account, Ida Steyn

Theses : Honours

Researchers have identified migration to a new country as a stressful life event that is associated with loss of family, friends and community, and adjustment difficulties in the new country (Markovizky & Samid, 2008). In addition, involuntary migration and adaption to a new cultural environment is known to be a factor of psychological distress. Much is unknown about the adjustment of involuntary migrants during the critical period of reestablishment in the new environment. Moreover, less is known about transition processes between similar cultural contexts. It might be that transition is not as well supported when there is cultural similarity between …

Student Perceptions Of Streaming-Media Effectiveness, Sara Floyd Baber

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this mixed-methods study was to investigate cognitive-load theory as applied to the design of streaming media. In this study, student learning preferences and cognitive style were measured on a visualizer-verbalizer scale to determine the perceived importance of visual and audio components of streaming media used to supplement classroom instruction. Additionally, this study investigated cognitive-load theory by assessing attitudes regarding the importance of learner control when accessing streaming media files. The writer used 4 existing visualizer-verbalizer instruments in combination with 1 original survey that was designed to gather student perceptions and attitudes regarding the effectiveness of streaming media …

Perceptions Of Disabled Workers' Transition From Worker Role To Retiree: Narrative Review; The Perceptions Of Ageing Disabled Workers Confronted With The Transition To Retirement, Naomi Goods

Theses : Honours

The disabled working population is ageing creating a need for transitional programs in supported employment. Limited research in this area makes it difficult to design programs which adequately address their needs which affects the quality of service provision. A review of Scopus, CINAHL, MEDLINE; Psyclnfo and ISI Web of Science databases was conducted. Outcomes of interest were studies looking specifically at perceptions of disabled workers in supported employment making the transition to retirement. Due to the dearth of information on this topic studies focusing on non-disabled populations or disabilities though injury or illness were included. Major findings suggest when workers …

Attention Allocation And The Variability Of The Stereotype Priming Effect, Katherine R. White

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The stereotype priming effect is assumed to be a rather uniform and robust effect. However, a closer look at the existing literature suggests that the `standard' stereotype priming effect may be more susceptible to variability than originally believed. In the present study, we sought to demonstrate that the stereotype priming effect displays significant variability in strength depending upon the level of attention allocated to the stereotype feature of interest. Participants were assigned to 1 of 3 conditions: a lexical decision task (LDT) condition, a pre-primed LDT condition, and a gender categorization condition. It was predicted that the stereotype priming effect …

Getting To Know You: The Effects Of Familiarity And Time On Social Perception, Clarissa Arms Chavez

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

A new direction in social perception research is developed. The present research explored the impact of familiarity and time on social perception processes based on cognitive neuroscience models, social categorization models, and memory consolidation constructs. Familiarity was manipulated within an exposure task and time was manipulated by testing participants both 2-6 hr and 48 hr after the exposure task. Experiment 1 investigated the influence of familiarity and time on the argument of the automaticity of social categorization and associated stereotypes by testing the argument with two separate tasks. Experiment 1a tested the influence of familiarity and time on associated stereotypes …

Does Type Of Stimulus Influence Task-Irrelevant Evaluative Categorization Processes?, Guadalupe Corral

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The effect of stimulus type on task-irrelevant evaluative categorization was examined in two separate studies by using the P3 component from event-related brain potentials. The first study presented idiosyncratic stimuli consisting of individuals that were rated by participants as either positive or negative within sequences of pictorial and verbal stimuli. The second study presented sequences of novel and familiar stimuli consisting of previously normed unattractive and neutral individuals. It was hypothesized that pictures would elicit task-irrelevant evaluative categorization processes and so would novel stimuli (relative to words and familiar stimuli, respectively). Task-irrelevance was examined by assessing P3 peak amplitude to …

Does A Sense Of Control Moderate Self-Regulation Strategies And Performance? When Feedback Lingers, Annette Feravich

Wayne State University Dissertations

ABSTRACT

This study examined whether a sense of control moderated the relationship between self-regulation and performance on an anagram task. High school students agreeing to participate in this study completed the Behavioral Inhibition/Behavioral Approach Scale (BIS/BAS) in order to determine individual promotion or prevention chronic self-regulatory strategies, as well as the revised Children's Attributional Style Questionnaire (CASQ-R) to determine a sense of control based on explanatory style. Changes in mood and performance on anagram tasks were measured at three different times during the study: prior to, after, and after discrediting randomly assigned negative or positive feedback. Performance tasks were designed …

Social Construction Of Knowledge In A Semiformal, Long -Term Learning Environment: A Qualitative Study, Alycia Harris

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Social learning plays a critical role in cognitive apprenticeship, community of practice, and knowledge production theories. Gunawardena's interaction analysis model, which provides a means of evaluating discourse for social construction of knowledge, is comprised of five phases: (a) sharing and comparing, (b) disagreement, (c) negotiation and co-construction of new knowledge, (d) testing of knew knowledge, and (e) use or phrasing of new knowledge. There is a paucity of research that has empirically explored social construction of knowledge, especially in an extended semiformal asynchronous graduate learning experience. This study explored two research questions: whether social construction of knowledge took place, and …

Effects Of Concurrent Task Performance On Object Processing, Gabriela Durán

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Most research on visual object identification focus on the bottom-up processes of the visual what? and where? pathways. However, such research has not been able to fully account for many visual abilities (e.g., identifying an object among many other objects and across changing conditions). Neurological evidence has shown that feedback from high-level areas (i.e., top-down processing) makes object processing more efficient. However, there are no behavioral studies that have tested this. Thus, four experiments used a concurrent n-back task to occupy higher-level areas and tested its effects on visual object processing relative to a number-repetition control task.

Experiment 1 examined …

The Distinctiveness Effect In Fingerprint Identification: How The Role Of Distinctiveness, Information Loss, And Informational Bias Influence Fingerprint Identification, Jessica L. Marcon

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Fingerprint misidentification has become a concern for legal professionals, especially after the high profile misidentification of Brandon Mayfield as the Madrid train bomber and the first fingerprint related DNA exoneration of Stephen Cowans. The current studies examined how humans perceive the distinctiveness of fingerprints, whether distinctiveness effects found in face perception research are evident in fingerprint identification, and whether there are conditions under which the distinctiveness effect can be eliminated. Experiment 1 examined the distinctiveness effect and information loss, while Experiment 2 investigated the distinctiveness effect and its interaction with information loss and informational bias. In Experiment 1, results showed …

An Exploratory Study On Reaction Time To Valenced Memories: The Importance Of Individual Differences, Emrah Ates

Theses : Honours

It is commonly accepted that valence has influences on long-term memory, but there are diverse results concerning methodology and the effect size. The literature is mixed with some authors reporting evidence consistent with negativity bias, others reporting evidence consistent with positivity bias and still others reporting no effect of valence on certain types of memory. This review argues that while there are divergent results for recall rate studies, reaction time studies and emotional Stroop task studies showed predominant negativity bias in long term memory. Moreover, many of the studies reviewed were solely concerned with group effects, rather than individual differences. …

Memory For Music And The Implications Of Expertise For Music Recall: A Review ; Memory For The Recall Of Popular Songs: A Comparative Study Of Musicians And Nonmusicians, Simon Maclachlan

Theses : Honours

How people remember music is not only a practical concern for musicians, it also poses an interesting challenge for psychological theory (Wallace, 1994). One question that has often been overlooked is what occurs during the time that elapses between the stimulus onset (hearing music) and the generation of a response (an indication that the song has been remembered). While there is evidence to show that memory for song may be biased in a forward direction (Sibma, 2003), the role of expertise on memory for song may provide a deeper understanding of the nature of our memory for music. This review …

An Exploration Of The Experiences Leading To Volunteer Facilitation Of Postnatal Depression Peer Support Groups, Tracey Parker

Theses : Honours

In recent years literature regarding peer support recovery services has been more prominent. However, little attention has been paid to how these services are used to treat postnatal depression and questions regarding what informs a consumer's decision to become a support person to others remain. The aim of this study was to explore women's postnatal depression and how their experience and recovery informed a decision to become a peer support group facilitator. Participants were eight women who were past or current facilitators with the Post Natal Depression Support Association Inc. (PNDSA). In-depth conversational style interviews were conducted with participants and …