Cognition and Perception Commons^™

Impact Of Auditory Affect On Urgent Behaviors On A Car Simulator, Cintya N. Larios, Mustapha Mouloua, Marc D. Gentzler

Human Factors and Applied Psychology Student Conference

Emotional content abounds the driver in different forms from billboard signs to in-vehicle devices to roadside situations. Such emotional scenes can result in unsafe driving behaviors and lead to collisions due to their ability to attract attentional resources and change driving goals to irrelevant ones (Megías et al. 2011b; Briggs et al, 2011). Recent studies have looked at the way auditory and visual emotional stimuli can impact individual’s decision under Evaluative and Urgent road environment behaviors. Evaluative behaviors are known as a categorization in which people judge a scene as risky or not, whereas Urgent behaviors are time sensitive, requiring …

Redundant Signals In The Triple Conjunction Effect, Ada D. Mishler, Mark B. Neider

Human Factors and Applied Psychology Student Conference

The triple conjunction effect (TCE) is characterized by faster response times (RT) when a target is defined by three features than when it is defined by three features. Similarly, the redundant signals effect (RSE) is characterized by faster RTs when a display contains multiple features that are each sufficient to define a target. When a single display element contains multiple target features in separate feature dimensions, the RSE may be attributable to feature coactivation, in which information from multiple features combines to reach a response threshold. Because triple conjunctions contain an extra distinguishing feature, they are comparable to the RSE, …

Team Interaction Dynamics During Collaborative Problem Solving, Travis J. Wiltshire, Stephen M. Fiore Ph.D.

Human Factors and Applied Psychology Student Conference

The need for better understanding collaborative problem solving (CPS) is rising in prominence as many organizations are increasingly addressing complex problems requiring the combination of diverse sets of individual expertise to address novel situations. This research draws from theoretical and empirical work that describes the knowledge coordination arising from team communications during CPS and builds from this by incorporating methods to study interaction dynamics. Interaction between team members in such contexts is inherently dynamic and exhibits nonlinear patterns not accounted for by extant research methods. To redress this gap, the present study draws from methods designed to study social and …

Beauty In Snowflakes: Complexity And Visual Aesthetics, Olivia C. Adkins

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Experimental aesthetics research has been conducted since the nineteenth century. Interestingly, however, few studies have examined the perceived beauty of naturally shaped objects. In the current experiment, 204 participants were presented with a set of ten snowflake silhouettes that varied in complexity (perimeter relative to area); they were similarly presented with ten randomly-shaped, computer-generated, solid objects that also varied in complexity. For each stimulus set, the participants selected the single snowflake or object that was the most beautiful (Fechner’s method of choice). The results for the solid objects replicated the findings of earlier research: the most and least complex objects …

Inferring Task Based On Eye Movements: The Living Classifier, Jordan E. Marshall, Mallory Richert, Mark Mills, Michael D. Dodd

UCARE: Research Products

Several studies, including Yarbus (1967), have found that various task instructions for viewing images influence visual behavior. This holds true for both experimenter driven and participant driven tasks. Research has also shown that classifier technology is capable of determining the task that was being performed based on the individual’s eye movements. Typically classifier technology is designed to perform tasks humans are known to be cable of performing. However, little research has been done on the human ability, or lack thereof, to determine task based on eye movements.

Purpose: To determine to what extent humans are able to classify task performed …

Altering Learners' Memory Beliefs Affects Judgments Of Learning, Alan Harrison, Barbara Wright, Halle Jarnagin, Marie Blunt

Research Horizons Day Posters

No abstract provided.

The Relationship Between Executive Attention And Spatial Working Memory In Adults, Erica Ness, Emily Franzen, James Thomas, Haily Sain, Lalah Mclaughlin, Lindsey Spohr, Greg Degirolamo, Anne R. Schutte

UCARE: Research Products

The study examined the effects of executive attention on spatial working memory in adults using a location recall task. Attention is suggested to play a crucial role in maintenance of a remembered location in spatial working memory. Awh and Jonides (2001) found that reaction times to a presented stimulus were faster when the stimulus was held in spatial working memory. A subsequent study found that when holding a location in spatial working memory, tasks which shift attention cause memory performance to be worse for the remembered location. An ERP study by Awh and Jonides (2001) found similar response amplitudes between …

Race And Gender And The Perception Of Masculinity And Femininity Of The American Political Parties, Jessica Dulz

Political Science Theses and Capstones

How Americans select and identify with a political party can have many different sources. One important source has been found to be the effects of gender and perceptions of masculinity and femininity on party identification. I look deeper into this phenomenon to analyze the effects of race on the perception of masculine and feminine traits within Democrats and Republicans. In order to study this, I analyze 2012 American National Election Study (ANES) data. I hypothesize that among whites the results will be similar to previous studies which found Republicans to be much more favorable of masculine traits and Democrats to …

Game-Based Selective Attention Intervention: Effect Of Blink On Selective Attention For Street Youth In Zambia, Brittany S. Richard

Senior Honors Theses

The following study was conducted to evaluate the effect of a game-based intervention in the form of a card game, Blink, on selective attention for a sample of street youth in Zambia, Africa. Based on previous research suggesting that selective attention and executive functioning may be modified by game-based interventions in various populations and contexts, this study sought to employ a card game intervention for selective attention. The study was conducted with a repeated measures design, with a paired sample within-groups t-test adapted from the TEA-Ch Sky Search measure of selective attention, and the card game Blink as a …

Self-Efficacy And Goal Orientation And Their Association With Academic Achievement, Ellie S. Karle

Senior Honors Theses

Much research has been conducted in order to determine the most significant variables associated with student academic achievement. This study explored the association among student goal orientation, self-efficacy, and academic achievement measured by GPA in a sample of undergraduate students from a large evangelical university. The trichotomous model for goal orientation was utilized including: mastery goals (motivated by a desire to master a task or subject), performance-approach goals (motivated by a desire to perform well in comparison with to others), and performance-avoidant goals (motivated by a fear of failure). Data were analyzed using two-way analysis of variance for the fixed …

The Relationship Between Cognitive Flexibility, Coping, And Symptomatology In Psychotherapy, Benjamin Todd Johnson

Master's Theses (2009 -)

Cognitive flexibility is broadly defined as the ability to shift perspective or approach in order to adapt to changes in the environment. This implies the abilities to generate alternatives and then to implement effective approaches. High cognitive flexibility has been associated with psychological well-being and effective coping, whereas low flexibility, or rigidity, has been linked to several types of psychopathology. The goal of the current study was to provide exploratory evidence of the utility of a brief, self-report measure of cognitive flexibility in identifying relationships to coping strategies, symptomatology, and treatment duration in a clinical setting. A total of 18 …

“My Logic Is Undeniable”: Replicating The Brain For Ideal Artificial Intelligence, Samuel C. Adams

Senior Honors Theses

Alan Turing asked if machines can think, but intelligence is more than logic and reason. I ask if a machine can feel pain or joy, have visions and dreams, or paint a masterpiece. The human brain sets the bar high, and despite our progress, artificial intelligence has a long way to go. Studying neurology from a software engineer’s perspective reveals numerous uncanny similarities between the functionality of the brain and that of a computer. If the brain is a biological computer, then it is the embodiment of artificial intelligence beyond anything we have yet achieved, and its architecture is advanced …

Teaching Children Who Have Difficulty Mastering Auditory Discriminations, Sarah Lichtenberger

Dissertations

Simple and conditional visual and auditory discrimination repertoires are critical components of many skills necessary for daily functioning, including communication, academic, and daily-living skills (Green, 2001). When auditory discrimination is not under instructional stimulus control, it can result in delayed acquisition of new skills and limit academic progress. The purpose of this study was to teach auditory discrimination to children with autism who had little to no progress on classroom procedures that required auditory discrimination, such as selecting an object from an array when given the name of the object as the direction. Auditory discrimination was taught starting with teaching …

Increasing Vocal Behavior And Establishing Echoic Stimulus Control In Children With Autism, Joseph Shane

Dissertations

Many children with autism fail to demonstrate vocal-verbal behavior, including echoic behavior, as early as their typically developing peers. Some also make very limited vocal sounds in general, remaining mostly mute aside from crying or engaging in stereotypy. Echoic behavior involves auditory discrimination and matching, and functions as a beneficial, if not necessary, prerequisite for many other vocal-verbal skills. The purpose of this study was to develop and implement an echoic training procedure for primarily non-vocal children who did not demonstrate auditory discrimination in baseline. The intervention consisted initially of sessions in which any vocal sounds were reinforced. Then differential …

The Line Drawn On Pain Still Holds, Bjorn H. Merker

Animal Sentience

The many substantive criticisms raised against Key by me and by many of the other commentators will not disappear by ignoring or waving them aside with meta-discourse about anthropomorphism, just-so stories, or celestial teapots. The conceptual edifice Key inhabits and defends with such gusto may look like an impregnable fortress from the inside – and Key behaves as if it were. From the outside, however, it looks more like a ramshackle structure gaping with holes and pieced together from imperfectly understood neuroscience and often faulty literature citations.

Slavery, Welfare And The Sixth Extinction, Stephen R. Clark

Animal Sentience

Ng’s laudable concern for animal welfare would be welcome to any sensible slave-owner wishing to preserve his investment. What welfarism – for slave-owners and animal husbandmen – fails to call into question is whether we have the right to breed, hold captive and kill animals at all: If it matters, as the widely recognized slogan of ‘Five Freedoms’ suggests, that animals have the chance to live a ‘normal’ life, then more matters than keeping them ‘happy’ in subjection. Their lives – and also the lives of wild things – also deserve respect.

Wild Animal Suffering And Vegan Outreach, Eze Paez

Animal Sentience

Ng’s strategic proposal seems to downplay the potential benefits of advocacy for wild animals and omit what may be the most effective strategy to reduce the harms farmed animals suffer: vegan outreach.

To Minimize Animal Suffering, Broaden The Definition Of Animal Cruelty, Eleonora Gullone

Animal Sentience

Mandatory veterinary reporting of suspected abuse might discourage caregivers from seeking treatment for their injured animals. Animal abusers are more likely to be brought to justice by raising community awareness about the link between animal cruelty and human violence and its implications for the wellbeing of both humans and animals. Commonly accepted definitions of animal cruelty focus only on cruelty that is socially unacceptable, excluding an enormous amount of unnecessary animal suffering caused by humans. Only by broadening the definition of animal cruelty can we bring about the cultural change necessary to minimize this animal suffering.

Barack Obama Blindness (Bob): Absence Of Visual Awareness To A Single Object, Marjan Persuh, Robert D. Melara

Publications and Research

In two experiments, we evaluated whether a perceiver’s prior expectations could alone obliterate his or her awareness of a salient visual stimulus. To establish expectancy, observers first made a demanding visual discrimination on each of three baseline trials. Then, on a fourth, critical trial, a single, salient and highly visible object appeared in full view at the center of the visual field and in the absence of any competing visual input. Surprisingly, fully half of the participants were unaware of the solitary object in front of their eyes. Dramatically, observers were blind even when the only stimulus on display was …

The Pribram – Bohm Hypothesis, Shelli R. Joye

CONSCIOUSNESS: Ideas and Research for the Twenty-First Century

A holoflux theory of consciousness as modulated energy is hypothesized and shown to support both local and non-local properties. This thesis emerges from an integral evaluation of evidence drawn from: (1) the holonomic mind/brain theories of Karl Pribram, (2) the ontological interpretation of quantum theory by David Bohm. Applying an integral methodology to superimpose and correlate seemingly disparate concepts from among these sources and others, a composite-theory emerges, a “holoflux” theory of consciousness, after the term favored by Karl Pribram to describe David Bohm’s “holomovement” between an explicate order andan implicate order. This Pribram–Bohm composite holoflux theory is shown to …

Presence And The Paradox Of Love, Joanne Burtch

CONSCIOUSNESS: Ideas and Research for the Twenty-First Century

Spiritual experiences often seem unrelated to the intellectual orientation of science. However, some discussion of the laboratory study of spiritual practice does attempt to include the mystery and the human experience in its dialogue. An exploration of the paradox of love demonstrates how it might be possible to find a relationship between the scientific understanding of spirituality and the profundity of spiritual experience.

Eugene Taylor: An Appreciation, Simon Senzon

CONSCIOUSNESS: Ideas and Research for the Twenty-First Century

By sharing Professor Taylor’s impact on me with you in this way, I hope to offer a glimpse of the depth he pointed us to. Rather than just tell you his stories and his theories, I am sharing layers of my own experience both in similar synchronicities from my own personal mythology and also the meaning I make for myself as I go deeper in understanding what he was really teaching. If you can see that I am sharing something beyond the words themselves, then you know what he meant by soteriological writing. The words are used to help you …

Beyond Perennialist And Participatory Spiritualities: Transformation And Culture, Joanne Burtch

CONSCIOUSNESS: Ideas and Research for the Twenty-First Century

A comparison of perennialism, participatory spirituality, and Gebser’s structures of consciousness demonstrates how deeper inquiry is required to understand how perennialism and participatory spirituality would address the relationship between individuals and culture with regard to how transformation happens. By reviewing how each of these philosophies approach context, the interpersonal, transformation, cultural relativity, pluralism, and multiplicity, the article identifies ambiguities that offer perennialism and participatory spirituality scholars the opportunity to explore their suppositions about spirituality more deeply.

Thoughts On Consciousness And The Original Photons, Henryk Skolimowski

CONSCIOUSNESS: Ideas and Research for the Twenty-First Century

No abstract provided.

Reembodying, Human Consciousness In The Earth, John Briggs

CONSCIOUSNESS: Ideas and Research for the Twenty-First Century

For the last 20,000 years or so the dominant mode of human consciousness has been one that divides reality into subjects and objects, and focuses on human desires and needs. This anthropocentric mode of consciousness has invented religions, built civilizations, amassed knowledge, and developed technology and science. It has also disembodied us from the Earth and led to the Anthropocene Era. Still with us is another mode of human consciousness that arguably once existed in a balance with the anthropocentric mode during our long hunter-gatherer, Paleolithic sojourn. This holistic, integrative mode of consciousness experiences the Earth as a mother, and …

Sarath, Edward W. (2013). Improvisation, Creativity, And Consciousness: Jazz As Integral Template For Music, Education, And Society. Albany, Ny: State University Of New York., Lynne Roff

CONSCIOUSNESS: Ideas and Research for the Twenty-First Century

No abstract provided.

On The Significance Of Psychodynamic Discourse For The Field Of Consciousness Studies, Robin S. Brown

CONSCIOUSNESS: Ideas and Research for the Twenty-First Century

Despite the obvious confluence of concerns between psychodynamic psychology and the emerging field of consciousness studies, the extent to which psychodynamic thinking has factored into the consciousness literature has been limited. With widespread interest in “the unconscious” having significantly diminished, the present paper asks what might be implied in the shift towards the notion of “consciousness”—what about this cross-disciplinary designation has come to attract attention not only within the academic world, but also in the popular press? That the term does indeed invite contributions from a variety of disciplines makes the field both a meeting space, and a battleground. It …

Premises Of A Natural Science Of Consciousness, Ervin Laszlo

CONSCIOUSNESS: Ideas and Research for the Twenty-First Century

According to the mainstream of modern science, there cannot be a natural science of consciousness because consciousness does not actually exist in nature. It is a product or by-product of the workings of the brain. There is a natural science of brain and the nervous system, for these are bona fide elements of the world, but there cannot be a natural science of a phenomenon of which the very existence is in question. In the prevalent view con2sciousness is something that happens when neurons fire in the brain. This is said to be confirmed by experience. There is no consciousness …

Consciousness Studies – An Overview, Allan Combs

CONSCIOUSNESS: Ideas and Research for the Twenty-First Century

This essay is a survey of the field of consciousness studies, its history, scope, and a little about its future. It’s principal focus is on Western thinking about consciousness beginning in classical times and continuing down to the present. It highlights and briefly describes major streams of thought including ideas from ancient Greece, German Idealism, British Empiricism, 20^th century European phenomenology, and important contemporary areas of research and scholarship. These include American pragmatism, developmental psychology, transpersonalism, analytic philosophy, computationalism, neural networks, and physics. The essay also briefly explores possible future trends in the study of consciousness.

Attention Strongly Modulates Reliability Of Neural Responses To Naturalistic Narrative Stimuli, Jason J. Ki, Simon P. Kelly, Lucas C. Parra

Publications and Research

Attentional engagement is a major determinant of how effectively we gather information through our senses. Alongside the sheer growth in the amount and variety of information content that we are presented with through modern media, there is increased variability in the degree to which we “absorb” that information. Traditional research on attention has illuminated the basic principles of sensory selection to isolated features or locations, but it provides little insight into the neural underpinnings of our attentional engagement with modern naturalistic content. Here, we show inhumansubjects that the reliability of an individual’s neural responses with respect to a larger group …