Cognition and Perception Commons^™

Network Specialization During Adolescence: Hippocampal Effective Connectivity In Boys And Girls, Jeffrey D. Riley, E. Elinor Chen, Jessica Winsell, Elyssia Poggi Davis, Laura M. Glynn, Tallie Z. Baram, Curt A. Sandman, Steven L. Small, Ana Solodkin

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

Adolescence is a complex period of concurrent mental and physical development that facilitates adult functioning at multiple levels. Despite the growing number of neuroimaging studies of cognitive development in adolescence focusing on regional activation patterns, there remains a paucity of information about the functional interactions across these participating regions that are critical for cognitive functioning, including memory. The current study used structural equation modeling (SEM) to determine how interactions among brain regions critical for memory change over the course of adolescence. We obtained functional MRI in 77 individuals aged 8–16 years old, divided into younger (ages 8–10) and older (ages …

It's Just A Toy, Lauren Strauss

Ray Browne Conference on Cultural and Critical Studies (2015-2021)

Each and every one of us experiences gender stereotyping, whether we realize it or not. It is such a simple concept and something people don't tend to think about. Although, from a young age, we are exposed to our parents' and societies' views on gender and the toys we should play with, which then stick around for generations. The color pink and dolls are for girls and trucks and the color blue are for boys, right? Well, not necessarily. Toys are also expressed through the idea that women have to be the stay at home mom and take care of …

The Impact Of Sound Source Location On Change Deafness, Nicole Hagan

Scholars Week

This research project investigated the impact of sound source location on the phenomenon of change deafness. Change deafness occurs when participants listen to multiple sounds in an auditory scene and are unable to identify which sound disappeared from the scene. This phenomenon is exacerbated when the participants must keep track of four or more stimuli simultaneously. However, how the influence of sound source distance on the ability to detect changes in auditory scenes has not been previously investigated in a change deafness task. This is important because in the distance domain, the signal will be degraded by both decreasing level …

The Contributing Factors To Adolescent Depression, Josie H. Lee

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Objective: This paper reviews individual, familial, peer, and societal factors influencing adolescent depression in developed countries. Background: Depression usually onsets at adolescence and contributes to high DALYs. Since depression is treatable, efforts should be made to reduce its prevalence and effect. Methods: The research consisted of looking at literature relevant to the topic and age group and conducting interviews with experts who know about and have worked with adolescent depression. Discussion: Adolescents begins at the onset of puberty, allowing different biological factors such as genetics, stress of puberty, and cognitive changes to increase vulnerability to depression. Adolescents who had substance …

Political Polarization And Intolerance Of Intolerance, Nina Luiggi

Honors Projects in Applied Psychology

Scholarly research linking conservatism to intolerance is widespread (McAdams et al, 2008; Jost et al, 2003): however, relatively little attention is paid to the impact of intolerance on the liberal side. Nevertheless, mounting empirical research and popular journalism suggests that intolerance works both ways, but that liberals are not aware of their own intolerance. Building on survey methodology used by Crawford and Pilanski (2014), the present study uses a scale of ideological consistency, intolerance judgments across a range of issues, and perceived intolerance, to explore both the intolerance levels and perceived intolerance levels of liberals and conservatives, as well as …

What Factors Drive Individual Misperceptions Of The Returns To Schooling In Tanzania? Some Lessons For Education Policy, Plamen Nikolov, Nursat Jimi

Economics Faculty Scholarship

Evidence on educational returns and the factors that determine the demand for schooling in developing countries is extremely scarce. Building on previous studies that show individuals underestimating the returns to schooling, we use two surveys from Tanzania to estimate both the actual and perceived schooling returns and subsequently examine what factors drive individual misperceptions regarding actual returns. Using ordinary least squares and instrumental variable methods, we find that each additional year of schooling in Tanzania increases earnings, on average, by 9 to 11 percent. We find that on average individuals underestimate returns to schooling by 74 to 79 percent and …

Aging And The Perception Of Coherent Motion, Lindsey Marie Shain

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The aperture problem describes an effect by which a contoured stimulus, moving behind an aperture with both ends occluded, appears to move in a direction perpendicular to its own orientation. Mechanisms within the human visual system allow us to overcome this problem and integrate many of these locally ambiguous signals into the perception of globally coherent motion. In the current experiment, younger and older observers viewed displays composed of either 64 or 9 straight contours, arranged in varying orientations and moving behind circular apertures. Because these lines moved behind apertures, their individual local motions were ambiguous with respect to direction …

Emotion Discrimination In Peripheral Vision, Hayley M. Lambert

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The recognition accuracy of emotion in faces varies depending on the discrete emotion being expressed and the location of the stimulus. More specifically, emotion detection performance declines as facial stimuli are presented further out in the periphery. Interestingly, this is not always true for faces depicting happy emotional expressions, which can be associated with maintained levels of detection. The current study examined neurophysiological responses to emotional face discrimination in the periphery. Two event-related potentials (ERPs) that can be sensitive to the perception of emotion in faces, P1 and N170, were examined using EEG data recorded from electrodes at occipitotemporal sites …

Perceptions Of Uncivil And Sexual Harassment Perceptions By Gender, Employment Status, And Likelihood To Sexually Harass, John Schroader

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

This research examined gender and employment status (full-time worker or student) differences in perceptions of workplace sexual harassment and incivility. Previous and recent meta-analyses suggested small effects by gender. The current research introduced a method of measuring perceptions by forcing a choice of identifying a behavior as sexual harassment, incivility, or neither. The instrument was designed in this way to determine if small effects existed because males tended to have overlapping definitions of sexual harassment and incivility. Propensity to sexually harass was also measured. Results suggest no gender or employment status effects on the method, but propensity to sexually harass …

Unimanual And Bimanual Haptic Shape Discrimination, Catherine Jane Dowell

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

In the current study 24 younger adults and 24 older adults haptically discriminated natural 3-D shapes (bell peppers, Capsicum annuum) using unimanual (one hand used to explore two objects) and bimanual (both hands used, but each hand explored separate objects) successive exploration. Haptic exploration using just one hand requires somatosensory processing in only one cerebral hemisphere (the hemisphere contralateral to the hand being used), while bimanual haptic exploration requires somatosensory processing in both hemispheres. Previous studies related to curvature/shape perception have found either an advantage for unimanual exploration over bimanual exploration or no difference between the two conditions. In contrast …

The Heart Wants What It Wants: Effects Of Desirability And Body Part Salience On Distance Perceptions (Campbell), Celeste M. Campbell

Student Publications

Previous research has shown that desirability influences perceived distance to an object, such that desirable objects are perceived as closer to the viewer than undesirable objects (Balcetis & Dunning, 2010). Research regarding conceptual metaphors has suggested that making the head or heart salient by placing the index finger there produces characteristics commonly associated with these body parts (i.e., emotionality for the heart and rationality for the head) (Fetterman & Robinson, 2013). The current studies examined the effects of desirability and head or heart salience on distance perception. Participants had their attention drawn to their head or their heart by touching …

The Heart Wants What It Wants: Effects Of Desirability And Body Part Salience On Distance Perceptions (Dewitt), Caroline C. Dewitt

Student Publications

Previous research has shown that the desirability of an object influences perceived distance from the object, such that desirable objects are perceived as closer than objects that are not desirable (Balcetis & Dunning, 2010). It has also been suggested that metaphors reflect how our knowledge is represented; so, for example, making the head or heart more salient produces characteristics commonly associated with those body parts (i.e., emotionality for the heart and rationality for the head) (Fetterman & Robinson, 2013). The current study examined the effects of head or heart salience and desirability on distance perception. We hypothesized that since common …

The Heart Wants What It Wants: Effects Of Desirability And Body Part Salience On Distance Perceptions (Heath), Jason B. Heath

Student Publications

Previous research has shown that the desirability of an object influences perceived distance from the object, such that desirable objects are perceived as closer than objects that are not desirable (Balcetis & Dunning, 2010). It has also been suggested that metaphors reflect how our knowledge is represented; so, for example, making the head or heart more salient produces characteristics commonly associated with those body parts (i.e., emotionality for the heart, rationality for the head) (Fetterman & Robinson, 2013). The current study examined the effects of head or heart salience and object desirability on distance perception. We hypothesized that, since common …

Investigating The Effects Of Sensory Learning In Rats Using Intra And Extra Stimulus Modalities, Ariel M. Kershner

Faculty Curated Undergraduate Works

The purpose of this study was to see what rats learn about the elements of a compound stimulus (a stimulus composed of two different stimuli), and whether their learning differs if the compound is from the same modality (intra-modal), i.e. both visual, or from different modalities (inter-modal), i.e. visual and auditory. We hypothesized that the rats would respond more to the compound stimuli than to the single stimuli (Pearce and Wilson, 1990), more to the compound modality of inter-modal elements than to the compound modality of intra-modal elements (Miller, 1971 and Gingras, 2009), equally to the intra-modal elements (Rescorla, 1972), …

Evaluation Of The Effectiveness Of A Gaze-Based Training Intervention On Latent Hazard Anticipation Skills For Young Drivers: A Driving Simulator Study, Yusuke Yamani, Pinar Biçaksiz, Dakota B. Palmer, Nathan Hatfield, Siby Samuel

Psychology Faculty Publications

A PC-based training program (Road Awareness and Perception Training or RAPT; Pradhan et al., 2009), proven effective for improving young novice drivers' hazard anticipation skills, did not fully maximize the hazard anticipation performance of young drivers despite the use of similar anticipation scenarios in both, the training and the evaluation drives. The current driving simulator experiment examined the additive effects of expert eye movement videos following RAPT training on young drivers' hazard anticipation performance compared to video-only and RAPT-only conditions. The study employed a between-subject design in which 36 young participants (aged 18-21) were equally and randomly assigned to one …

Comparing The Distraction Of Cell Phone Conversations To In-Person Conversations On A Simulated Commercial Flight, Tianhua Li, Andrew R. Dattel

International Journal of Aviation, Aeronautics, and Aerospace

The purpose of the study was to determine the difference in participants’ attention to announcements and compliance with safety behaviors when talking on a cell phone and when talking face-to-face in a simulated commercial flight. Currently, passengers are forbidden from making cell phone calls during flights in the United States due to electronic interference. However, any possible interference can be eliminated with the help of new technology. Although talking on the cell phone does not cause electronic interference, the distraction of a passenger caused by a cell phone may negatively impact safety. This study compared the extent of safety compliance …

The Effects Of Rhythm For Social Emotional Learning Skills Development, Jonathan O. Mande

Lesley University Community of Scholars Day

Many people talk about the importance of music in school and learning, we all know about its effects on cognitive development for children and adults. Though despite these universally known facts, music education programs are increasingly underfunded in schools, private lessons are not accessible to most people, while our country is simultaneously suffering from an increase in academic retention and destructive societal conflicts. Music brings all people together and at its core is rhythm. It makes available a space for joy; to fully express love, build bonds and strengthen our individual spirits. When used intentionally, music heals and is a …

Multisensory Integration And Autistic Traits Using Non-Sociolinguistic Information, Sébastien A. Lauzon, Samantha E. Schulz, Zack I. Cohen, Ryan A. Stevenson

Western Research Forum

Background: Sensory processing issues are one of the most common complaints in autism spectrum disorder (ASD). One area of sensory difficulties in ASD that has been the focus of intense research in recent years is multisensory integration (MSI), or the ability to bind auditory and visual information into a single, unified percept. While integration of social or linguistic information is consistently shown to be an area of difficulty in ASD, results are less clear with simple, non-sociolinguistic stimuli. This study aims to address this ambiguity by determining whether MSI of non-sociolinguistic sensory information is related to traits and symptomatology …

Trust Building Tools For Talking With Youth During Times Of Conflict, Bonnie C. Springer, Andrea Crist

National Youth Advocacy & Resilience Conference

This presentation will provide tools and strategies for turning crisis into opportunity. The skills of Life Space Crisis Intervention provide helping adults faced with the extreme behavior of youth during times of crisis strategies which build trust and connections in meaningful and healing ways; turning crisis into opportunity for at risk youth to develop social responsibility and grow emotionally

Flight Simulator Fidelity, Training Transfer, And The Role Of Instructors In Optimizing Learning, Paul L. Myers Iii, Arnold W. Starr, Kadie Mullins

International Journal of Aviation, Aeronautics, and Aerospace

Simulators have been integrated into flight training at various levels for decades, increasing in utility as they increased in fidelity. Today, practically all levels of qualification in passenger-carrying commercial airliners can be obtained entirely in the simulator, with the first experience in the aircraft on a revenue-producing flight. Flight training in the U.S. is a tightly controlled, highly regulated process overseen by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). It is also a very successful one; commercial aviation maintains a remarkable safety record. To that end, pilot training has been studied and analyzed extensively over the years, and as to the focus …

Social Influences On Songbird Behavior: From Song Learning To Motion Coordination, Iva Ljubičić

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Social animals learn during development how to integrate successfully into their group. How do social interactions combine to maintain group cohesion? We first review how social environments can influence the development of vocal learners, such as songbirds and humans (Chapter 1). To bypass the complexity of natural social interactions and gain experimental control, we developed Virtual Social Environments, surrounding the bird with videos of manipulated playbacks. This way we were able to design sensory and social scenarios and test how social zebra finches adjust their behavior (Chapters 2 & 3). A serious challenge is that the color output of a …

Exploring Cognitive Dissonance Between College Students' Religious And Spiritual Beliefs And Their Higher Education, Shawn Gaulden

The Pegasus Review: UCF Undergraduate Research Journal

With perceptions of conflict between religion and science often appearing in popular discussions and academic writings, cognitive dissonance may result if college students find their epistemological beliefs challenged during their undergraduate education. The purpose of this study is to explore whether students experience cognitive dissonance between their religious and spiritual identity and their college education and experiences, as well as whether certain factors in college life lead to cognitive dissonance. College students (N = 272) from the Central Florida area were surveyed with measures exploring the dimensions of college life that affect the likelihood of students experiencing tension between their …

The Empathy Mitigation: Empathy And Its Impact On Pain Perception And Altruistic Motivation, Amanda Daly

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Empathy and its impact on pain perception has been studied narrowly with the focus being on participants receiving empathy during a pain procedure. This study reversed the focus and ran a standard cold pressor test (CPT) in the context of an empathy frame structured to elicit an empathic response for others from participants. It was hypothesized that the group receiving the empathic frame would have longer CPT times due to alterations in pain perception from empathy activation and these subjects’ self-reported state-trait empathy level would positively correlate with the increased times. 85 subjects participated with a control group of 43 …

Do Clothing Style And Color Affect Our Perceptions Of Others?, Ariel M. Kershner

Faculty Curated Undergraduate Works

Prior research has shown that women who wear red clothing or suggestive clothing are perceived as more attractive, having greater sexual intent, and having more negative qualities than women dressed in different colors or less suggestive clothing. This bias towards perceiving sexual intent may be evolutionary or may be due to people projecting their emotions onto others. The current study builds from this research by performing a 2 (color: white or red) x 2 (clothing type: suggestive or non-suggestive) between-subjects experiment. We hypothesized that women would be perceived as more attractive and as having greater sexual intent while wearing red …

Measuring Perceptual Consciousness, Marjan Persuh

Publications and Research

Conscious perception is typically assessed with either objective or subjective measures (Seth et al.,2008). Measures are considered objective if conscious perception is estimated from performancein a discrimination task; inability to discriminate between stimuli is taken as evidence thatparticipants had no conscious perception (Hannula et al., 2005). Measures are considered subjectiveif participants report their visual experience on each trial (Sergent and Dehaene, 2004; Del Culet al., 2007). One type of subjective measures consists of metacognitivejudgments; the relationshipbetween metacognition and perceptual awareness is a matter ofdebate (Fleming and Lau, 2014;Jachs et al., 2015) and I will not discuss these measures further. Likewise, …

Do Gender Differences In Perceived Prototypical Computer Scientists And Engineers Contribute To Gender Gaps In Computer Science And Engineering?, Joyce Ehrlinger, E. Ashby Plant, Marissa K. Hartwig, Jordan J. Vossen, Corey J. Columb, Lauren E. Brewer

Faculty Publications

Women are vastly underrepresented in the fields of computer science and engineering (CS&E). We examined whether women might view the intellectual characteristics of prototypical individuals in CS&E in more stereotype-consistent ways than men might and, consequently, show less interest in CS&E. We asked 269 U.S. college students (187, 69.5% women) to describe the prototypical computer scientist (Study 1) or engineer (Study 2) through open-ended descriptions as well as through a set of trait ratings. Participants also rated themselves on the same set of traits and rated their similarity to the prototype. Finally, participants in both studies were asked to describe …

Tasseography From Jung's Perspective, Avetisian, Elizabeth

CONSCIOUSNESS: Ideas and Research for the Twenty-First Century

Approaching from Jung’s perspective this paper aims to understand how the unconscious communicates through symbolism that may be the basis for synchronicity arising from mantic procedures. A particular ritual of divination called tasseography will be studied whereby the seer interprets patterns in coffee grounds intuitively and by following a standard system of symbolism to foretell the seeker’s future life events or provide answers to seeker’s pressing life questions. The paper will examine various processes involved in the experience of tasseography and its ritual that enable the reader to predict the seeker’s future or bring light to the present or past …

Psychometric Properties Of The Difficulties In Emotion Regulation Scale (Ders) And Its Short Forms In Adults With Emotional Disorders, Lauren S. Hallion, Shari A. Steinmann, David F. Tolin, Gretchen J. Diefenbach

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

Objective: The Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS) is a widely used self- report measure of subjective emotion ability, as defined by a prominent clinically derived model of emotion regulation (Gratz and Roemer, 2004). Although the DERS is often used in treatment and research settings for adults with emotional (i.e., anxiety, mood, obsessive-compulsive, or trauma-related) disorders, its psychometric properties are not well-characterized in this population.

Method: We examined the psychometric properties of the DERS and three popular short forms (DERS-16; DERS-18; and DERS-SF) in a large (N = 427) sample of treatment-seeking adults with one or more DSM-5 emotional disorders. …

Time Delay And Investment Decisions: Evidence From An Experiment In Tanzania, Plamen Nikolov

Economics Faculty Scholarship

Attitudes toward risk underlie virtually every important economic decision an individual makes. In this experimental study, I examine how introducing a time delay into the execution of an investment plan influences individuals’ risk preferences. The field experiment proceeded in three stages: a decision stage, an execution stage and a payout stage. At the outset, in the Decision Stage (Stage 1), each subject was asked to make an investment plan by splitting a monetary investment amount between a risky asset and a safe asset. Subjects were informed that the investment plans they made in the Decision Stage are binding and will …

Chickens Play To The Crowd, Cinzia Chiandetti

Animal Sentience

The time was ripe for Marino’s review of chickens’ cognitive capacities. The research community, apart from expressing gratitude for Marino’s work, should now use it to increase public awareness of chickens’ abilities. People’s views on many animals are ill-informed. Scientists need to communicate and engage with the public about the relevance and societal implications of their findings.