Cognition and Perception Commons^™

Build-Up Effect Of Auditory Stream Segregation Using Amplitude-Modulated Narrowband Noise, Harley J. Wheeler

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

Recent psychoacoustic experiments (Böckmann-Barthel et al., 2014; Deike et al., 2012) have re-examined research regarding stream segregation and the build-up effect. Stream segregation is the ability to discern auditory objects within a stream of information, such as distinguishing one voice amongst background noise or an instrument within an orchestra. Initial works examining this topic proposed that auditory information is not immediately distinguished as various streams, but rather that differences accumulate over time, allowing listeners to segregate information following a period of build-up (i.e., the build-up effect); whereas more current findings indicate a build-up period is unnecessary for segregation. This experiment’s …

How Musical Oddballs Warp Psychological Time, Rhimmon Simchy-Gross

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Oddballs—low-probability, attention-capturing expectancy violations—are judged as longer than non-oddballs, but are temporal intervals that contain oddballs judged as longer than those that do not? In 2 experiments, we tested competing model predictions using a novel and covert measure of subjective duration—musical imagery reproduction. Participants verbally estimated and reproduced with musical imagery repeated, coherent, or incoherent familiar or unfamiliar chord sequences (3.5 s, 7 s, or 12 s) that either did or did not contain dynamic auditory oddballs. Participants verbally estimated repeated chord sequences that contained oddballs as shorter than those that did not, but reproduced with musical imagery incoherent chord …

Survey Data On Household Spatial Quality And Experiences Of Stress, Grace Campagna

Publications and Research

This data article describes a dataset of 1,668 cases representing self- reported assessments of housing inadequacy and perceived housing stress. The dataset also contains person-level and household-level demographic data to contextualize the above measures. A second supplemental file contains the text of the survey instrument. Discussion of theoretical background and measures development as well as a more detailed socioeconomic profile of the sample is available in the associated research article.

Defining A Role For Affect In Decision-Making, Pareezad Cyrus Zarolia

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Recent theories of decision-making have hinted that affect might be useful during some decision-making processes. I propose a model, the affective evaluation model, which defines the role of affect in decision-making as helpful when affect is decision-relevant and unhelpful when it is not. In three studies, I manipulate the decision-relevance of affect to test this central component of the affective evaluation model. Study 1 demonstrates that emphasizing decision-relevant affective signals facilitates optimal decision-making as compared to emphasizing purely cognitive evaluations. Study 2 tests the hypothesis that creating the expectation that affect is useful can facilitate decision-making. Finally, Study 3 tests …

Correlations Between Sexual Imagery And Sexual Cognitions, Jennifer L. Mcdonnell

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Analyzing the relationship between the visual imagery used in music videos, and the sexual cognition of viewers. Sexual cognition is the awareness of one's own sexual behavior, and its implications. The visual content of music videos was analyzed focusing only on the imagery used. The Heterosexual Script (Jhally, 2007) in particular is observed in most music videos, highlighting the sexual objectification of women and the dominant role of males. The direction of causality between the visual imagery and sexual cognitions can only be speculated using a number of theories, namely cognitive dissonance (Festinger, 1957), cultivation theory (Gerbner et al., 1994), …

The Effects Of Mindfulness On Verbal Distress Disclosure, Sara Fleming

USC Aiken Psychology Theses

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of a mindfulness induction on participants’ verbal distress disclosure (as measured by the Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count and State Disclosure Questionnaire). Participants were 86 undergraduate students enrolled in an Introduction to Psychology course and were randomly assigned to one of two conditions: a mindfulness condition or a control condition. Participants in the mindfulness condition engaged in a 15-minute mindfulness induction prior to disclosing about a stressful experience, while participants in the control condition listened to a neutrally valenced audio excerpt from a podcast about emotions before speaking about a …

Locke, Judgment, And Figure: A Consistent Answer To The Molyneux Problem, Jamale Nagi

Anthós

John Locke has been famously credited with resurrecting the distinction between common and proper sensibles, better known in the Essay as primary and secondary qualities. Although some argue that Locke’s adherence to the doctrine of the common sensibles is in conflict with his empiricist sensibilities, I will show this is not likely to be the case. In order to achieve this I will argue that Locke held there to be cross-modal connections in the mind for the representational content of ideas of primary quality, through the relation of resemblance, but that these representations need to be empirically verified to …

Locke, Figure, And Judgement: A Consistent Answer To The Molyneux Problem, Jamale Nagi

Student Research Symposium

Ever since the early modern period the Molyneux Problem has been a topic of debate both in the philosophy of perception and the psychology of perception. The problem centers on whether the senses share representational content between one another, or does each sense modality have its own stock of representational content that becomes associated with the others after some habituation. For example, if you knew a shape only by touch, could you identify that shape when seeing it for the first time without being allowed to touch the object? Typically, rationalists have held to the former claiming yes, while empiricists …

The Psychology Of Cyberbullying As Seen Through The University Of Rhode Island, Meaghan Rose Costello

Senior Honors Projects

Cyberbullying is among the most common forms of bullying in today’s American society. There has been an increase in communication through social media, texting, and other forms of technology, as well as a decrease in ‘real-life’ and interpersonal communication. Technological advances have facilitated indirect and passive aggressive forms of harassment on the internet. Many people know someone who has experienced cyberbullying, or have experienced it themselves. Bullying in general receives tremendous attention—with nonprofit groups on a mission to spread awareness and schools actively outlining detailed policies against it, children grow up understanding its repercussions. However, this form of bullying has …

The Impact Of Childhood Trauma As Moderated By Ptsd, Relationship With Caregiver, And Rumination, Aislyn M. Allen

USC Aiken Psychology Theses

The current study explored the relationship between childhood trauma and deliberate rumination, as well as PTSD symptomology, psychological and physiological functioning. Participants consisted of 55 undergraduate students, ages 18-23; who completed measures about a specific traumatic event, psychological functioning, parental attachment, PTSD symptoms, deliberate rumination, childhood maltreatment, and a demographics questionnaire. Reported childhood trauma was a specifically identified traumatic life event, child maltreatment, or having a parent with a substance abuse or mental disorder. Following completion of measures, participants were asked to answer questions while heart rate, heart rate variability, and electrodermal activity were monitored. Results indicated there was relation …

Design, Programming, And User-Experience, Kaila G. Manca

Honors Scholar Theses

This thesis is a culmination of my individualized major in Human-Computer Interaction. As such, it showcases my knowledge of design, computer engineering, user-experience research, and puts into practice my background in psychology, com- munications, and neuroscience.

I provided full-service design and development for a web application to be used by the Digital Media and Design Department and their students.This process involved several iterations of user-experience research, testing, concepting, branding and strategy, ideation, and design. It lead to two products.

The first product is full-scale development and optimization of the web appli- cation.The web application adheres to best practices. It was …

Machines And Agency: Understanding The Ai Ethics Problem, Addison T. Rahn

Senior Honors Theses

Mankind has long been interested in the unique, the strange, and the new; perhaps nothing more fully encompasses this interest than recent work on developing Artificial Intelligence (AI). With this research, however, comes a great many questions. Are AIs alive? Are AIs moral agents? Can machines be held legally culpable for their actions? These questions, and more, continue to be a topic of much debate in the academic community, and will no doubt remain of interest for years to come. It is the purpose of this research project, however, to investigate the far-reaching effects of this academic debate. While the …

Shoes, Sabrina Morelli

Common Reading Essay Contest Winners

First Place

Essay Prompt: In Justice, Sandel discusses a number of contemporary political issues (e.g. price gouging during the 2004 Hurricane, the 2008-9 financial meltdown, the volunteer army, pregnancy surrogates, executive pay, slavery reparations, immigration, and gay marriage). Take a position on one of the issues discussed in the book and make the best case that you can for why this position is the most just. You may include evidence from the book, your prior studies, your own experience, and/or outside research. (Outside research is not required.)

Human Centered Design Applied To Perceptual Paradigms, Jonathan T. Fancher

All NMU Master's Theses

This thesis gives three examples of projects that apply knowledge from areas such as human centered design, computer science, and psychology to study sensation and perception. All three of these projects were created to gather information on how humans interact with their surrounding environment and the world. For instance the first area of discovery included the way humans interact within their perceptual and personal space through an interactive table. The second project looks at exploring the neural mechanisms that affect Haptic Hallucinations by creating a device that can give the feeling of bugs crawling on or below the surface of …

Attention And Criminal Charge, Profile And Description: The Effect On Prospective Person Memory, Lindsey Nicole Sweeney

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Prospective person memory is the ability to recognize and react to a missing or wanted individual that one has been asked to be on the lookout for in the future. Prospective person memory relies on several processes including face recognition, event-based prospective memory, and attention. Only recently has research on the role of visual attention on prospective person memory been examined. In this dissertation, the gap between prospective person memory and attention is addressed. Although research on prospective person memory is steadily increasing, the research in this area is still in its infancy and the exact memory mechanisms that affect …

Are All Voices Created Equal?: Conditional Indirect Effects Of Directness Of One's Voice On Perceived Uncertainty And Performance, Dennis Lawrence Poepsel

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of the current investigations was to examine the effects of the amount of voice one is given during decision-making on group behaviors. In particular, across two studies, participants were members of groups that needed to make a decision. In these situations, participants were provided varying degrees of voice during a decision-making process. Depending on the study, participants were either given a direct voice (Personal Voice), an indirect voice (Group Voice), a direct voice and an indirect voice (Composite Voice), or were not allowed a voice (No Voice). The results of Study 1 found that having Personal Voice or …

The Interaction Between The Physical Environment And Metaphysical States: The Role Of Social Anxiety And Stress In Informing Spatial Perception, Emily Koelmel

Senior Independent Study Theses

No abstract provided.

The Call Of The Wild (And The Caged): The Impact Of A Zoo's Exhibition Styles On The Attitudes Of Its Human Visitors, Erin S. Behn

Senior Independent Study Theses

No abstract provided.

Motivational Inequality: Prevention Goals Induce More Effort Than Promotion Goals, Jennifer Marie Pattershall-Geide

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Regulatory focus theory describes two motivational strategies--promotion and prevention focus--that may be employed during goal directed action. Although a theory of motivation, there is no research examining differences in effort between promotion and prevention focus. Two studies are presented which test the hypothesis that goals pursued with a prevention focus, with its emphasis on duties, responsibilities, and avoidance of negative outcomes, will induce more effort than goals pursued with a promotion focus, which emphasizes hopes, ideals, and achieving positive outcomes. In addition, several potential mediators and moderators of this effect were examined. In Study 1, students who completed an essay …

Fighting The Current: Recalling Specific Self-Relevant Memories, John Walden Ransom

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The present study was designed to address whether recalling specific autobiographical memories is more difficult when they are self-relevant compared to non-relevant. In recent years, a number of experimental studies have indicated that self-relevant memories are more likely to be recalled without a specific time frame or very much detail. Unfortunately, these findings have not been integrated into the popular executive resources theory of autobiographical memory recall or theories of independent semantic and episodic memory stores. This study tested the hypothesis that self-relevant memories will be accessed in the semantic store and therefore will require more executive resources to generate …

Temporal Shifts In Weapon Focus: Comparing Retrograde And Anterograde Effects, William Blake Erickson

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

When an eyewitness suffers an impairment of memory for a criminal's face because the criminal used a weapon during the commission of the crime, this impairment is called the weapon focus effect. Literature provides two explanations for how this effect arises: some implicate the narrowing of attentional cues to the weapon during the commission of a crime because arousal of the victim increases, while others claim that the weapon is merely a novel object in most everyday contexts, and novel objects demand more attention than contextually appropriate ones. The current study employed a simulated crime paradigm taking place in a …

The Cognitive Representation Of Fantasy Versus Pretense, Colleen Mcinnis

Psychology Student Scholarship

Do our minds process fantasy, pretense, and reality differently? Participants read fantastical (Snow White eating an apple), pretend (a girl pretending to be Snow White), or realistic (a girl eating an apple) vignettes. Participants’ reaction to a property of each vignette’s realistic context (apple as ‘delicious’) or its unrealistic context (apple as ‘poisonous’) was measured by a computer program. Differences in study 1 reaction time indicate that fantasy may require different mental representation than pretense and reality. Differences in study 2 fail to duplicate results from the fantasy condition in study 1, instead finding differences in mental representation after reading …

Creation Of False Memories And Beliefs: Expectancy Consistent Errors Based On Gender Stereotypes, Arianna Stelling

Undergraduate Theses and Capstone Projects

This study was a series of three experiments which examined the effects of gender stereotypes on the creation of false-memories. Participants were undergraduate students who viewed a short one-scene video depicting a couple on a date. The video featured a man and a woman displaying a mixture of typical, atypical, or a combination of both gender stereotypical behaviors. Following the video, participants completed a quiz to determine whether they created false memories consistent with gender stereotypes. Participants completed an attitudinal scale to gauge their views on gender stereotypes. It was hypothesized that participants would create stereotype- consistent false memories and …

Hospitality Students Perceptions About High Risk Behaviors In Relation To Destructive Behaviors And Decision Making, Boris A. Roslov

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study investigated hospitality students' perceptions regarding alcohol consumption and personal actions related to high risk behaviors. Those behaviors included: sexual encounters and binge drinking, and their effect on academic tasks and performance. The study investigated whether the hospitality student who is employed full time consumes alcohol at a higher level than a hospitality student does that is not employed full time.

Pain Tolerance And Thresholds In Women With Dyspareunia: Do Pain And Sex Primes Have Differential Effects?, Lea Thaler

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Dyspareunia, defined as recurrent pain in the genital/pelvic region during sexual intercourse, is one of the most common types of female sexual dysfunction, affecting approximately 15% of women between the ages of 18 and 24. Women with dyspareunia display similar cognitive and emotional styles evidenced in other chronic pain conditions (e.g. hypervigilance for pain information, catastrophization, and negative affect); however, dyspareunia is a unique pain disorder in that it directly involves sexual functioning. This pairing of pain and sex raises the issue of conditioning. Is it possible that because intercourse is painful for women with dyspareunia, the presentation of any …

Visual Attention To Erotic Stimuli In Androphilic Male-To-Female Transsexuals, Sarah A. Akhter

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The present study investigated sex differences in visual attention to erotic stimuli by comparing three groups of individuals: heterosexual men, heterosexual women, and androphilic MtF transsexuals. Twenty men, 20 women and 13 MtF transsexuals were shown 10 split-screen slides, each featuring one nude erotic photo of a man shown on half of the screen and one nude erotic photo of a woman shown on the other half of the screen. Eye movements were tracked as participants viewed the slides. All participants were heterosexual (Kinsey 0-1) relative to gender identity, thus erotic targets for natal men were nude women in the …

Configuration As A Source Of Information, Joseph W. Houpt, Robert D. Hawkins, Ami Eidels, James T. Townsend, Michael J. Wenger

Psychology Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Fundamental Properties Of Simple Emergent Feature Processing, Robert D. Hawkins, Joseph W. Houpt, Ami Eidels, James T. Townsend, Michael J. Wenger

Psychology Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

A Statistical Test For The Capacity Coefficient, Joseph W. Houpt, James T. Townsend

Psychology Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

From Deep Space 9 To The Gamma Quadrant!, James T. Townsend, Joseph W. Houpt

Psychology Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.