Cognition and Perception Commons^™

The Effect Of Descriptive Norms On Resistance Exercise Self-Efficacy In College-Aged Females 2016, Justin Kompf

Master's Theses

Resistance training is a form of physical activity that provides substantial health benefits. Despite these widespread benefits, participation in resistance training is considerably low, particularly among females. To engage in a skill-related activity such as resistance training, individuals need to have confidence in their abilities. Self-efficacy is a cognitive construct that is used to describe situation-specific self-confidence. Descriptive norms are a type of social norm that describes the behavior of others. Descriptive norms have been useful in positively changing health related behaviors. The exact mechanism of how descriptive norms alter behavior is unknown. However, it has been show in research …

The Development Of The Scale Of Contemplative Practice In Higher Education, Maryann Krikorian

Educational Studies Dissertations

Some scholars have formed a more expansive view of knowledge that moves beyond the cognitive notion of intellect. For example, emotional intelligence (EI) theory posits that human intelligence encompasses both cognitive and emotional competencies, providing a framework for the concept of contemplative practices in an endeavor to support an eclectic understanding of cognition. Contemplative practices may benefit graduate student disposition and inform areas of educator preparation through the use of emotional adeptness in higher education. The purpose of this study was to: (a) develop a self-report measure: Scale of Contemplative Practice in Higher Education (SCOPE); (b) address the issues of …

The Regret Elements Scale: Distinguishing The Affective And Cognitive Components Of Regret, Joshua Buchanan, Amy Summerville, Jennifer Lechmann, Jochen Reb

All Faculty Scholarship for the College of the Sciences

Regret is one of the most common emotions, but researchers generally measure it in an ad-hoc, unvalidated fashion. Three studies outline the construction and validation of the Regret Elements Scale (RES), which distinguishes between an affective component of regret, associated with maladaptive affective outcomes, and a cognitive component of regret, associated with functional preparatory outcomes. The present research demonstrates the RES’s relationship with distress (Study 1), appraisals of emotions (Study 2), and existing measures of regret (Study 3). We further demonstrate the RES’s ability to differentiate regret from other negative emotions (Study 2) and related traits (Study 3). The scale …

Teachers' Perceptions Of Students' Creativity Characteristics, Serap Gurak-Ozdemir

Creative Studies Graduate Student Master's Theses

Teachers’ perceptions of an ideal student were investigated in terms of their FourSight preferences (i.e. Ideator, Clarifier, Developer, and Implementer). Based on these preferences, 275 teachers who were currently working in Western New York region described their “ideal” student with 66 adjectives of Torrance Ideal Child Checklist. Results showed that for each of FourSight preferences, teachers have a tendency to support characteristics associated with their own preference. More specifically, teachers with a stronger Ideator tendency encouraged the students’ Ideator characteristics more compared to Developer and Implementer styles. Teachers with a Clarifier tendency do not seem to favor students’ Ideator characteristics …

Building Object Representations: Mechanisms Of Perceptual Learning In Human Visual Cortex, Stephanie M. Long

Psychological Science Undergraduate Honors Theses

Extensive literature in the cognitive neurosciences has been dedicated to understanding the neural processes involved in object category learning. However, much remains to be learned regarding the mechanisms by which high-level visual patterns are extracted from a crowded visual scene, segregated into discrete object categories, and represented in the cortical visual hierarchy. Here, we used event-related potentials (ERPs) to investigate the neural underpinnings of visual object category extraction in a cluttered visual environment. Electroencephalography (EEG) was continuously recorded while subjects were given a hybrid of an object category learning and visual search task. In this hybrid task, a peripheral array …

The Threat Of Innovation: Tactics To Improve Small Team Creative Outcomes In Risk-Averse Organizations, Paul Gaylo

Creativity and Change Leadership Graduate Student Master's Projects

This project explores the paradox that creativity is generally viewed as a positive force and is a desired trait or characteristic, yet when faced with the true cost of creativity, individuals and organizations may purposefully or inadvertently suppress creativity. Real world examples are used to frame the applicability of this project to the typical large and complex technical product organization. The project includes a review of creativity scholarship in the context of organizations and a discussion to establish the foundational science behind this paradox. The project introduces the new creativity readiness level index, and a survey strategy to gauge organizational …

What Influences Dolphin Interest In Video?, Kelley Ann Winship

Dissertations

Environmental enrichment is an important component in maintaining the welfare of animals housed in human care. While a variety of enrichment types (e.g., objects, food, sound) have been utilized, a major challenge in developing enrichment is determining the enrichment potential of various techniques for individual animals. In this study, the efficacy of video clips as enrichment devices was assessed in two species of captive dolphins, exposed to video footage accompanied by sound. Videos were evenly divided into five categories, based on content, and played at underwater viewing windows across 20 sessions while the animals were housed with conspecifics. Species and …

Eyes Wide Open: Pupil Size As A Proxy For Inhibition In The Masked-Priming Paradigm, Jason Geller, Mary L. Still, Alison L. Morris

Psychology Faculty Publications

A core assumption underlying competitive-network models of word recognition is that in order for a word to be recognized, the representations of competing orthographically similar words must be inhibited. This inhibitory mechanism is revealed in the masked-priming lexical-decision task (LDT) when responses to orthographically similar word prime-target pairs are slower than orthographically different word prime-target pairs (i.e., inhibitory priming). In English, however, behavioral evidence for inhibitory priming has been mixed. In the present study, we utilized a physiological correlate of cognitive effort never before used in the masked-priming LDT, pupil size, to replicate and extend behavioral demonstrations of inhibitory …

Age Matters: The Effect Of Onset Age Of Video Game Play On Task-Switching Abilities, Andree Hartanto, Wei Xing Toh, Hwajin Yang

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Although prior research suggests that playing video games can improve cognitive abilities, recent empirical studies cast doubt on such findings (Unsworth et al., 2015). To reconcile these inconsistent findings, we focused on the link between video games and task switching. Furthermore, we conceptualized video-game expertise as the onset age of active video-game play rather than the frequency of recent gameplay, as it captures both how long a person has played video games and whether the individual began playing during periods of high cognitive plasticity. We found that the age of active onset better predicted switch and mixing costs than did …

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 …

Pulling The Trigger: Dehumanization Of African Americans And Police Violence, Themal I. Ellawala

Scholarly Undergraduate Research Journal at Clark (SURJ)

Police shootings and killing of African American targets has reached epidemic proportions and has captured the attention of the entire country. Research in social psychology has studied many dimensions of this layered issue, and has generated disparate findings regarding the role of racial bias in police violence. The process of implicit dehumanization of African Americans, especially youth, has been proposed as particularly salient in making shoot/don’t shoot decisions. This paper suggests that the paradigm of dehumanization could complete the understanding of racialized police violence and reconcile contradictory research findings, while highlighting areas for future research.

The Effects Of Picture Prompts On The Acquisition Of Receptive Language In Children With Autism, Hanna Simons

Honors Theses

The present study evaluated the effectiveness of picture prompts in the acquisition of receptive language. Receptive language training is the ability to listen to and understand what is being communicated (Miller, Carp, Petursdottir, 2009). Receptive language training requires the acquisition of auditory-visual conditional discriminations. In receptive language training the child must attend to the auditory and comparison stimuli. This is sometimes an issue for children with autism. Previous research has shown that receptive language training can be facilitated through the use of picture prompts (Fisher, Kodak, & Moore, 2007). The participant for the study was 3 years old. He was …

Put Your Shirt On: An Examination Of Provocative Versus Casual Clothing On First Impressions, Katelyn Geilear

Scholars Week

It is astounding how much information someone can gather about a person from a quick glance. We form first impressions of others based on a number of things, such as their appearance, demeanor, and other characteristics we can gather from a glance or two, and form impressions of a person’s personality, character, intentions, and motivations based on these factors. This can happen in mere tenths of a second. My research looked at how people form first impressions based on a person’s attire and gender.

How Trust Influences Adoption: Creating Human-Centered Autonomous Vehicles, David R. Garcia

Human Factors and Applied Psychology Student Conference

No abstract provided.

Does The Redundant Signals Effect Occur With Categorical Signals?, Ada D. Mishler, Mark B. Neider

Human Factors and Applied Psychology Student Conference

The redundant signals effect (RSE) refers to a decrease in response time (RT) when multiple signals are present compared to when one signal is present. The RSE is widespread when responses are made to specific signals; for example, a participant who is asked to respond to the letter “N” will respond more quickly to two “Ns” than to one “N.” The current research was conducted to determine whether or not the RSE generalizes to categorical signals. In Experiment 1, participants pressed a button when they saw any number on a computer screen. Each trial contained two stimuli subtending 1º visual …

Social Facilitation And Its Effects On The Errors Of Commission In A Vigilance Task, Sean P. Bowser, Cristina A. Chirino, James L. Szalma

Human Factors and Applied Psychology Student Conference

Vigilance is known as sustained attention over a prolonged period of time in which respondents are required to respond to critical signals. Vigilance is crucial in a variety of settings and situations. However, when placed on a simple and repetitive task, such as security detail scanning bags or watching a radar in an airport control tower, performance on these vigilance tends to decline with time spent performing the task continuously. This pattern is referred to as the vigilance decrement. In addition to the decrement, errors of commission, or “false alarms”, occur more frequently as time on task increases. In the …

Event-Related Desynchronization Of The Mu-Rhythm: A Literature Review, Katy Lynn Odette

Human Factors and Applied Psychology Student Conference

No abstract provided.

The Font Size Effect Does Not Extend To Math Problems, Helen Sowards, Hillary Erwin, Barbara Wright, Wilson Lester, Alana Harrison, Matthew Campbell, Amber Harris, Kenneth Hammett, Halle Jarnagin

Research Horizons Day Posters

No abstract provided.

Examining The Roles Of Fluency, Working Memory, And Pressure In Math Anxiety And Math Performance, Camas Gazzola, Victoria Blakely, Helen Sowards, Alan Harrison, Andy Waldon

Research Horizons Day Posters

No abstract provided.

Examining The Role Of Different Font Styles In The Font Size Effect, Kenneth Hammett, Alan Harrison, Helen Sowards, Michael Waldon, Barbara Wright, Midori Roman, Camas Gazzola, Rebecca Stillwell

Research Horizons Day Posters

No abstract provided.

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 …