Cognition and Perception Commons^™

The Role Of Implied And Actual Volume In Source Monitoring, Alan Harrison, Victoria Blakely, Barbara Wright, Kenneth Hammett, Wilson Lester, Meagan Baker

Research Horizons Day Posters

No abstract provided.

The Role Of Font Size And Familiarity In Evaluations Of Truth, Kenneth Hammett, Alan Harrison, Amber Harris, Larae Wade, Hillary Sharpe, Michael Waldon

Research Horizons Day Posters

No abstract provided.

Automation Reliability And Performance Detection Using Two Systems Of The Multi-Attribute Task Battery, Brianna Alex

Human Factors and Applied Psychology Student Conference

With the advancements of new and emerging technology in the modern cockpit, it is important to understand the effect of these enhancements on performance. Our research seeks to examine both the effect of display type and reliability level on an operator’s performance. The goals of this research are to evaluate and compare the new MATB-II to the original MATB, as well as to further investigate the effect of reliability level in a automated aviation environment.

In the current study, we empirically test the impact of a specified reliability level on performance for a controlled and modernistic automated aviation task. Previous …

The Perception Of Symmetry In Depth: Effect Of Symmetry Plane Orientation, Bart Farell

Biomedical and Chemical Engineering - All Scholarship

The visual system is sensitive to symmetries in the frontoparallel plane, and bilateral symmetry about a vertical axis has a particular salience. However, these symmetries represent only a subset of the symmetries realizable in three-dimensional space. The retinal image symmetries formed when viewing natural objects are typically the projections of three-dimensional objects—animals, for example—that have a symmetry in depth. To characterize human sensitivity to depth symmetry, experiments measured observers’ ability to discriminate stereo displays that were symmetrically distributed in depth and those that were asymmetrically distributed. Disparity values were distributed about one of four planes passing through the z-axis and …

Predicting Facebook Stalking: Examining Self-Control And Facebook Romantic Jealousy, Stephanie Renea Barrera

Graduate Theses

No longer do individuals have to wonder what others are doing on a daily basis. With the advent of social media, discovering other individual’s whereabouts and interests or gaining insight into their personal lives is at our fingertips. Facebook is the largest and most popular of these social networking sites with 1.06 billion users as of January 2013. With such a strong and prevalent presence in our lives, researchers have been examining the possible effects Facebook has on the population ever since Facebook first made its debut in 2004. Across various life domains, some studies show positive effects while others …

Electrophysiological Changes Of N100 Latency And Amplitude In Healthy Participants Performing The Jitter Orientated Visual Integration Task: A Multi-Block Design Study, Fariya Naz

University Scholar Projects

The present study investigated the differences in processing during visual integration in healthy adults. The visual N100 indexes early visual discrimination and in this case, was hypothesized to show differences in both latency and amplitude depending on the level of difficulty which corresponds to orientational jitter in a visual integration task. Four blocks with pseudo-random levels of jitter were presented to participants in the Jitter Oriented Visual Integration (JOVI) task. Results looking at the Oz channel showed significant reduction in amplitude in the visual N100 during the more difficult levels condition of the task. The multi-block design, originally expected to …

The Influence Of Preferred Music On Vigilance And Mental Workload, Michelle H. Wang

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Projects

Music is found in various aspects of daily life. Many individuals listen to music while completing mentally demanding tasks. The current study aims to explore the relations between music on attention performance and perceived mental workload. Participants completed two identical vigilance tasks under two different conditions, preferred music and silence. Following each vigilance task, participants rated their experience according to the six subscales of the workload index, NASA-TLX, for each condition. Even though we did not observe a main effect of music, there are many robust interactions. Overall, participants performed better (more correct detection, fewer false alarm and faster response …

Prevalence Of Learned Grapheme-Color Pairings In A Large Online Sample Of Synesthetes, Nathan Withhoft, Jonathan Winawer, David M. Eagleman

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

In this paper we estimate the minimum prevalence of grapheme-color synesthetes with letter-color matches learned from an external stimulus, by analyzing a large sample of English-speaking grapheme-color synesthetes. We find that at least 6% (400/6588 participants) of the total sample learned many of their matches from a widely available colored letter toy. Among those born in the decade after the toy began to be manufactured, the proportion of synesthetes with learned letter-color pairings approaches 15% for some 5-year periods. Among those born 5 years or more before it was manufactured, none have colors learned from the toy. Analysis of 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.)

Potential Of Cognitive Computing And Cognitive Systems, Ahmed K. Noor

Computational Modeling & Simulation Engineering Faculty Publications

Cognitive computing and cognitive technologies are game changers for future engineering systems, as well as for engineering practice and training. They are major drivers for knowledge automation work, and the creation of cognitive products with higher levels of intelligence than current smart products. This paper gives a brief review of cognitive computing and some of the cognitive engineering systems activities. The potential of cognitive technologies is outlined, along with a brief description of future cognitive environments, incorporating cognitive assistants - specialized proactive intelligent software agents designed to follow and interact with humans and other cognitive assistants across the environments. The …

Why Is The Crowd Divided? Attribution For Dispersion In Online Word Of Mouth, Stephen He, Samuel Bond

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

The widespread availability of online word of mouth (WOM) enables modern consumers to assess not only the opinions of others about products and services, but also the extent to which those opinions are consistent or dispersive. Despite longstanding calls for greater understanding of mixed opinions, existing evidence is inconclusive regarding effects of WOM dispersion, and theoretical accounts have relied primarily on the notion of reference dependence. Extending prior work, this research proposes an attribution-based account, in which consumer interpretation of WOM dispersion depends on the extent to which tastes in a product domain are perceived to be dissimilar, so that …

The Cognitive Basis Of Social Behavior: Cognitive Reflection Overrides Antisocial But Not Always Prosocial Motives, Brice Corgnet, Antonio M. Espín, Roberto Hernán-González

Economics Faculty Articles and Research

Even though human social behavior has received considerable scientific attention in the last decades, its cognitive underpinnings are still poorly understood. Applying a dual-process framework to the study of social preferences, we show in two studies that individuals with a more reflective/deliberative cognitive style, as measured by scores on the Cognitive Reflection Test (CRT), are more likely to make choices consistent with “mild” altruism in simple non-strategic decisions. Such choices increase social welfare by increasing the other person's payoff at very low or no cost for the individual. The choices of less reflective individuals (i.e., those who rely more heavily …

Descriptions Of Psycho-Social And Academic Support Systems In Schools For Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, And Questioning Middle School And High School Students, Michael Appelgren

PCOM Psychology Dissertations

This research explored the understanding of coming out, using qualitative methods. Through a semi-structured interview, the present study explored: individuals’ unique experiences of coming out in middle or high school, the challenges of coming out, supports available while in school, as well as ideas of how schools can support students who decide to come out. A central theme of the study was to uncover opportunities for schools to support GLBTQQ students who self-disclose a homosexual identity. The results of the current study suggest that schools are providing no supports to limited support systems for sexual minority youth. In reference to …

A Mechanism For Sensorimotor Translation In Singing: The Multi-Modal Imagery Association (Mmia) Model, Peter Q. Pfordresher, Andrea R. Halpern, Emma B. Greenspon

Faculty Journal Articles

WE PROPOSE A NEW FRAMEWORK TO UNDERSTAND singing accuracy, based on multi-modal imagery associations: the MMIA model. This model is based on recent data suggesting a link between auditory imagery and singing accuracy, evidence for a link between imagery and the functioning of internal models for sensorimotor associations, and the use of imagery in singing pedagogy. By this account, imagery involves automatic associations between different modalities, which in the present context comprise associations between pitch height and the regulation of vocal fold tension. Importantly, these associations are based on probabilistic relationships that may vary with respect to their precision and …

The Speed Of Our Mental Soundtracks: Tracking The Tempo Of Involuntary Musical Imagery In Everyday Life, Kelly Jakubowski, Nicolas Farrugia, Andrea R. Halpern, Sathish K. Sankarpandi, Lauren Stewart

Faculty Journal Articles

The study of spontaneous and everyday cognitions is an area of rapidly growing interest. One of the most ubiquitous forms of spontaneous cognition is involuntary musical imagery (INMI), the involuntarily retrieved and repetitive mental replay of music. The present study introduced a novel method for capturing temporal features of INMI within a naturalistic setting. This method allowed for the investigation of two questions of interest to INMI researchers in a more objective way than previously possible, concerning (1) the precision of memory representations within INMI and (2) the interactions between INMI and concurrent affective state. Over the course of 4 …

Does Self-Compassion Protect Against Emotional Dysregulation, Anxiety, And Other Negative Emotions?, Elizabeth Willits

USC Aiken Psychology Theses

Self-compassion is a multifaceted construct meant to allow individuals to treat themselves with kindness, have a balanced perspective on their experiences, and feel connected to others (Neff, 2003a). Emotion regulation is related to higher levels of self-compassion (Diedrich et al., 2013; Vettese et al., 2011), and Neff (2003a) proposes that self-compassion can be viewed as a superior emotion regulation strategy. Self-compassion is negatively correlated with many forms of psychopathology, including anxiety (Neff, 2003b; Neff et al., 2007; Neff & McGehee, 2010). Based on prior research, it appears that self-compassion may increase the ability to regulation emotions, therefore increasing an individual’s …

An Investigation Of The Increased Reliance On Familiarity In Associative Recognition Of Unitized Compound Word Pairs, Fahad Naveed Ahmad

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Unitization refers to when two components are integrated or combined into a single unit. So the whole is more familiar than the parts (Graf & Schacter, 1989). Previous researchers have shown unitization of unrelated word pairs can occur by the use of compound definition. As support, they have found unitization to increase reliance on familiarity in associative recognition. The purpose of this PhD dissertation was to examine the effects of unitization of preexperimental associations on associative recognition. The effects of associative recognition of unitized compound word (CW) pairs can serve as a useful benchmark to compare to that of other …

An Examination Between High And Low Optimistic Ncaa Division I Student-Athletes' Perceptions Of Preferred Leadership Behavior In Sport: A Qualitative Investigation, Alexander C. Roorda

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Numerous researchers have examined preferred sport leadership behaviors from both the coach and athlete perspectives (Beam, Serwatka, & Wilson, 2004; Chelladurai, & Carron, 1983; Freakley, Czech, Harris, & Burdette, 2012; Turman, 2013; Weinburg, & Gould, 2010). However, there is limited research in student-athlete personality dispositions and how those might influence student-athlete perceptions of preferred leadership behaviors. The purpose of the present study was to examine views of leadership in light of certain personality dispositions. This research examined the potential influence of optimism (Abramson, et al, 2000) on qualitative descriptions of preferred leadership behaviors using the Revised Leadership Scale for Sport …

Tornado Trouble: How Can Current Tornado Warnings Be Improved?, Jonathan P. Evans

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

There are many unnecessary deaths from tornadoes every year (NOAA.org, 2013). Although there have been great advancements in tornado warning systems (Coleman, Knupp, Spann, Elliot, & Peters, 2010), more changes to systems could be made to motivate people to take action in preparation for tornadoes (Brotzge & Donner, 2013). Protection motivation theory outlines the process by which we assess threats and decide whether or not preventative actions are worth performing. If the threat is perceived as severe enough and the preventative actions are seen as capable of mitigating the threat, the individual is motivated to act (Rogers, 2000). One means …

Developing Executive Functions Through Mindfulness Training In School-Aged Children, Ashley Black Adams

PCOM Psychology Dissertations

Well-developed executive functions are necessary for successful classroom functioning. Students with executive function deficits can fall behind academically as well as socially and emotionally, relative to their same-aged peers. Effective interventions for developing executive functions within the school environment are essential for addressing this issue. This study examines changes in students’ executive functions as a result of their participation in a mindfulness training intervention. Participants included four ten-year old elementary school boys who took part in a ten-week mindfulness training intervention. The data were generated through pre and post assessments with an executive function teacher rating scale and a Goal-Attainment …

The Impact Of Video Chatting On Idealization And Disillusionment For Long Distance Dating Couples, Laura Kusisto

Theses and Dissertations--Family Sciences

Previous research indicates a high rate of long distance relationships, especially among young adults. Yet, research in this area is lacking, particularly regarding the role of video chatting. Through the lens of the media richness theory and the hyperpersonal model, this qualitative study explores how video chatting impacts idealization and disillusionment in young adults’ long distance dating relationships. Data was collected through semi-structured interviews with both partners of six heterosexual couples. Data was analyzed using the constant comparative approach and following the basic framework of open, axial, and selective coding used in grounded theory research. Results indicate that video chatting …

Learning To Combat Chronic Pain: Exploring The Effectiveness Of A Six-Week Patient Psychoeducation Course Teaching Self-Management Of Chronic Pain, Serita Backstrand

Doctor of Psychology (PsyD)

Abstract Chronic pain is a highly prevalent health problem in the U.S. and poses a large economic and temporal cost to the medical system (Institute of Medicine, 2011; Marcus, 2003). Patients with chronic pain typically report a decrease in emotional, social, and economic functioning (Bair et. al, 2009; Breen, 2002; Kang, Backstrand, & Parker, 2013). This study investigated the efficacy of a 6-week evidence-based group psychoeducation course for the self-management of chronic pain. Pre- and post-test measures were utilized to assess results of the course. Data were analyzed using a paired sample t-test in order to explore the relationship and …

Investigating The Role Of Objective And Subjective Task Complexity On Retirement Investment Plan Earnings Judgments, Natasha Hardy

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

This research addressed the effect of retirement plan task complexity on retirement plan earnings estimates. Past research has shown that increased task complexity results in more decision-making errors as well increased use of heuristics, or rules of thumb, which can result in non-optimal outcomes such as under-saving or disproportionate equity/income balances (Benartzi & Thaler, 2001, 2007; Maynard & Hakel, 1997). This research used two experiments to test whether individuals would judge a retirement investment plan with high task complexity to be more profitable than a plan with low task complexity - a non-normative and potentially costly bias. Experiment 1 used …

The Effects Of Interview Length On Gender And Personality Related Bias In Job Interviews, Emily Condon

Scripps Senior Theses

The proposed study explores the cognitive miser approach to perception formation in job interviews, as well as factors that may motivate people to not act as cognitive misers. Personality type (introverted and extraverted) and gender are characteristics of people that are associated with many stereotypes (Heilman, 2001; Andersen & Klatzky, 1987), and can have a large influence on an employer’s perception of an applicant, particularly when the employer is acting as a cognitive miser. It is hypothesized that in longer interviews, employers will be motivated to not act as cognitive misers, because they have more information about the applicant, have …

Editorial: Neural Implementation Of Expertise, Merim Bilalic, Robert Langner, Guillermo J. Campitelli, Luca Turella, Wolfgang Grodd

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

How the brain enables humans to reach an outstanding level of performance typical of expertise is of great interest to cognitive neuroscience, as demonstrated by the number and diversity of the articles in this Research Topic (RT). The RT presents a collection of 23 articles written by 80 authors on traditional expertise topics such as sport, board games, and music, but also on the expertise aspects of everyday skills, such as language and the perception of faces and objects. Just as the topics in the RT are diverse, so are the neuroimaging techniques employed and the article formats. Here we …

Memory Behaviour Requires Knowledge Structures, Not Memory Stores, Guillermo J. Campitelli

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Since the inception of cognitive psychology dominant theories of memory behavior have used the storage metaphor. In the multi-store models (e.g., Broadbent, 1958; Atkinson and Shiffrin, 1968; Baddeley and Hitch, 1974) the memory system comprises one or more short-term memory (STM) stores and a long-term memory (LTM) store. These stores are places where information is located for varying periods of time (i.e., seconds in the STM stores, and minutes to lifetime in the LTM store) and they have varying capacity limits: large for the LTM store, very limited for the STM store—4 to 7 items, see Miller (1956), Broadbent (1958), …

Javan Gibbon (Hylobates Moloch) Non-Vocal Social Communication And Gesture Use With Conspecifics, Melanie Bell

All Master's Theses

I explored gestures used by captive Javan gibbons (Hylobates moloch) at the Gibbon Conservation Center (Santa Clarita, CA). I hypothesized that a sender gibbon’s gesture modality would vary with the recipient gibbon’s attentional state and the sender would be equally likely to use all modalities (tactile, visual, actions, and facial expressions) when the recipient was attending (facing the sender), but would use more tactile gestures and actions when the recipient was non-attending (oriented away from the sender). I collected data from 10 individuals using all-occurrences sampling and an ethogram to score behaviors from video recordings. In 1,143 interactions, …

Electrophysiological And Behavioral Working Memory Differences Between Musicians And Non-Musicians, Benjamin P. Richardson

All Master's Theses

The current study examines the P300 brainwave and working memory differences between musicians and non-musicians. Differences in aspects of recorded electrical brain activity have been used to quantify differences in updating processes of working memory possibly related to differences in amount of music experience. The current study is designed to partially replicate and enhance a method previously implemented in research describing how music experience may be associated with differences in visual processing as well auditory working memory and executive function. Behavioral data were collected using six standardized subtest measures of the TOMAL – II, followed by ERP recordings during a …

The Effects Of Feedback Sequence On Cognitive Performance, Travis W. Pyle

All Master's Theses

The current study tested the effects of feedback sequence on performance on a visual-spatial task. Twenty-three female participants were randomly assigned to one of five feedback sequence conditions which occurred after two consecutive trials of a hole-punch task. The five feedback sequence conditions consisted of positive-positive (i.e., positive feedback followed by positive feedback), positive-negative, negative-positive, negative-negative, and a no-feedback control group. Positive feedback was presented as a 80%-90% accuracy range whereas negative feedback was a 30%-40% accuracy range. Third trial accuracy and completion time were measured as was locus of control via the Internal Control Index (ICI) survey. Analyses revealed …

Judging Dread: A Quantitative Investigation Of Affect, Psychometric Dread And Risk Consequence, Melvyn Griffiths

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Risk is generally understood as a product of the likelihood and consequence of an event. However, the way in which estimations of consequences are formed is unclear due to the complexities of human perception. In particular, the influence of Affect, defined as positive or negative qualities subjectively assigned to stimuli, may skew risk consequence judgements. Thus a clearer understanding of the role of Affect in risk consequence estimations has significant implications for risk management, risk communication and policy formulation.

In the Psychometric tradition of risk perception, Affect has become almost synonymous with the concept of Dread, despite Dread being measured …