Cognitive Psychology Commons^™

Quantifying Neuromelanin Content Across Varying Magnetic Field Strengths: A Comparative Analysis, Laiba Rizwan

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Neuromelanin (NM) is an insoluble dark pigment molecule that is found in the substantia nigra of the human brain. Due to its paramagnetic nature, NM can be imaged using MRI in the form of neuromelanin sensitive contrast. This method, known as Neuromelanin Sensitive Magnetic Resonance Imaging (NM-MRI) allows non-invasive imaging of the human substantia nigra through its by-product, NM. NM-MRI research has been mostly done using lower field strength (3 or 1.5 Tesla) MRI scans. The advent of high field strength imaging, e.g., 7 Tesla (7T) provides the opportunity to study neuromelanin production sites with higher spatial resolution and enhanced …

A Transdiagnostic Examination Of Cognitive Heterogeneity In Children And Adolescents With Neurodevelopmental Disorders, Sarah Al-Saoud, Emily S. Nichols, Emma G. Duerden, Loretta Norton

Western Libraries Undergraduate Research Awards (WLURAs)

Children and adolescents with neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs) demonstrate extensive cognitive heterogeneity that is not adequately captured by traditional diagnostic systems. Using a transdiagnostic approach, a retrospective cohort study of cognitive functioning was conducted with a large heterogenous sample (n = 1529) of children and adolescents 7 to 18 years of age with NDDs. Measures of short-term memory, verbal ability, and reasoning were administered to participants with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autism spectrum disorder (ASD), comorbid ADHD/ASD, and typically developing (TD) participants using a 12-item web-based neurocognitive testing battery. Unsupervised machine learning techniques were implemented to create a self-organizing map (SOM), …

Developmental Differences In The Learning And Consolidation Of Linguistic Regularities, Sarah Berger

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Relative to adults, children have a well-known advantage for learning linguistic regularities, which could be partially driven by their deeper sleep. To examine the relationship between consolidation and language learning across development, children and adults learned a novel article system with an implicit grammatical rule. Participants performed a judgment task on phrases containing the novel articles before and after a night of EEG-monitored sleep. We found that rule sensitivity emerged rapidly in children, whereas it did not emerge until the second session in adults. Children demonstrated better generalization of the rule than adults. Consolidation effects showed a developmental double dissociation, …

Characterizing A Novel Mobile Game Battery Assessment: A Comparison Of Performance-Based And Survey-Based Executive Functioning Instruments, Josephine A. Pham

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Exploratory characterization of a novel mobile game battery was conducted via a correlational comparison with a standardized assessment of executive functioning. Previous literature has shown that computer-based and survey-based instruments have either very weak correlation or no correlation at all – giving the impression that these instruments may not measure the same constructs of executive functioning. Findings from the current exploratory study demonstrated significant associations but weak correlational strength between tasks from the computer-based game battery and an updated standardized survey-based instrument. This confirmed a trend found in previous literature, demonstrating little overlap between both instruments in executive functioning measurement. …

Comparing Executive Functions In Dancers Versus Aerobic Exercisers: A Study On Older Adults, Jai S. Ravipati

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Many older adults may experience cognitive decline with aging, and with a rising aging population it is important to investigate interventions that improve cognitive functions. The purpose of this study was to assess differences in executive functioning between older adult dancers and older adult aerobic exercisers. Given that dance involves the use of executive functions, in addition to engaging in aerobic exercise, older adult dancers were expected to score higher on the executive functioning tasks than the older adult aerobic exercisers. Using the Cambridge Brain Sciences Battery to assess executive functioning, this study sought to compare older adults, 50 years …

In Search Of Psychiatric Kinds: Natural Kinds And Natural Classification In Psychiatry, Nicholas Slothouber

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

In recent years both philosophers and scientists have asked whether or not our current kinds of mental disorder—e.g., schizophrenia, depression, bipolar disorder—are natural kinds; and, moreover, whether or not the search for natural kinds of mental disorder is a realistic desideratum for psychiatry. In this dissertation I clarify the sense in which a kind can be said to be “natural” or “real” and argue that, despite a few notable exceptions, kinds of mental disorder cannot be considered natural kinds. Furthermore, I contend that psychopathological phenomena do not cluster together into kinds in the way that paradigmatic natural kinds (e.g., chemical …

How Do Humans Process Magnitudes? An Examination Of The Neural And Cognitive Underpinnings Of Symbols, Quantities, And Size In Adults And Children, Helen Moriah Sokolowski

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

A striking way that humans differ from other species is our unique ability to represent and manipulate symbols. This ability to process numerical magnitudes symbolically (e.g., ‘three’, ‘3’) is widely thought to be supported by an ancient system that evolved to process nonsymbolic numerical magnitudes (i.e., quantities). In this thesis, I present four empirical studies to uncover whether symbolic representations are indeed supported by the system that evolved to process quantities, or if symbolic representations are sub-served by a similar but ultimately distinct system.

In experiments 1 and 2, I investigate how the adult brain processes symbols and quantities using …

Cognitive, Neural, And Educational Contributions To Mathematics Performance: A Closer Look At The Roles Of Numerical And Spatial Skills, Zachary C.K. Hawes

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The principal aims of this thesis were to (1) provide new insights into the cognitive and neural associations between spatial and mathematical abilities, and (2) translate and apply findings from the field of numerical cognition to the teaching and learning of early mathematics.

Study 1 investigated the structure and interrelations amongst cognitive constructs related to numerical, spatial, and executive function (EF) skills and mathematics achievement in 4- to 11-year old children (N=316). Results revealed evidence of highly related, yet separable, cognitive constructs. Together, numerical, spatial, and EF skills explained 84% of the variance in mathematics achievement (controlling for chronological age). …

What Are The Cognitive Mechanisms That Underlie Our Theory Of Mind? Potential Insights From Information Theory, Nellie Kamkar

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Theory of Mind (ToM) is the ability to infer mental states. The purpose of Study 1 was to reduce performance demands on a ToM test for forty (22 females) children (M age = 4.604; SD age = 1.128). Here, a low-uncertainty condition included a behaviour repetition manipulation, intended to increase success rate—but results did not confirm our hypothesis. Potential reasons for the results of Study 1 are discussed and tested in Study 2. The purpose of Study 2 was to determine the mechanism by which ToM operates in fifty-seven (26 females) adult participants (M age = 20.632; SD age = …

Correlation Between Automatic Processing Of Symbolic And Non-Symbolic Magnitudes In Children, Jake M B Kaufman

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Does the automatic activation of number influence children’s decision-making on physical size judgments? Previous work dealing with how children process symbolic and non-symbolic numbers typically involves making direct judgments about numerical values. In this study, instead of asking for judgments about numerical magnitude, we assessed the automatic activation of number by asking children to make physical size judgments. This will allow us to further learn how children use their understanding of numbers to help them make decisions that do not directly involve numbers. In addition to this, by looking at how the processing of symbolic and non-symbolic numbers relate, we …

Measuring Engagement Of The Executive Control Network From 3 Months Of Age, Michelle Tran

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The executive control network (ECN) is critical for higher cognition and executive function (EF). Despite its importance, no scientific consensus has been reached on how and when it begins to function. In the present study, we assessed the development of the ECN in awake infants less than a year old by employing functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and naturalistic stimuli. First, we identified evocative movies that engaged infant attention. We then transferred them into adult imaging to test for which movie evoked the highest ECN response. Strong ECN responses were evoked while viewing Despicable Me, therefore we implemented this …

Conflict Processing Across Development: The Progression Of Response Inhibition Networks, Mallory Jackman

2016 Undergraduate Awards

Cognitive control processes allow individuals to guide their behaviour in the face of distracting or irrelevant stimuli, and typically continue developing into early adulthood. These processes are often tested using response inhibition paradigms such as the size congruency task, which require participants to select between conflicting responses. Previous studies have shown that activity in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) and the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) parallels the protracted development of cognitive control. Recent evidence suggests that children and adolescents may rely on more subcortical regions such as the cerebellum to process conflict. The present study aimed to comprehensively investigate activity …

Prosody: An Important Cue To Word Learning, Monica Dasilva

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Infants rely on cues from their environment during language acquisition. Prosodic features of words are one such cue and involve changes in stress and rhythmic patterns within speech. Studies have examined prosody’s influence on word segmentation and have found it to be a useful cue for detecting word boundaries (Johnson & Seidl, 2009). What is less understood is how prosody helps infants form associations between novel labels and their referents during word learning. The present thesis investigated the influence of prosodic cues on word learning. The looking times were recorded of 13 infants (19-25 months) exposed to object-label pairings that …

Empirical Validation Of An Executive Function Battery For Use In Childhood And Adolescence, Emma K. Phillips

Undergraduate Honors Theses

This research explores the reliability and efficacy of a child and adolescent adaptation of an adult battery of executive functioning, measuring the constructs of reasoning, short-term memory and verbal processing. The intent of the research is twofold as it intends to support an age appropriate adjustment of a battery of tasks presented by Hampshire, Highfield, Parkin and Owen (2012), and secondly to display the necessity of looking at executive functions as multifaceted and therefore requiring multiple tasks to encompass their complexities. The adjusted battery in analysis is composed of nine tasks that have been amended to be age appropriate for …

Dissociable And Dynamic Components Of Cognitive Control: A Developmental Electrophysiological Investigation, Matthew Waxer

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

One standard task used to investigate the development of cognitive control is the Dimensional Change Card Sort (DCCS). Performance and patterns of brain activity associated with the DCCS show continued age-related advances into early adolescence. According to many theoretical accounts, the DCCS places demands on a single underlying executive control process. Three experiments examined the possibility that the DCCS places demands on multiple control processes that follow distinct developmental trajectories. In Experiment 1, rule switching and conflict processing made orthogonal contributions to DCCS performance. Rule switching was associated with a cue-locked late frontal negativity (LFN) event-related potential (ERP) and conflict …