Cognitive Psychology Commons^™

Early Indicators Of Cognitive Dysfunction: The Role Of Mild Behavioral Impairment, Hillary J. Rouse

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Older age is associated with an increased risk for cognitively impairing diseases such as dementia. Despite significant research to find ways to cure this disease, there has been little success. However, a critical need when an intervention is discovered is a need to find ways to identify people who are at the greatest risk of developing dementia earlier in the disease process so that interventions can be implemented at that time. This could potentially lessen their risk or delay when they are diagnosed. Using longitudinal data from the National Alzheimer’s Coordinating Center (NACC), the aims of this current dissertation were …

Directing Attention In Second Language Phonological Contrast Learning, Laura Conover

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Why are some people better at learning new languages than others? There is a rich body of research examining this issue from multiple perspectives and at all levels of language. This study attempts to add to that knowledge at the most fundamental level of language by examining potential influences on the learning of novel phoneme contrasts. The purpose of this study was to explore whether individual differences in attentional capabilities would help adults learn a non-native phonological contrast, and whether providing explicit directions that would guide the learners’ attention could help boost their performance. VCV recordings of the Thai /p/ …

Review Of Innumeracy In The Wild: Misunderstanding And Misusing Numbers By Ellen Peters, Gizem Karaali

Numeracy

Ellen Peters’s new book Innumeracy in the Wild: Misunderstanding and Misusing Numbers (Oxford University Press, 2020) is a whirlwind tour of psychological research on numeracy and its interactions with decision-making. The book is packed full of convincing arguments about the impact of numeracy and innumeracy on people's decisions and life outcomes, piles of supporting evidence and relevant references, and detailed expositions of multitudes of research results. Thus, it can serve the motivated reader well as a comprehensive literature review of psychologically oriented research on numeracy and decision-making.

Influences Of Reasoning And Achievement Motivation On Complex Problem Solving In A New Microworld Operationalization, Stephan Bartholdy, Ulrike Kipman

Journal of Global Education and Research

Complex Problem Solving (CPS) can be defined as those psychological processes that enable a person to achieve goals under complex conditions, which are characterized by their complexity, connectivity, dynamics, lack of transparency, and polytely. Although many hypothesized influences have previously been tested concerning their relevance for the process of solving complex problems (e.g., general intelligence), results were often found to be rather heterogeneous. As this was found to be partially caused by fundamental differences between measurements of CPS, a new operationalization was used in the present study: Following the Microworld approach, CPS was assessed in the simulation game Cities: Skylines …

Mapping Reward Values To Cues, Locations, And Objects: The Influence Of Reward Associations On Visual Attention, Constanza De Dios

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Previous work has attempted to fit reward-driven attentional selection as being exogenous (stimulus-driven) or endogenous (goal-driven). However, recent work suggests that reward’s effects on attention depend on the type of stimulus feature that the motivational information is imparted during learning (incentive salience). If true, then reward should not be limited to solely impacting early perceptual or late categorization processes attention. The current study used event-related potentials (ERPs) to test the idea that reward’s effects on attention depend on the process that the reward information is embedded – early perceptual or late categorization. Results demonstrated reward-driven effects on perceptual representation when …

Home-Based Cognitive Monitoring: The Role Of Personality And Predictors Of Adherence And Satisfaction, Nasreen A. Sadeq

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Over the last several decades, a growing awareness of the benefits of regular screening for common health conditions, such as cancer and cardiovascular diseases, has paved the way for preventative screenings to become routine in medical settings. Given that cognitive impairment is frequently reported as the number one worry of older adults, home-based cognitive monitoring may be an innovative solution that allows middle aged and older adults to take an active role in monitoring an important aspect of their health. Although several home-based cognitive monitoring programs have been validated for use in clinical and home-based settings, the Cogstate Brief Battery …

Neuro-Correlates Of Word Processing Among Four-And-Five-Year-Old Children From Homes Varying In Socio-Economic Status, Wendy Olsen

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

A large body of research relates families’ socioeconomic status (SES) to child language development (Hoff & Tian, 2005). Results from these studies indicate preschoolers from low SES backgrounds may have underdeveloped linguistic foundations required for future academic success (Sirin, 2005; Lacouri & Tissington, 2011). These differences have been said to create a 30 million word-gap between the language experiences of low and middle to high SES children by the age of 3 years. Thus, children who come from lower SES backgrounds often lack the vocabulary knowledge used in school and in textbooks (Hart & Risley, 1995). One index of SES …

Anticipatory Motivation For Drinking Alcohol: An In-Vivo Study, Bryan Benitez

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Numerous studies from various research groups have already shown the usefulness of alcohol expectancies as predictors of long-term future alcohol consumption. The present study extends this line of research by directly testing whether alcohol expectancies measured in the moment using free association are useful as predictors of alcohol consumption in the next few hours. An ecological momentary assessment (EMA) procedure was used to examine how alcohol expectancies might fluctuate during days in which many people expect to drink (e.g. Fridays, Saturdays) and how these fluctuations in alcohol expectancies might predict future drinking and/or co-vary with important contextual variables during that …

Contributions Of Appetitive And Aversive Motivational Systems To Decision-Making, Heather E. Soder

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Optimal decision-making entails outcome evaluation, comparing received costs and benefits with predicted costs and benefits. The anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), a brain area with major connections to the appetitive and aversive motivation systems, may provide the neural substrate of this evaluation process. One way to measure the relative contribution of these systems on decision-making is to measure individual differences in risk-taking behaviors. For individuals who make risky choices, this evaluation step may be biased: some show a preference for immediate, short-term rewards (increased appetitive system), while devaluing the long-term consequences of their choices (decreased aversive system). However, most studies supporting …

Can We Talk?: Synergistic Effects Of Cognitive And Behavioral Frameworks To Address Substance Use And Abuse, Lauren Jaye Adams

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Behavioral economic accounts of substance use have provided a novel framework to examine constraints that affect behaviorally driven outcomes. Several behavioral studies support the application of such frameworks to examine impulsive decision-making processes as well as how subjective reward influences substance use. Based on stimulus-response models, behavioral economic research often applies mathematical formulas to draw conclusions about behavioral outcomes. These mathematical formulas, while useful, largely ignore decades of cognitive psychology research that have examined state-based influences (e.g., mood, environment, motivational processes, etc.) on behavioral sequelae. To address this issue, the present study merged a cognitive framework into two behavioral economic …

Moderation Analysis Of Bowel Function Among Nutrients And Physical Function Or Depression, As Well As Whether Bowel Function Is Related To Cognition In Older Adults, Jessie Alwerdt

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

As we age, the risk for gut issues, such as smooth muscle tone, may be an underlying indirect or direct cause or risk factor for many age-related issues, such as frailty. Consequences of decreased motility and depleted epithelial barrier may result in nutrient deficiencies that may increase the risk for malnutrition (Brownie, 2006). Further, there is increasing evidence that there is a gut-brain-axis relationship that may influence cognition and mental health issues, such as depression and anxiety. While there are relationships established, the interconnections of these factors have yet to be fully understood.

This dissertation examined several relationships specific to …

The Effects Of Cognitive Training Among Individuals With Neurodegenerative Diseases, Elise Gabriela Valdes

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

With the growing older adult population, neurodegenerative diseases common in old age such as mild cognitive impairment (MCI) or Parkinson’s disease (PD) are becoming increasingly germane areas of research. Pharmacological treatments have thus far been unsuccessful in treating cognitive decline associated with these neurodegenerative disorders. Alternative interventions, such as cognitive training programs, have shown promise. The current dissertation contains three papers examining cognitive interventions in neurodegenerative diseases. The first paper examined the longitudinal effects of cognitive speed of processing training (SPT) among those with PD. Results showed that training gains seen at initial post-test were maintained three months later. The …

The Effects Of Temporal Preparation On Reaction Time, Glen Robert Forester

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

When responding to external stimuli, preparation reduces Reaction Time (RT). One form of preparation known as temporal preparation results from advance knowledge about when a stimulus will appear. We used Event Related Potentials to investigate how increasing temporal preparation decreases RT during a speeded, choice RT task by manipulating temporal preparation within subjects. In order to determine which cognitive processes are speeded, the latencies of the Lateralized Readiness Potential (LRP) and P300 were examined across two levels of temporal preparation. In line with previous research the stimulus locked LRP, but not the response locked LRP, was speeded when temporal preparation …

Exploring The Relationship Between Physical Activity And Everyday Cognitive Function In Older Adults: Within- And Between- Person Variability, Christine Haley

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Research suggests that physical activity may play a role in preserving cognitive function in older adulthood. However, the exact nature, direction, and magnitude of observed associations remain unclear. The current study utilized a microlongitudinal design to repeatedly assess cognitive function and physical activity across five days. Two studies examined relationships between physical activity, physical fitness, and cognitive function among community-dwelling older adults. The first study examined associations between baseline performance in a measure of everyday cognition and multiple measures of physical activity and physical fitness. Bivariate analyses revealed that objectively measured physical activity of moderate-to-vigorous intensity, repeated chair stand time …

Semantic Feature Distinctiveness And Frequency, Katherine Marie Lamb

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Lexical access is the process in which basic components of meaning in language, the lexical entries (words) are activated. This activation is based on the organization and representational structure of the lexical entries. Semantic features of words, which are the prominent semantic characteristics of a word concept, provide important information because they mediate semantic access to words. An experiment was conducted to examine the importance of semantic feature distinctiveness and feature frequency in accessing the lexical representations of young and older adults in an off-line task using features of animals. The McRae, Cree, Seidenberg, and McNorgan (2005) feature norm corpus …