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Jason R. Themanson, Ph.D

Selected Works

Articles 1 - 8 of 8

Full-Text Articles in Cognitive Psychology

Examining The Relationships Between Self-Efficacy, Task-Relevant Attentional Control, And Task Performance: Evidence From Event-Related Brain Potentials, Jason R. Themanson, Peter J. Peter J. Rosen Apr 2015

Examining The Relationships Between Self-Efficacy, Task-Relevant Attentional Control, And Task Performance: Evidence From Event-Related Brain Potentials, Jason R. Themanson, Peter J. Peter J. Rosen

Jason R. Themanson, Ph.D

Self-efficacy (SE) is a modifiable psychosocial factor related to individuals’ beliefs in their capabilities to successfully complete courses of action and has been shown to be positively associated with task performance. The authors hypothesized that one means through which SE is related with improved performance is through enhanced task-relevant attentional control during task execution. To assess this hypothesis, we examined the relationships between SE and behavioral and neural indices of task performance and task-relevant attentional control for 76 young adults during the completion of a flanker task. Results showed that greater SE was associated with greater response accuracy and P3b …

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The Ongoing Cognitive Processing Of Exclusionary Social Events: Evidence From Event-Related Potentials, Jason R. Themanson Dec 2014

The Ongoing Cognitive Processing Of Exclusionary Social Events: Evidence From Event-Related Potentials, Jason R. Themanson

Jason R. Themanson, Ph.D

Exclusionary social events are known to cause alterations in neural activity and attention-related processes. However, the precise nature of these neural adjustments remains unknown as previous research has been limited to examining social interactions and exclusionary events as unitary phenomena. To address this limitation, we assessed neural activity during both inclusionary and exclusionary social interactions by examining event-related brain potentials at multiple points within each social event. Our results show an initial enhancement of anterior cingulate cortex-related activation, indexed by the anterior N2, in response to specific exclusionary events followed by an enhanced attentional orienting response, indexed by the P3a, …

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Measuring Neural And Behavioral Activity During Ongoing Computerized Social Interactions: An Examination Of Event-Related Brain Potentials, Jason R. Themanson Nov 2014

Measuring Neural And Behavioral Activity During Ongoing Computerized Social Interactions: An Examination Of Event-Related Brain Potentials, Jason R. Themanson

Jason R. Themanson, Ph.D

Social exclusion is a complex social phenomenon with powerful negative consequences. Given the impact of social exclusion on mental and emotional health, an understanding of how perceptions of social exclusion develop over the course of a social interaction is important for advancing treatments aimed at lessening the harmful costs of being excluded. To date, most scientific examinations of social exclusion have looked at exclusion after a social interaction has been completed. While this has been very helpful in developing an understanding of what happens to a person following exclusion, it has not helped to clarify the moment-to-moment dynamics of the …

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The Effects Of Social Exclusion On The Ern And The Cognitive Control Of Action Monitoring, Jason R. Themanson, Aaron B. Ball, Stephanie M. Khatcherian, Peter J. Rosen Dec 2013

The Effects Of Social Exclusion On The Ern And The Cognitive Control Of Action Monitoring, Jason R. Themanson, Aaron B. Ball, Stephanie M. Khatcherian, Peter J. Rosen

Jason R. Themanson, Ph.D

The current study investigated the influence of social exclusion, created through the Cyberball paradigm, on cognitive control using neural and behavioral measures of action monitoring. Healthy young adults performed a modified flanker task while their post-error behavior (accuracy, RT) and error-related negativity (ERN) were assessed. Results indicated that excluded participants showed decreased ERN and post-error response accuracy compared to included participants following their social interactions. These findings suggest that a common neural framework may exist for cognitive control processes and that cognitive control allocated toward exclusion-related processing following exclusionary social interactions may disrupt the capability to support self-regulatory action monitoring.

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An Event-Related Examination Of Neural Activity During Social Interactions, Jason R. Themanson, Stephanie M. Khatcherian, Aaron B. Ball, Peter J. Rosen Apr 2013

An Event-Related Examination Of Neural Activity During Social Interactions, Jason R. Themanson, Stephanie M. Khatcherian, Aaron B. Ball, Peter J. Rosen

Jason R. Themanson, Ph.D

Social exclusion is known to cause alterations in neural activity and perceptions of social distress. However, previous research is largely limited to examining social interactions as a unitary phenomenon without investigating adjustments in neural and attentional processes that occur during social interactions. To address this limitation, we examined neural activity on a trial-by-trial basis during different social interactions. Our results show conflict monitoring neural alarm activation, indexed by the N2, in response to specific exclusionary events; even during interactions that are inclusionary overall and in the absence of self-reported feelings of social pain. Furthermore, we show enhanced attentional activation to …

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Alterations In Error-Related Brain Activity And Post-Error Behavior Over Time, Jason R. Themanson, Matthew B. Pontifex, Charles H. Hillman, Peter J. Rosen, Edward Mcauley Dec 2011

Alterations In Error-Related Brain Activity And Post-Error Behavior Over Time, Jason R. Themanson, Matthew B. Pontifex, Charles H. Hillman, Peter J. Rosen, Edward Mcauley

Jason R. Themanson, Ph.D

This study examines the relation between the error-related negativity (ERN) and post-error behavior over time in healthy young adults (N = 61). Event-related brain potentials were collected during two sessions of an identical flanker task. Results indicated changes in ERN and post-error accuracy were related across task sessions, with more negative ERN associated with greater improvements in post-error Accuracy. This relationship was independent of any cross-sectional relationships between overall task performance, individual difference factors, including personality and self-efficacy, and indices of self-regulatory action monitoring. These results indicate that the relation between ERN and post-error accuracy remains intact and consistent regardless …

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Neural Correlates Of The Implicit Association Test: Evidence For Semantic And Emotional Processing, Jason R. Themanson, John K. Williams Aug 2011

Neural Correlates Of The Implicit Association Test: Evidence For Semantic And Emotional Processing, Jason R. Themanson, John K. Williams

Jason R. Themanson, Ph.D

The implicit association test (IAT) has been widely used in social cognitive research over the past decade. Controversies have arisen over what cognitive processes are being tapped into using this task. While most models use behavioral (RT) results to support their claims, little research has examined neurocognitive correlates of these behavioral measures. The present study measured event-related brain potentials (ERPs) of participants while completing a gay-straight IAT in order to further understand the processes involved in a typical group bias IAT. Results indicated significantly smaller N400 amplitudes and significantly larger LPP amplitudes for compatible trials than for incompatible trials, suggesting …

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Aerobic Fitness And Cognitive Development: Event-Related Brain Potential And Task Performance Indices Of Executive Control In Preadolescent Children, Jason R. Themanson, Charles H. Hillman, Sarah M. Buck, Matthew B. Pontifex, Darla M. Castelli Dec 2008

Aerobic Fitness And Cognitive Development: Event-Related Brain Potential And Task Performance Indices Of Executive Control In Preadolescent Children, Jason R. Themanson, Charles H. Hillman, Sarah M. Buck, Matthew B. Pontifex, Darla M. Castelli

Jason R. Themanson, Ph.D

The relationship between aerobic fitness and executive control was assessed in 38 higher- and lower-fit children (Mage = 9.4 years), grouped according to their performance on a field test of aerobic capacity. Participants performed a flanker task requiring variable amounts of executive control while event-related brain potential responses and task performance were assessed. Results indicated that higher-fit children performed more accurately across conditions of the flanker task and following commission errors when compared to lower-fit children, whereas no group differences were observed for reaction time. Neuroelectric data indicated that P3 amplitude was larger for higher- compared to lower-fit children …

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