Cognitive Psychology Commons^™

Mental Fatigue: Examining Cognitive Performance And Driving Behavior In Young Adults, Abigail F. Helm

Doctoral Dissertations

Mental fatigue causes an increase in task-based EEG theta and alpha power and a decrease in performance (for a review, see Tran et al., 2020). However, little is known about the emergence of mental fatigue in resting state EEG recordings and whether the progression of mental fatigue over time is influenced by individual differences. The current dissertation examined the utility of resting state EEG as a measure of mental fatigue by testing whether EEG power changed in young adults over the course of a cognitively demanding battery of tasks. The current dissertation also tested how this measure of mental fatigue …

Effect Of Environmental Enrichment On The Brain And On Learning And Cognition By Animals, Thomas R. Zentall

Psychology Faculty Publications

The humane treatment of animals suggests that they should be housed in an environment that is rich in stimulation and allows for varied activities. However, even if one’s main concern is an accurate assessment of their learning and cognitive abilities, housing them in an enriched environment can have an important effect on the assessment of those abilities. Research has found that the development of the brain of animals is significantly affected by the environment in which they live. Not surprisingly, their ability to learn both simple and complex tasks is affected by even modest time spent in an enriched environment. …

Individual Differences In Executive Functioning And Psycho-Emotional Well-Being And The Impact Of Acute Exercise On Children And Youth With Adhd, Madeline Crichton

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Short bouts of exercise can improve inhibitory control in children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). However, individual differences among children with ADHD may impact the effectiveness of exercise interventions. We investigated how individual differences in inhibitory control, mood, and self-efficacy impact the efficacy of acute exercise among children with ADHD. Sixteen participants (ages 10-14) completed two interventions: 10 minutes of exercise and 10 minutes of silent reading (control). Inhibitory control was assessed prior to the intervention, immediately after the intervention, and after a 10-minute delay. Results suggested that participants with lower initial inhibitory control benefited more from exercise than …

Effects Of Mindfulness Meditation On Selective, Sustained Attention, Brain Neural Oscillations, And Short-Term Memory, Anamaria Guzman

Honors Theses

The following extended literature review and research proposal study started initially as a complete research proposal but, due to the challenges COVID-19 has brought, it has become a stand-alone piece of work without data collection. The goal is to synthesize a broad range of literature and previous research on mindfulness meditation and its effects on attention, memory, and brain activity and thus, offering a new perspective and a proposed research path on this subject. This proposed research study, besides previous studies, indicates that mindfulness meditation is expected to improve and enhance selective and sustained attention, which results in better attentional …

Occupational Depression, Cognitive Performance, And Task Appreciation: A Study Based On Raven’S Advanced Progressive Matrices, Renzo Bianchi, Irvin Sam Schonfeld

Publications and Research

The Occupational Depression Inventory (ODI) was recently developed to assess depressive symptoms that individuals specifically attribute to their work. Research on the criterion validity of the instrument is still in its infancy. In this study, we examined whether the ODI predicted performance on, and appreciation of, a cognitively challenging test. In light of the link established between clinical depression and neuropsychological impairment, and considering that individuals with depressive symptoms are more likely to feel helpless under challenging circumstances, we hypothesized that occupational depression would be associated with poorer cognitive performance and a darkened appreciation of the task undertaken. We relied …

Why Do You Wear A Mask? Children’S Conceptualizations Of Covid-19 And Contagion Avoidance Behaviors, Emily Hillman

Scripps Senior Theses

With the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, a need has emerged for psychological research on children’s understanding of infectious disease transmission. However, little existing research examines the link between children’s cognitive reasoning about illness and their subsequent behaviors regarding its transmissibility. This study will examine children’s conceptualizations of contagious illnesses such as COVID-19 and their subsequent contagion avoidance. A mixed methods approach will be used to establish the content of children’s conceptualizations of contagion and level of causal reasoning related to illness transmission. Dyads will be constructed comprising 4-12-year-old children and their parents. It is expected that parental contagion avoidance …

Music And Its Effects On The Brain, Caitlyn Herron

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This paper will discuss, in short, how music influences our brain, as well as some behavioral and physiological effects as a result. The brain consists of many regions responsible for different cognitive processes, such as learning, memory, recall, speech, and our emotions. It has been found that music helps to facilitate all of these cognitive processes, regardless of its emotional valence or whether the music is active or passive, such as singing or listening to it, respectively. It was discovered that music influences our ability to learn novel concepts related to mathematics, reading, and even language acquisition. It was also …

A Review Of The Effects Of Dietary Restriction, Dehydration, And Caffeine Withdrawal On Cognition: Implications For A Disabled Submarine Scenario, Sarah Chabal

Journal of Human Performance in Extreme Environments

In the event that submariners become trapped aboard a disabled submarine (DISSUB), they must perform a multitude of cognitively demanding tasks in order to maximize their likelihood of survival. During this time, submariners will also be forced to endure poor living conditions, including drastic changes to their nutrition. These nutritional changes have the potential to impair submariners’ cognitive functioning and affect operational performance, which could jeopardize survival; however, the effects of DISSUB nutrition on cognitive performance are not well understood. This review first describes the unique nutritional conditions that submariners will experience in a DISSUB scenario, including the change to …

The Effect That Testing Has On Nondeclarative Memory, David Smith

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Testing has been shown to improve long-term memory retention by decreasing the amount of material forgotten, a phenomenon known as the testing effect. This positive impact of testing has been shown using direct tests of memory that require declarative memory, things like memorizing word-pairs and single-word lists. This dissertation is the first research to investigate how testing impacts nondeclarative memory using three experiments. The first and second experiment utilize the word fragment completion task to measure the effect that testing has on words learned via methodology thought to recruit either declarative or nondeclarative memory. The third experiment utilizes a probabilistic …

A Whiteheadian Innervation Of The Soma: A New Vision For The Peripheral Nervous System, David Milliern

Journal of Conscious Evolution

This essay draws attention to two problems in neuroscience’s set of assumptions. These self-defeating assumptions include: 1) the assumption that what the nervous system, especially the brain, does is synthesize experience, while also assuming philosophical realism, and 2) the problem of biological signal transduction. In the latter, neuroscientists and philosophers of biology have left unaddressed the issue that the signal differences between the inside and outside of the organismic boundary are of distinct ontological types; and yet no concern has been expressed regarding how it is possible that an organism’s inner states could reflect the experiential content flowing from outside …

Memory Bias Toward Emotional Information In Burnout And Depression, Renzo Bianchi, Eric Laurent, Irvin Sam Schonfeld, Lucas M. Bietti, Eric Mayor

Publications and Research

A sample of 1015 educational staff members, exhibiting various levels of burnout and depressive symptoms, underwent a memory test involving incident encoding of positive and negative words and a free recall task. Burnout and depression were each found to be associated with increased recall of negative items and decreased recall of positive items. Results remained statistically significant when controlling for history of depressive disorders. Burnout and depression were not related to mistakes in the reported words, or to the overall number of recalled words. This study suggests that burnout and depression overlap in terms of memory biases toward emotional information.

Microdosing Mindfulness: Understanding The Effects Of Brief Mindfulness Meditation In Children With Adhd, Marcus D. Gottlieb

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Mindfulness Meditation (MM) is receiving increased empirical support as a method for addressing ADHD symptomology. Research shows that MM interventions lasting weeks or months promote key aspects of cognitive and psycho-emotional functioning in youth with ADHD. Using a pre-post within-subjects design, we sought to determine whether a single MM session supports neurocognitive and/or psycho-emotional functioning in youth with ADHD. Sixteen participants aged 10-14 completed measures of executive and psycho-emotional functioning before/after a 10-minute MM session and silent reading control. Functional neuroimaging assessed whether MM supported changes in prefrontal cortex (PFC) activation during cognitive tasks. We found that a single MM …

The Biological, Psychological, Cognitive, And Social Perspectives On Aging: The Design Of A Healthy Aging Program For Older Adults, Melissa Santiago

Dissertations

Aging is an inevitable process, accompanied by changes in physiological, cognitive, psychological, and social facets. Researchers have investigated the physiological, cognitive, psychological, and social risk factors associated with aging and have encouraged the use of physical activity, cognitive training, and dietary interventions to alleviate risk factors. However, holistic programs dedicated to promoting successful aging among older adults are uncommon. This review sought to promote successful aging by identifying physiological, cognitive, psychological, and social risk factors that affect older adults and develop a comprehensive program to holistically mitigate these risk factors. Risk factors associated with unsuccessful aging include the development of …

Using Object-Choice Tasks To Investigate Sensory Perception In Sunda Pangolins (Manis Javanica), Joshua Dipaola

Theses and Dissertations

Pangolins are one of the most heavily poached, yet least understood mammals in the world. In this study, we used an object-choice task to assess the ecological relevance and use of sensory information in Sunda pangolin foraging behavior. This is the first controlled experiment on pangolin behavior to our knowledge.

Off-Topic Verbosity And Sustained Attention Among Young Adult And Older Adult Age Cohorts, Jessica H. Helphrey

Psychology and Counseling Theses

Off-topic verbosity (OTV) is tangential discourse with excessive and irrelevant information. Older adults have been historically labeled as having high OTV, and research has suggested that high OTV in older adults may be linked with cognitive decline. While past studies have utilized brief cognitive measures to further expound upon the links between cognition and OTV, studies have lacked consistency and lengthy measures. This study sought to elucidate the relationship between OTV and cognition in both older adult and young adult age cohorts utilizing a sustained attention measure. Young adults (n = 61; age range: 18-28, M = 20.57, SD = …

The Effects Of Verbalizable Features On Category Learning Strategies, Marwan A. Syed

Undergraduate Honors Theses

The present study investigated the effects of how verbalizable features (easy vs not-easily) are on category learning strategies with respect to the COVIS model, which states there are two competing systems (verbal and implicit) that operate simultaneously when making categorization decisions. A total of 102 undergraduate students took part in the experiment, which was an A-B categorization task conducted in a video game setting. A rule-based approach reflected the verbal system whereas a family resemblance approach reflected the implicit system. The findings partially support the hypothesis and COVIS model in that participants in the easily verbalizable condition were more likely …

The Project Talent Twin And Sibling Study: Zygosity And New Data Collection, Carol A. Prescott, Ellen E. Walters, Thalida Em Arpawong, Catalina Zavala, Tara L. Gruenewald, Margaret Gatz

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

The Project Talent Twin and Sibling (PTTS) study includes 4481 multiples and their 522 nontwin siblings from 2233 families. The sample was drawn from Project Talent, a U.S. national longitudinal study of 377,000 individuals born 1942–1946, first assessed in 1960 and representative of U.S. students in secondary school (Grades 9–12). In addition to the twins and triplets, the 1960 dataset includes 84,000 siblings from 40,000 other families. This design is both genetically informative and unique in facilitating separation of the ‘common’ environment into three sources of variation: shared by all siblings within a family, specific to twin-pairs, and associated with …

The Role Of Gamma Oscillations And Cortical Inhibition In The Development Of Working Memory In Adolescence, Christopher P. Walker

Dissertations & Theses (Open Access)

Adolescence is a dynamic period of social, cognitive, and biological changes. In particular, working memory, the ability to actively encode and maintain information over a short period of time, develops early in childhood and gradually increases in capacity and stability during adolescence. The precise neurophysiological mechanism by which working memory capacity increases during adolescence is unclear. The objective of this investigation was to evaluate the role of cortical gamma-band (> 30 Hz) oscillations—which are associated with working memory in adults—for the development of working memory capacity in adolescents, and to identify the extent to which the temporal profile of gamma-aminobutyric …

Relationships Between Personality Type And Cognitive Ability In Marmoset Monkeys (Callithrix Jacchus), Zachary Marciano

Masters Theses

Personality refers to multiple traits that are thought to be stable over time and across situations. It is recognized that personality has a neural basis and is associated with health outcomes. Whether personality is also associated with cognitive ability, however, is still a matter of intense debate. One way to examine these potential relationships is to use a nonhuman primate model for which complexities present in humans can be minimized. Recent research into the varying personality types of marmoset monkeys suggests that there are predominantly three to five core primary domains that most marmosets and other primates can be categorized …

Across Continents And Demographics, Unpredictable Maternal Signals Are Associated With Children's Cognitive Function, Elyssia Poggi Davis, Riikka Korja, Linnea Karlsson, Laura Glynn, Curt A. Sandman, Brian Vegetabile, Eeva-Leena Kataja, Saara Nolvi, Eija Sinervä, Juho Pelto, Hasse Karlsson, Hal S. Stern, Tallie Z. Baram

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

Background

Early life experiences have persisting influence on brain function throughout life. Maternal signals constitute a primary source of early life experiences, and their quantity and quality during sensitive developmental periods exert enduring effects on cognitive function and emotional and social behaviors. Here we examined if, in addition to established qualitative dimensions of maternal behavior during her interactions with her infant and child, patterns of maternal signals may contribute to the maturation of children's executive functions. We focused primarily on effortful control, a potent predictor of mental health outcomes later in life.

Methods

In two independent prospective cohorts in Turku, …

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 …

The Effects Of Acute Aerobic Exercise And Caffeine On Working Memory And Caffeine Withdrawal, Anisa Morava

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Caffeine is one of the most widely used psychoactive substances worldwide. Although caffeine elicits cognitive benefits, there are concerns regarding caffeine’s effects on certain health domains. Acute, aerobic exercise has been shown to improve cognition. The effects of aerobic exercise in comparison to caffeine on working memory (WM) in non-caffeine and caffeine consumers remains unknown. Furthermore, the effects of aerobic exercise in reducing caffeine withdrawal symptoms has yet to be examined. In Phase I, twenty-nine non-caffeine and thirty caffeine consumers completed a WM assessment, followed by aerobic exercise and caffeine administration (counterbalanced). In Phase II, twenty-five caffeine consumers underwent a …

Cognitive Intra-Individual Variability: The Effects Of Affect In A Healthy Young Adult Sample, Tovah M.D. Cowan

LSU Master's Theses

Cognition is foundational to our experience of the world, but also to how psychologists understand dysfunctions. Cognitive impairment is a feature of a variety of mental disorders, but traditional assessment measures have key limitations in prediction and classification. A proposed alternative is cognitive intraindividual variability (cIIV), which is suggested to measure cognitive control or neural inefficiencies, fluctuating within a task, or over short periods of time. cIIV has been shown to be more sensitive in classification for a variety of conditions than overall performance, including in affective disorders. Further, some research suggests that cIIV is related to self-report cognitive abilities, …

The Effects Of Working Memory Capacity And Trait Anxiety On Visual Short-Term Memory Performance, Celene Gonzalez

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Anxiety is of importance within the field of cognition because it is often associated with adverse effects on attention, information processing, learning and memory (Eysenck, 1992, 2007). In existing literature, it has been reported that trait anxiety hinders cognitive performance (i.e., working memory capacity WMC). However, the relationship between trait anxiety and cognitive performance might be moderated by working memory capacity (WMC). For example, Owens (2014) reported that trait anxiety was negatively correlated with cognitive performance in the low WMC group and positively correlated to cognitive performance in the high WMC group. Although, past research on the working memory system …

The Epistemic And Psychological Mechanisms Perpetuating Racism Within The Criminal Justice System, Danielle Walker

Theses

Abstract

Many attempts have been made by philosophers, political activists, psychologists, historians, social advocates, and others to explain the mechanisms at play in the perpetuation and resulting manifestations of systemic and institutional racism. On one side of the debate there lies a theory that there is an epistemic failure at the root of racial bias towards Blacks, white ignorance, a collective amnesia regarding what has and does take place in society, as it pertains to their oppression and isolation, like the view of philosopher Charles W. Mills. According to Mills, this type of ignorance, or non-knowing, is a cognitive phenomenon …

Evaluating Theories Of Bilingual Language Control Using Computational Models, Mark D. Lowry

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Bilingual language control refers to how bilinguals are able to speak exclusively in one language without the unintended language intruding. Two prominent verbal theories of bilingual language control have been proposed by researchers: the inhibitory control model (ICM) and the lexical selection mechanism model (LSM). The ICM posits that domain-general inhibition is employed in order to suppress the unintended language’s activation. The LSM posits that inhibition is not used; rather a lexical selection mechanism targets only the intended language’s words. In order to better test the theories’ hypotheses, I developed computational models to estimate participants’ reaction times when naming in …

Object Permanence In Asian Elephants (Elephas Maximus), Dalia Miller

Theses and Dissertations

This study investigated object permanence in Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) using visible and invisible test paradigms with single and multiple object displacements. Elephants were predicted to succeed, demonstrating a capacity for object permanence and for using vision in a cognitive task. Study outcomes supported these predictions.

Score One For Jazz: Working Memory In Jazz And Classical Musicians, Bryan E. Nichols, Clemens Wöllner, Andrea R. Halpern

Andrea Halpern

Jazz musicians rely on different skills than do classical musicians for successful performances. We investigated the working memory span of classical and jazz student musicians on musical and nonmusical working memory tasks. College-aged musicians completed the Bucknell Auditory Imagery Scale, followed by verbal working memory tests and musical working memory tests that included visual and auditory presentation modes and written or played recall. Participants were asked to recall the last word (or pitch) from each task after a distraction task, by writing, speaking, or playing the pitch on the piano. Jazz musicians recalled more pitches that were presented in auditory …

Introduction To Special Issue: Dementia And Music, Andrea R. Halpern, Isabelle Peretz, Lola L. Cuddy

Andrea Halpern

This special issue follows two previous special issues on music and neurological disorders (April 2008, Volume 23/Issue 4 and April 2010, Volume 25/Issue 4). Like its predecessors, the issue presents studies employing a patient-based approach to music perception, cognition, and emotion. Whereas the earlier issues dealt with acquired and congenital disorders and impairments, the present issue focuses on dementia, primarily on its most common form, Alzheimer's disease (AD).

Phonetic Convergence And Auditory Imagery In Reading, Josue E. Rodriguez

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

This study aimed to address whether phonetic convergence (speech imitation) and auditory imagery in reading are fundamentally governed by the same process — episodic encoding (c.f., Goldinger, 1998). A set of participants (talkers; N = 12) were recorded speaking sentences at a baseline level. Talkers were then exposed model speaker with either a fast or slow speech rate and then engaged in a reading phase where they read sentences thought to be written by that speaker. If episodic encoding predicts effects of phonetic convergence and auditory imagery in reading style, then talkers should be influenced by a speaker …