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Full-Text Articles in Cognitive Psychology
Effects Of Nicotine On A Translational Model Of Working Memory, David Alderson Macqueen
Effects Of Nicotine On A Translational Model Of Working Memory, David Alderson Macqueen
USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations
Cognitive research with human non-smokers has demonstrated that nicotine generally enhances performance on tasks of attention but, working memory does not appear to be affected. In contrast, nicotine has been shown to produce robust enhancements of working memory in non-human animals. To address this disparity, the present study investigated the effects of nicotine (2mg, 4mg nicotine gum, and placebo) on the performance of 30 non-smokers (15 male) completing a working memory task developed for rodents (the odor span task, OST). Nicotine has been reported to enhance OST performance in rodents and the present study sought to determine whether the effect …
Facilitating Visual Selective Attention Via Monetary Reward: The Influence Of Feedback, Hedonic Capacity, And Lifetime Major Depressive Disorder, Lauren Elizabeth Taubitz
Facilitating Visual Selective Attention Via Monetary Reward: The Influence Of Feedback, Hedonic Capacity, And Lifetime Major Depressive Disorder, Lauren Elizabeth Taubitz
Theses and Dissertations
Recently, several researchers have demonstrated that reward enhances visual selective attention; however, no one has evaluated how individual differences in reward sensitivity or psychopathology involving disturbances in hedonic capacity (e.g., Major Depressive Disorder (MDD)) affect this process. In this investigation, a novel incentivized visual search task was developed to unite the literatures on reward facilitation of attention with the studies of individual differences in hedonic capacity and remitted MDD (rMDD). 161 undergraduates responded to self-report measures and completed standard and incentivized visual search tasks. In the standard task, subjects had to indicate if a letter F (target) was present or …
Activating The Biological And Behavioral Immune Systems, Julia Christensen
Activating The Biological And Behavioral Immune Systems, Julia Christensen
Departmental Honors Projects
Psychology recognizes two distinct facets of the immune system: the biological immune system (BIO), covering all processes of the typical immune system, and the behavioral immune system (BEH), a set of cognitive, emotional, and behavioral responses to environmental stimuli. Research on this dual immune system indicates that each is capable of influencing the other (Schaller & Park, 2011). For example, perception of illness in others can activate the sympathetic nervous system (Schaller, Miller, Gervais, Yager, & Chen, 2010). Furthermore, evidence suggests that these two systems are capable of influencing moral judgment (Inbar, Pizarro, & Bloom, 2008). This study aims to …
I Can See What You Are Saying : Auditory Labels Reduce Visual Search Times, Kit Wing Cho
I Can See What You Are Saying : Auditory Labels Reduce Visual Search Times, Kit Wing Cho
Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)
The present study explored the mechanisms underlying the self-directed speech effect, the finding that relative to silent reading of a label (e.g., “DOG”), saying it aloud reduces visual search reaction times (RTs) for locating a target picture among distractors. Experiment 1 examined whether this effect is due to a confound in the differences in the number of cues in self-directed speech (two) vs. silent reading (one) and tested whether speech, per se, is required for the effect. Self-directed speech did not reduce search RTs more than hearing only a pre-recorded auditory presentation of a label, both of which reduced RTs …
Cognitive Fatigue: Exploring The Relationship Between The Fatigue Effect And Action Video-Game Experience, James Brooks
Cognitive Fatigue: Exploring The Relationship Between The Fatigue Effect And Action Video-Game Experience, James Brooks
Theses: Doctorates and Masters
the effects of cognitive fatigue. Despite this, there remain advantages to regularly playing action video games. In Study 1, VGPs were significantly better at multitasking on the MATB-II compared to the NVGPs. Further, VGPs also demonstrated superior multitasking when driving, as they made significantly fewer traffic violations compared to NVGPs when not fatigued. VGPs demonstrated eye-movements similar to those of expert drivers; however, this did not result in any difference in performance between the two groups. There was also some evidence of a positive effect of video game training, although there was no advantage of one training technique over the …