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Full-Text Articles in Experimental Analysis of Behavior

The Effects Of Pre-Trial Event Stimulus Properties On Timing In The Peak Interval Procedure, Daniel A. Garces Sep 2017

The Effects Of Pre-Trial Event Stimulus Properties On Timing In The Peak Interval Procedure, Daniel A. Garces

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

In the peak interval procedure, intruded conditioned stimuli produce shifts in peak/middle time towards later values, regardless of whether these stimuli are presented prior to or during the timing signal. Although the effects of during-trial stimulus properties—temporal location, duration, and salience—have been previously reported, no research exists on how before-trial stimulus properties influence the extent of shifts in middle time. In the present study, we manipulated within subjects both the temporal location and type (i.e., cue alone, response-independent reinforcer alone, or cue and response-contingent reinforcer together) of the pre-trial event. An individual-trial analysis suggested that the type of stimulus event …


Harm And Victim Age As Factors In The Determination Of Intentionality And Culpability, Donal David Barnard Jr. Sep 2017

Harm And Victim Age As Factors In The Determination Of Intentionality And Culpability, Donal David Barnard Jr.

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

In the United States criminal justice system, jurors are directed to determine a defendant’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt by establishing both the act of committing a crime (actus reus) and the culpable mental state of the defendant (mens rea), that is, the defendant’s intentionality. The role of a juror in a criminal case is that of a factfinder, deciding whether the two elements of the crime have been met. Criminal cases where jurors are asked to decide the facts vary in the harm that resulted. The more severe the harm, the greater the perceived injustice. This …


People Change: Impression Management Influences Autobiographical Memories, Holly Elizabeth Cole Aug 2017

People Change: Impression Management Influences Autobiographical Memories, Holly Elizabeth Cole

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This paper presents the results of an experiment that tested a new impression management strategy, termed memory enhancement, and the long-term implications of using memory enhancement. People often share the events that occur in their everyday lives to others in the form of stories. This research was designed to determine if people will alter the way they share previous events to create a specific impression. It is possible that using the impression management strategy of memory enhancement will create long lasting changes to the actual memory of the event. This was tested in an experiment in which participants were put …


The Role Of Social Class And Construal Level In Social Justice And Fairness Beliefs, Prerana Bharadwaj Jul 2017

The Role Of Social Class And Construal Level In Social Justice And Fairness Beliefs, Prerana Bharadwaj

Doctoral Dissertations

What predicts support for the redistribution of resources to improve socioeconomic inequality? Social class, or the subjective perception of one’s resources and position in relation to others in a larger society, was examined as one relevant characteristic. Across four experiments, social class as subjective social status was manipulated (two) and measured (all four), and found to have a significant negative effect on support for the moral values of group-based equality (social justice) but not on individual deservingness (fairness) separate from political identity and other demographic characteristics. This effect was seen on stated principles but particularly relevant in approval ratings of …


Radio Dispatch Cognitive Abilities And Working Memory, David A. Buitron Jun 2017

Radio Dispatch Cognitive Abilities And Working Memory, David A. Buitron

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Public safety radio dispatchers incontrovertibly have to manage multiple tasks at any given time, from relaying lifesaving information to field units, to simultaneously overseeing several monitors and keeping up with the radio transmissions in a timely manner. Interestingly, however, the underlying cognitive abilities necessitated for performing such tasks have not been thoroughly investigated. To begin understanding the cognitive faculties that underlie dispatching tasks, we gauged cognitive ability measures relevant to dispatcher duties and introduced Working Memory Capacity (WMC) as underlying the differentiation on performance. The four general dispatcher cognitive factors identified by Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) literature, were …


Age-Related Changes In Visual Spatial Performance, Samantha Farrell May 2017

Age-Related Changes In Visual Spatial Performance, Samantha Farrell

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

Visual spatial skills allow individuals to understand the relationship between objects, people, and the environment for their everyday activities. Visual spatial abilities incorporate visual, motor, and cognitive components, each of which changes across the lifespan. The current study examined the effects of age-related changes and practice type on visual spatial performance. Participants between 40 and 79 years of age were asked to complete the Block Design Task (BDT) by using nine blocks to recreate various designs. Both accuracy and latency were measured to examine these changes. Task difficulty and practice type were varied and cognitive abilities were measured via MMSE …


The Effects Of Pointing Gestures On Visual Attention, Samaria J. Hamilton May 2017

The Effects Of Pointing Gestures On Visual Attention, Samaria J. Hamilton

Honors College Theses

Visual attention is a process that involves concentrating on select features, such as sensory cues, within the complex environment. Sensory cues within the visual field capture and redirect our attention. Previous research on eye gaze revealed that direct gaze captures attention. In the present study, pointing gestures and motion cues were tested together in a visual search task to examine their effects on attention. Participants were instructed to identify a target letter presented on one of four hands. Initially, two hands displayed a pointing gesture while the other two displayed an open gesture. Next, a target letter appeared, one open …


The Relationship Between Mood And Implicit Learning, Kathleen Larson May 2017

The Relationship Between Mood And Implicit Learning, Kathleen Larson

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This dissertation investigates whether a person’s current mood state influences their ability to learn implicitly. Implicit learning refers to learning about regularities in the environment without having conscious access to the information (e.g., Reber, 1967). According to the affect-as-information hypothesis, a positive mood increases global processing of incoming information and negative mood leads to local processing (e.g., Clore & Storbeck, 2006); however, most previous studies that investigated mood and cognition have focused on more explicit types of learning and decision making, but few have examined implicit processes. Thus, the current experiments examined how varying levels of mood and arousal affect …


Explicit Programming For Icon Rings: Visual-Based Discrimination, Samantha Borowski Apr 2017

Explicit Programming For Icon Rings: Visual-Based Discrimination, Samantha Borowski

Honors Theses

Instructional icons are helpful as basic direction following is the basis for complex skills needed later in life. These instructions should have a good training so that children can get the basic skills and can move on to the complex skills. The goal of the project was to increase the correct responses to instructional icons. Visuals are a good tool for learning because it attaches a picture with the event that is happening or will happen. Children with autism sometimes struggle when they are introduced to a new environment so having a system in place to help make instruction following …


Cannabis Use Frequency And Mood On Creativity, Caitlin Clark Jan 2017

Cannabis Use Frequency And Mood On Creativity, Caitlin Clark

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

This study examines the relationship between cannabis use (infrequent, moderate, and heavy use) and one’s mood (neutral, positive, and negative) on creativity. Folk ideas of creativity and the relationships between cannabis use and mood may not reflect the real relationship between these factors (e.g. regarding cannabis use, it is perceived to be linked with higher rates of creativity; regarding mood, negative states [i.e. tortured artist] are thought to fuel creativity). Although both cannabis use and mood have been found to influence creativity independently, the current study is unique in its aims to identify whether cannabis use and mood interact to …


An Examination Of Imagined Contexts: The Unreliability Of Context-Dependent Memory Effects In Recall, Caitlin J. I. Tozios Jan 2017

An Examination Of Imagined Contexts: The Unreliability Of Context-Dependent Memory Effects In Recall, Caitlin J. I. Tozios

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

It is generally accepted that the environmental context present during memory encoding serves as an effective cue for recall if reinstated during retrieval. Participants who perform a free recall test in the same context as that during which they learned a set of words, often remember more words than participants who experience a context mismatch from encoding to retrieval. This is referred to as the context-dependent memory effect and forgetting due to a change in context is referred to as context-dependent forgetting. Recent evidence suggests that contexts need not always be physical but can be mentally generated or imagined and …


Improving Planning: Quantitative Evaluation Of The Premortem Technique In Field And Laboratory Settings, Madeline Peabody Jan 2017

Improving Planning: Quantitative Evaluation Of The Premortem Technique In Field And Laboratory Settings, Madeline Peabody

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

This thesis compares different plan evaluation techniques in a series of experiments. The Premortem plan evaluation method can help people reduce overconfidence and generate more reasons a plan might not succeed. This research evaluates the extension of the Premortem to shorter planning time periods, evaluates the effectiveness with team generated and executed plans, and compares the use of this technique among individuals and teams. In Experiment 1, 52 Army Cadets operating in teams completed six time-constrained field exercises that required planning, half using the Premortem and half using a standard Military plan evaluation process. When teams used the Premortem they …