Cognitive Science Commons^™

Enter The Battleverse: China's Metaverse War, Josh Baughman

Military Cyber Affairs

No abstract provided.

Peripheral Storytelling: Cinematic Structures And Audience Agency, Carlos Tkacz

Far West Popular Culture Association Annual Conference

A cultural phenomenon we are all unfortunately familiar with is terrible movies. By terrible movies I mean the kind that lack any semblance of structure, movies in which the characters are flatly drawn, the storylines are predictable, and the writing is especially bad. More specifically, I am interested in why these movies seem to be breeding without end and are no longer relegated to (maybe they never were) the low budget genre films some of us love to hate. I am talking here about the relatively new phenomena of the high-budget, popular-yet-terrible film.

Specifically, I am interested in applying Structuralism, …

Eye-Tracking Using Deep Learning, Sam Trenter

Theses

Eye-tracking can be valuable for researchers in many domains. Most eye-tracking technologies require an extra piece of costly hardware. Several other available eye-tracking solutions are usually not very accurate and require a costly subscription. Our project was oriented at creating a free and open-source alternative that does not require additional equipment. We developed a deep learning-based solution as a prototype for this project. Specifically, we developed a deep learning model to predict a user’s gaze position on the screen. We created our training data set using a commercially available eye-tracker to train the model. Each training sample consists of a …

Recognition Memory For Auditory And Visual Objects, Sharica Lee, Alexa Salomon, Kevin Mohawk, Laura Werner

Undergraduate Research Symposium Posters

Visual object memory is superior to auditory object memory. Our past research showed that auditory memory was less sensitive to divide attention during study, which may be attributable to representational differences between auditory memory and visual memory.

In the present study, we attempted to equate auditory and visual memory representations in order to adequately investigate the impact of dividing attention on recognition memory.

Recognition memory is thought to rely on two distinct processes, recollection and familiarity. Recollection involves the retrieval of precise qualitative detail and is the most sensitive to dividing attention.

Infants' Intermodal Knowledge Of Gender Using Faces And Voices, Bijoux Cheun, Christina Saliba, Alexis Rice, Marian Espina

Undergraduate Research Symposium Posters

Infants begin to use intermodal knowledge to match male and female faces to the corresponding voice, in their first year of life.

Infants have more experience with female faces which should lead to greater intermodal knowledge of female faces.

Previous studies have found inconsistent results. This could be due to the type of stimuli used.

This study uses several pairs of static and dynamic faces to investigate how methodological differences may impact infants' performance.

Forgetting In Item Recognition And Pattern Separation, Mateo Marquez, Rhiannon Soriano Smith

Undergraduate Research Symposium Posters

Forgetting is commonly defined as the inability to access information that was once successfully encoded and could be retrieved with a cue, but now leads to memory failure (Frankland et al. 2013).

Memory representations based in the hippocampus engage in pattern separation and are more prone to decay than interference (Sadeh & Pertrzov, 2020).

Extra-hippocampal representations are more prone to interference than decay (Hardt et al. 2013).

Pattern Separation refers to keeping memory representations distinct from one another.

Is there more decay in pattern separation and more interference in item recognition?

The Influence Of Unitization On Recognition Memory, Ting Tong, Amaya D. Bolling-Mcdevitt Hernandez, Audrey Kirsch, Alanna N. Osmanski

Undergraduate Research Symposium Posters

Previous research on recognition memory assumes that associative recognition relies on recollection, whereas item recognition relies on a combination of recollection and familiarity. Unitization refers to the encoding strategy where two separate items are perceived as a single coherent entity or object. Research has demonstrated that unitization can facilitate familiarity-based recognition by generating representations of the stimulus and integrating it into a unified whole. To investigate this issue, we examined the effect of unitization on memory for word-pairs through two types of tests:

Associative Recognition: judge whether word pairs occurred together

Item Recognition: judge whether single words are old or …

Peripheral Blood Cell Counts As Potential Biomarkers For Alzheimer's Disease: A Look At Polygenetic Risk Scores, Melika Cummings, Yimei Lu, Joan Manuel Cue, Neel Patel, Jenifer Do

Undergraduate Research Symposium Posters

Blood-based biomarkers for neurodegenerative illnesses such as Alzheimer's disease (AD) have been extensively researched. Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a progressive neurological illness whose progression has been ascribed to gene expression. However, the pathophysiology of these disorders and its relationship to other abnormalities remain unknown. AD has been connected to PBCs, which include erythrocytes, platelets, and leukocytes and have a complicated interaction with the brain system. The pathogenesis of PBCs has been related to a negative influence on established neurodegenerative illnesses such as Alzheimer's. Candidate gene association studies have become more common as progress in mapping the human genome has increased …

A Study Into The Impact Of Screen Time On Student Gpa, Mia Brown, David Santos, Akeisha Belgrave

Harrisburg University Research Symposium: Highlighting Research, Innovation, & Creativity

With advances in technology, the use of computers has become a common habit for most college students. Recent studies show that the amount of time spent on those devices can affect their grades. (Class Project)

Effects Of Acute Exercise Intensity On Memory: Considerations Of Timing And Aerobic Endurance, William Meyers, Caroline Loeb, Mary Collins West, Bailey Bass

Honors Theses

The primary objective of this study was to find the optimal acute exercise intensity and post-exercise recovery time to enhance memory retention. A secondary objective of study was to evaluate the influence of aerobic endurance on memory and whether endurance capacity interacts with exercise intensity and post-exercise recovery period to influence memory performance. Participants were 54 undergraduate and graduate students at the University of Mississippi, with an age range of 18-23 years. Participants completed 13 visits in total. The first visit evaluated their aerobic endurance, with the remaining 12 visits including a 3 (Intensity: Control, Moderate, Vigorous) by 4 (Post-Exercise …

Classifying Dogs’ Facial Expressions: Implications For Human Cognitive Social Evolution And Cross-Species Communication, Lauren Mitchell

Symposium of Student Scholars

Facial expressions have been considered outward expressions of internal behavioral states. There is evidence that both dogs and humans subscribe to the social learning theory to acquire contextual information from past experiences in connecting facial expressions to behaviors. Previous research has shown that people are able to read dog facial expressions; however, the research is inconsistent on whether this behavior is innate or learned, as well as if this ability extends to dogs of different facial morphologies. The goal of this study was to understand the extent of humans’ ability to read facial expressions of dog breeds with different facial …

Substance Use Disorders, Cognitive Dysfunction, And Neurodivergence In Emerging Adulthood, David Posada, Jordyn Hebert

Symposium of Student Scholars

Substance Use Disorders, Cognitive Dysfunction, and Neurodivergence in Emerging Adulthood

Posada, D., Herbert, J., Weingast, L., Holliday, E.

Cognitive functioning in college students with substance use disorders (SUD) has been widely researched, however, discussions have largely concentrated on executive functions (EF) such as working memory, flexible thinking, and self-control. Literature on the relationship between cognitive dysfunction and SUD has largely underreported the influence of Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorders (ADD/ADHD) and other neurodivergent characteristics. The current review explores the state of the literature on the relationship between neurodivergence, cognitive dysfunction, and SUD in emerging adulthood. More specifically, it speculates whether college students …

Consideration Of Sex And Gender In Alzheimer’S Disease And Related Disorders From A Global Perspective, Michelle M. Mielke, Neelum T. Aggarwal, Clara Vila-Castelar, Puja Agarwal, Eider M. Arenaza-Urquijo, Benjamin Brett, Anna Brugulat-Serrat, Lyndsey E. Dubose, Willem S. Eikelboom, Jason Flatt, Nancy S. Foldi, Sanne Franzen, Paola Gilsanz, Wei Li, Alison J. Mcmanus, Debora Melo Van Lent, Sadaf Arefi Milan, Elizabeth C. Shaaban, Shana D. Stites, Erin Sundermann, Vidyani Suryadevara, Jean-Francoise Trani, Arlener D. Turner, Jet M. J. Vonk, Yakeel T. Quiroz, Ganesh M. Babulal

Social and Behavioral Health Faculty Research

Sex or gender differences in the risk of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRD) differ by world region, suggesting that there are potentially modifiable risk factors for intervention. However, few epidemiological or clinical ADRD studies examine sex differences; even fewer evaluate gender in the context of ADRD risk. The goals of this perspective are to: (1) provide definitions of gender, biologic sex, and sexual orientation, and the limitations of examining these as binary variables; (2) provide an overview of what is known with regard to sex and gender differences in the risk, prevention, and diagnosis of ADRD; and (3) discuss …

Facial Recognition As It Relates To The Obstruction Of Holistic Processing By Partial Occlusion, Karen B. Raymond

Honors College Theses

Facial recognition is an important cognitive function in communication and is how we process, remember, and recall facial information. Research concerning processing styles and their effects on facial recognition accuracy is a prominent subject within the field of cognitive psychology. Holistic processing and featural processing have been experimentally manipulated in various ways with an aim to determine which of these processing styles would aid with accurate recognition. The current study is a replication of a previous study that examined the effects of masks on face information processing and recognition. This study assesses the effects of partial occlusion on face information …

Effect Of Sin Lek Rice Intervention On Cognitive Function, Dietary Patterns, And Fecal Microbiota Of Elementary School Children In Chiang Rai, Thailand, Angie Setthavongsack, Siam Popluechai, Jackilen Shannon, Justin Denny, Eleni Gentekaki, Kongkiat Kespechara, Lucsame Gruneck, Thomas J. Sharpton, Kullawong Niwed, Lisa K. Marriott

OHSU-PSU School of Public Health Annual Conference

Thailand has struggled with malnutrition rates in young children. Rice is a key component of Southeast Asian diets and a whole grain rice varietal (Sin Lek) may support improved nutrition. Diet can influence cognitive function and human gut microbiota, which were explored in the context of a rice intervention. We conducted a pilot study using a non-randomized, crossover clinical trial of Sin Lek rice versus traditional white rice consumption in elementary school children in Chiang Rai, Thailand. Outcomes related to diet, anthropological factors, cognitive function (e.g., short-term working memory, attention, impulsivity), and gut microbial populations were measured at baseline and …

Invertebrate Sentience Annotated Bibliography, Anne-Sophie Blouin, Nicolas Goulet, Katherine Mills, Karya St-Pierre, Stevan Harnad

General - Animal Feeling

The bibliography identifies and summarizes over 60 scientific reports on the development and possible presence of sentience (the capacity to feel positive and negative states) in a range of invertebrate species. The summaries provide a useful snapshot of what capabilities might be required to identify the presence of sentience in a specific invertebrate.

Cognitive Insights And Implications Of Singing: Actions, Proprioception, And Perception In Vocal Performance., Juanita Leal

Graduate Student Research Symposium

Studies in vocal performance have suggested the interdependence of cognitive reactions and performative proprioception. This interdependence indicates an introspective self-evaluation process during the act of musical performance. When affected by singers’ judgment of vocal production, self-evaluation and perceptive processes potentially change due to implicit competitive roles in the music performance environment.

In this project, I delve deeper into the ways the brain recognizes aspects of vocal sounds, how it reacts to the process of singing, and how it can identify them as its own In two different environments: the controlled practice space and the variable performance space. By reflecting on …

Observers Use Gesture To Disambiguate Contrastive Expressions Of Preference, Fey Parrill, Grace Moran, Hannah Boylan, Ishita Gupta, Aisha Zamir

Faculty Scholarship

We present two studies exploring how participants respond when a speaker contrasts two ideas, then expresses an ambiguous preference towards one of them. Study 1 showed that, when reading a speaker’s preference as text, participants tended to choose whatever was said last as matching the speaker’s preference, reflecting the recent-mention bias of anaphora resolution. In Study 2, we asked whether this pattern changed for audio versions of our stimuli. We found that it did not. We then asked whether observers used gesture to disambiguate the speaker’s preference. Participants watched videos in which two statements were spoken. Co-speech gestures were produced …

Counterfactual Analysis Of Differential Comorbidity Risk Factors In Alzheimer’S Disease And Related Dementias, Yejin Kim, Kai Zhang, Sean I Savitz, Luyao Chen, Paul E Schulz, Xiaoqian Jiang

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRD) is a multifactorial disease that involves several different etiologic mechanisms with various comorbidities. There is also significant heterogeneity in the prevalence of ADRD across diverse demographics groups. Association studies on such heterogeneous comorbidity risk factors are limited in their ability to determine causation. We aim to compare counterfactual treatment effects of various comorbidity in ADRD in different racial groups (African Americans and Caucasians). We used 138,026 ADRD and 1:1 matched older adults without ADRD from nationwide electronic health records, which extensively cover a large population’s long medical history in breadth. We matched African Americans …

Usability Of Health-Related Websites By Filipino-American Adults And Nursing Informatics Experts, Kathleen Begonia

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Filipino-Americans are an understudied minority group with high prevalence and mortality from chronic conditions, such as cardiovascular disease and diabetes. Facing barriers to care and lack of culturally appropriate health resources, they frequently use the internet to obtain health information. It is unknown whether they perceive health-related websites to be useful or easy to use because there are no published usability studies involving this population. Using the Technology Acceptance Model as a theoretical framework, this study investigated the difference between website design ratings by experts and the perceptions of Filipino-American users to determine if usability guidelines influenced the perceived ease …