Cognition and Perception Commons^™

Alone And Radicalized: The Hidden Link Between Isolationism And Political Violence, Zaina Siddiqui

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

As some socially isolated individuals come to view political violence as legitimate, what exactly draws the line towards political extremism? My findings examine the relationship between loneliness, social marginalization, and support for political violence through psychological theories on radicalization. Using Chapman University’s American Fear Survey Wave 11, I examined the correlation between isolationism and a sense of belonging, with the latter leading to support for political violence and extremism. The project contributes to research on political extremism by focusing on loneliness as a loss of belonging and personal significance rather than on ideology or pathology alone. In my research, I …

The Impatience Of Winning: An Analysis Of Time Discounting, Predictive Modeling, And The Nba Draft, Alec R. Plante

Business and Economics Honors Papers

This paper examines whether NBA draft decisions can be better explained by incorporating non-geometric time discounting into a model of general manager decision making. Using a dataset of 285 NBA draft prospects over a 12-year period, the impact of college statistics on Value Over Replacement Player (VORP) is determined, and these impact values are then used to create a “predicted” VORP for the first 4 seasons of each player’s career: a projection of what a general manager might think of a prospect’s future value given their college statistics. Following this, geometric and hyperbolic time discounting models are applied to estimate …

Utilizing Brain Computer Interfaces That Interact With A Virtual Keyboard, Skye Lilienthal

Honors Theses

A brain-computer interface (BCI) can allow someone to utilize electrical signals in their brain to complete tasks using a computer. BCIs can help people take advantage of technology to type without the need for a traditional keyboard setup. This paper used the OpenBCI Mark IV to test the effectiveness of non-invasive BCIs with dry electrodes within the OpenViBE P300 Speller. This paper shows how to use the P300 speller through a setup pipeline. Results indicate that electrode placement affects P300 accuracy and that areas related to visual processing improve accuracy, suggesting that P300 signals can be detected within OpenBCI Mark …

Self-Determination, Campus Involvement, And Disability Awareness Of Young Adults With Intellectual Disability, Zoe Bloecher

Honors Theses

This quantitative and qualitative study examined self-esteem; self-efficacy; self-determination; and disability awareness at the beginning and end of the semester in a sample of young adults with intellectual disability enrolled in a post-secondary education program. Participants’ weekly campus engagement in extracurricular activities during the semester was also tracked. The first goal of this study was to observe changes in self-determination satisfaction and frustration, self-esteem, self-efficacy, and disability awareness after one semester of enrollment in the program. There were 16 participants in the study who varied in their length of participation in the program. Dependent t-tests revealed a statistically significant decrease …

Some Equivalence Statements Are Metaphors, Malik A. Terry

Theses and Dissertations

Metaphors work best when topic and vehicle come from different domains. Glucksberg (2011) observed that same-domain statements ( "Cats are dogs") lack metaphorical interpretations, and Experiments 1 and 2 confirmed this. Prasada (in press) proposed that minority framing ( "Some cats are dogs") enables such metaphors. Experiment 3 confirmed this.

When Mac Shouldn’T Smile Back: Anthropomorphic Logo And Effect On Consumer Perceptions Of Generative Artificial Intelligence, Ainsley E. Ballard

Honors Scholar Theses

Drawing on prior research suggesting that anthropomorphic design can increase trust, liking, and perceived competence, this research investigates whether these effects extend to generative artificial intelligence logos. A three-group between-subjects study was conducted to examine how varying levels of logo anthropomorphization influenced consumer perceptions of an artificial intelligence brand. In being assigned to one of three logo conditions, humanoid (high anthropomorphism), animalistic (moderate anthropomorphism), or nature/geometric (low anthropomorphism), participants evaluated the new logo across multiple dimensions, including liking, brand fit, trustworthiness, and willingness to buy. Contrary to the initial hypothesis, the low anthropomorphism condition consistently received the most positive ratings, …

Building Collaborative Capacity For Coexistence With The Montana Beaver Working Group, Shane Randle

Graduate Student Portfolios, Professional Papers, and Capstone Projects

Despite beavers’ recent surge in popularity, prevailing negative attitudes and the persistence of beaver removal practices remain obstacles for those advocating living with beavers. The Montana Beaver Working Group (BWG) advances beavers’ role in ecological and community resilience through members’ collaborative efforts, including beaver-related restoration and conflict resolution projects. Bringing together people with diverse values and perspectives, the BWG builds collective understanding, develops a holistic vision for beavers in Montana, and supports members in pursuing it. As the group’s impacts and membership have grown, so too has their need to adapt. For my Civic Engagement Project, I strengthened the BWG’s …

Face Representations In The Fusiform Face Area, Krisha Orgo

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Faces are among the most socially significant stimuli humans encounter, requiring recognition not just at the category level but at the level of individual identity. While the fusiform face area has been established as a dedicated region for face processing, whether it encodes distinct representations for different individuals or simply detects the presence of a face remains an open question. Evidence for identity-specific coding in the brain has come primarily from invasive single-neuron recordings in epilepsy patients, leaving open whether the same principles govern face processing in healthy populations. The present study addressed this gap using scalp electroencephalography to examine …

Between Chronicle And Legend: A Two-Scene Environment And Visual Effects Examination Of Physical Accuracy And Emotional Exaggeration On The Honey Creek Bridge Collapse, Alison R. Gaddy

All Theses

This thesis explores how truth and dramatization intersect in digital storytelling by comparing realistic and stylized simulations of the Honey Creek bridge collapse within the context of the Kate Shelley animated short. At the core of storytelling lies a tension between factual accuracy and dramatic stylization. We investigate that tension by examining how narrative truth is conveyed, distorted, or enhanced through visual dramatization by focusing on the psychology of audience perception and the motivations behind creative embellishment. The practical contribution of this research is the development of two distinct digital scene setups depicting the same Honey Creek bridge collapse event. …

Emotional Working Memory Across The Visualization Spectrum, Jae Fast

Undergraduate Honors Theses

In 2015, the term “aphantasia” was coined to describe a small group of individuals who lack the ability to voluntarily produce visual mental imagery. This caused a rising interest in aphantasia and its associated neural, behavioral, cognitive, and emotional features. Understanding the role of visual mental imagery in both emotional and cognitive processes, it is reasonable to question whether aphantasia may result in importantly unique experiences that may require improved therapeutic practices to account for these differences. Previous studies have found that aphantasics experience reduced emotional responses to recalled emotional events, reduced affective processing, poor autobiographical memory, and other cognitive …

Scrolling For Connection: The Influence Of Loneliness, Self-Esteem, And Stress On Susceptibility To Conformity-Driven Online Purchasing And Gambling Behaviors In Generation Z, Emily M. Bauknight

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study aimed to examine the relationships among loneliness, self-esteem, conformity, and online purchasing and gambling behaviors in Generation Z college students. To do so, a cross-sectional design was implemented with a sample of 69 undergraduate and graduate students who completed self-report measures assessing self-esteem, loneliness, conformity, psychological distress, online shopping addiction, and online gambling severity. Data were analyzed using SPSS through multiple and simple linear regression analyses, moderated regression, and Pearson correlations. Results indicated that selfesteem and loneliness were not significant predictors of conformity, and conformity did not predict online shopping or gambling behaviors. Additionally, self-esteem, loneliness, and conformity …

What Makes Leaders In Human Services Effective? A Pilot Study Linking Systems Thinking, Perspective-Taking, And Leadership Success, Ryan Witterschein

Journal of Nonprofit Innovation

Leadership effectiveness is a persistent challenge in human services nonprofits, where organizations serving individuals with disabilities and complex needs have grown dramatically but lack validated tools for assessing the cognitive competencies that distinguish effective leaders. This quantitative pilot study introduces the ABA Leadership Assessment Tool version 2.0 (ABLA 2.0), a 48-item instrument integrating transformational and transactional leadership frameworks with three constructs from Relational Frame Theory—perspective-taking, temporal reasoning, and systems thinking. Eight Board Certified Behavior Analysts in organizational leadership roles completed the assessment, yielding 100% completion and strong preliminary reliability across all subscales (α = .71–.94). Leaders who demonstrated stronger cognitive …

Exploring Lay Meanings Of Happiness In Contemporary India: A Qualitative Inquiry, Kunmun Mishra, Kailash Bl Srivastava Professor

The Qualitative Report

Three decades of professional research suggest several explicit concepts of happiness; however, exploring the lay theories of happiness has largely been overlooked. Addressing this gap, our paper attempts to explore lay concepts of happiness in the contemporary Indian context. Given the inherently subjective nature of happiness, a qualitative study was conducted to explore the impact of beliefs and lived experiences on happiness. Data were collected through semi-structured in-depth interviews, and transcripts were analyzed using thematic analysis. Meanings, causes, and actions to maintain happiness evolved into seven significant themes: contentment, achievement and hope, collectivist orientation, autonomy, materialism, pragmatic orientation, and spirituality. …

Paws And Predictions: Interpreting Intraspecific Cat Social Interactions Through Facial Signals, Levi Neal, Lauren Scott, Gosia Zobel, Brittany Florkiewicz

People and Animals: The International Journal of Research and Practice

There has been limited research on humans’ ability to perceive and predict social interactions among cats using facial signals. This area is crucial to explore since conflicts between cats often cause significant stress for their guardians. By evaluating individuals’ skills in understanding cat interactions, researchers can develop tools to help guardians predict affiliative and nonaffiliative behaviors, leading to effective intervention strategies for multicat households. We distributed a survey to individuals subscribed to the Companion Animals New Zealand newsletter to assess cat guardians’ effectiveness in perceiving and predicting various social interactions among cats. We hypothesized that guardians with one or more …

The Impact Of Smartphone Notifications And Locus Of Control On Reading Comprehension, Katherine Visner, Sarah M. Fritts, Audrey Laskey, Chloe Giraud

SPARK Symposium Presentations

Locus of Control, defined as “...individuals' beliefs about the degree of control they have over events in their lives,” has long been associated with task performance, specifically in both compliant and initiative domains (Blau, 1993; Galvin et al., 2018). Existing literature on task performance suggests that, aside from Locus of Control, noise distractions play a significant role in individuals' ability to focus and concentrate (Jafari et al., 2019). In academic contexts, research indicates that noise disturbances and subsequent inability to concentrate impede an individual's task performance by reducing reading comprehension and textual processing (Foroughi et al., 2015). As such, the …

Effects Of Psychological Distance On Mental Abstraction: A Registered Report Of Four Tests Of Construal-Level Theory, Sofia Calderon, Erik Mac Giolla, Karl Ask, Susanne Jana Adler, Adam W. Stivers

Psychology Faculty Scholarship

Construal-level theory (CLT) proposes that psychological distance influences the level of abstraction at which something is mentally construed: Things perceived as less probable (likelihood) or further away from the here (spatial distance), now (temporal distance), or self (social distance) are thought about more abstractly. In this international multilab study, we tested four basic hypotheses derived from core assumptions of CLT and explore potential moderators and boundary conditions of the effects. Participants (N = 11,775) from 27 countries and regions were randomly assigned to one of four experimental protocols focused on different types of psychological distance (temporal, spatial, social, or likelihood), …

The Relationship Between Environmental Cues And Emotional Responses, Isbella Cantrell, Ashley Frost, Mark Sanchez

Posters - 2026

The purpose of this study was to better understand if the environment influenced an individual’s emotions by observing horror and non-horror video games and coding the frequency of observed reactions. Former research illustrates that emotional arousal during video games may activate defensive behaviors similar to real-life threats. Three different YouTube streamers were observed playing one horror and two non-horror video games. All three streamers played the same three games. It was expected that all three players would have more frequent reactions to horror games as opposed to non-horror games (H1), that anger reactions would occur more frequently than sympathetic reactions …

Investigating The Effects Of Depth And Distance On Jumping Decisions, Ean Fisher

Honors Theses

For an actor to accurately perceive if a gap affords crossing, they must consider environmental constraints, particularly spatial dimensions like gap depth and gap width, and their own physical capabilities, as determined by body/action-scaled information, namely body height and jumping ability. Prior research has examined the gap-crossing affordance across various contexts (real-world, augmented reality, and virtual reality). However, no research has investigated the gap-crossing affordance through performing a standing jump estimation within VR. The present study investigated how depth and width influence the perception of gap-crossing, operationalized as the act of performing a standing jump across a gap within a …

Psy312 - Psychology Of Memory, Sandra Campeanu

Open Educational Resources

Theoretical issues, established findings, empirical research, and contemporary controversies in the study of memory. Analysis of the processes of encoding, storage and retrieval, including models, developmental changes, neurophysiology, and memory distortions. Consideration of the ways memory influences behavior, problem solving, and sense of self.

This document is a revised syllabus for Professor Campeanu's PSY312 - Psychology of Memory course at Lehman College.

Touch, Surprise, And Arousal: Heart Rate And Skin Conductance Responses To Texture., Kristie Stephens, Anna Supe, Zoe Blythe

SPARK Symposium Presentations

Previous research has shown that sensory experiences, especially touch, can impact physiological arousal, including changes in heart rate and skin conductance. Textures that are unfamiliar or unexpected may trigger a stronger autonomic response due to uncertainty. However, it is less understood about how different types of textures impact these physiological responses. This study aims to examine how different textures affect physiological responses in participants. Participants will place their hand into a divided box containing different textures while heart rate and skin conductance are recorded. We hypothesize that unexpected textures, such as a phantom hand, will lead to greater increases in …