Cognition and Perception Commons^™

Thinking About Episodic Future Events As A Way To Reduce Smoking Behavior: An Ecological Momentary Assessment Study, Stephanie Joann Kane

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

With nearly 35 million Americans currently estimated to smoke and an approximate seven out of ten adult smokers wanting to quit, it is clear that there is a need for enhanced smoking cessation techniques. Encouraging people to think about a future smoke-free self may help to encourage and motivate changes in smoking behavior. The present study investigated the role of an episodic future thinking manipulation on the motivation to quit smoking using ecological momentary assessment (EMA). Participants (N = 103) were randomly assigned to either an episodic future thinking (EFT) condition or an episodic recent thinking (ERT) condition, and were …

The Dream Machine: The Convergence Of Hallucination And Content Creation, Com 304-03, Creative & Cultural Industries In Practice

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

Our research project focuses on how a social media campaign was designed and implemented to explore the ways in which people engaged with the ideas of dreams and hallucinations. Specifically, the class project involved working collectively, and in four dedicated groups, to build a dream machine. The four groups were: designers and creators, who constructed the dream machine; social media recorders, who developed a multi-platform media campaign for the project from inception to implementation, including documenting how the other groups worked and researched their areas; music composers who designed a soundtrack to accompany the machine; and multi-media poster designers, who …

Hiv And Early Life Stress On Neuroimaging And Risky Behavior, Paola Garcia Egan

Dissertations

This study examined the interactive effects of early life stress (ELS) and HIV on brain morphometry, diffusion-basis-spectrum-imaging (DBSI), risky decision-making, and sex-risk behavior. 122 people with HIV (PWH) and 113 people without HIV (PWoH), free of major psychiatric illness and neurological confounds, were stratified into high (≥ 3 events) vs. low (< 3 events) ELS [PWoH/low ELS (n = 57), PWoH/high ELS (n =56), PWH/low ELS (n = 43), PWH/high ELS (n = 79)] and underwent structural magnetic resonance imaging, DBSI, neuropsychological, and risky-behavior assessment; all PWH were virologically controlled. Compared to PWoH, PWH had smaller orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), parietal lobes, insula, caudate and anterior cingulate. No ELS effects were detected in volumetric measures. Significant interactions were found between HIV serostatus and ELS on the OFC and on cellularity of the inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus after multiple comparisons adjustment. Specifically, PWH/high ELS exhibited significantly smaller OFC and PWoH/high ELS show significantly larger OFC than the other groups. PWoH/high ELS exhibited higher DBSI cellularity (neuroinflammation proxy) of the inferior-occipital-fasciculus compared to PWoH/high ELS. Regardless of HIV status, executive function moderated the relationship between the OFC and sex-risk behavior such that individuals within the sample who performed above average on a measure of executive function and had a larger OFC reported fewer sex partners in past six months than individuals with smaller volumes. No interaction was found between HIV serostatus and ELS on risky behavior measures. Clustering analyses defined ELS subgroups in PWH that were determined by demographic characteristics, duration of infection, recent CD4+ T-cell count, nadir CD4+ T-cell count and high/low ELS.Even in PWH that are virologically controlled, without major current psychiatric comorbidities, there is evidence of a synergistic impact of ELS and HIV on OFC volumes. Higher volumes in the OFC were detrimental when associated with lower executive function scores or advantageous when associated with higher executive function. Findings suggest that ELS is associated with different brain signatures among PWoH and virally suppressed PWH. However, ELS was not directly associated with risky behaviors, and subgroups in PWH were characterized by demographic variables, past substance use and HIV clinical variables.

Are We Ovary-Acting? All Visuospatial Abilities May Not Be Equally Affected Throughout The Menstrual Cycle., Caroline G. Haynes, Audrey N. Wade

Science University Research Symposium (SURS)

Are we ovary-acting? All visuospatial abilities may not be equally affected throughout the menstrual cycle.

Department of Psychological Sciences & Neuroscience, Belmont University, Nashville, TN

Visuospatial skills pertain to the ability to conceptualize and comprehend visual representations of objects and the spatial relationships among objects. They are integral for the proper functioning of other cognitive systems such as memory, attention, and reasoning (Kaufman, 2007). Sex hormones are one of many factors reported to affect visuospatial processing, with estrogen specially being associated with poor performance on visuospatial tasks in females (Hausmann, 2000). The current study investigated performance differences on three visuospatial …

Responses To Validating Versus Reframing Support Strategies As A Function Of Borderline Personality Features And Interpersonal Problems, Stella Nicolaou, Sydney F. Goldberg, Kaley M. Michael, Kathy R. Berenson

Psychology Faculty Publications

We examined whether borderline personality features may be differentially associated with reactions to social support strategies involving validation (acknowledging distress as normal) vs. reframing (highlighting opportunities for positive outcomes). After completing self-report measures of their borderline personality features and interpersonal problems, participants rated their reactions to receiving either validation or reframing support (randomly assigned) from a close friend with whom they imagined sharing hypothetical negative experiences. Borderline personality features were associated with less positive responses to reframing than to validation, and a tendency to interpret reframing support as an assertion of dominance. Moderated mediation analyses further showed that associations between …

Computational Thinking And Coding For Young Children: A Hybrid Approach To Link Unplugged And Plugged Activities, Daisuke Akiba

Publications and Research

In our increasingly technology-dependent society, the importance of promoting digital literacy (e.g., computational thinking, coding, and programming) has become a critical focus in the field of childhood education. While young children these days are routinely and extensively exposed to digital devices and tools, the efficacy of the methods for fostering digital skills in the early childhood classroom has not always been closely considered. This is particularly true in settings where early childhood educators are not digital experts. Currently, most of the efforts in standard early childhood settings, taught by teachers who are not digital experts, appear to revolve around “unplugged” …

Does Trait Self-Esteem Serve As A Resilience Factor In Maintaining Affective Well-Being? Findings From Daily Diary Studies In Singapore And The United States, Matthew H. S. Ng, Verity Yu Qing Lua, Nadyanna M. Majeed, Andree Hartanto

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Research suggests that self-esteem could be a protective factor in stressful or unfavorable situations. However, little research has been done on the buffering role of self-esteem in the context of daily stressors on affective reactivity. Three daily diary studies (of which two were conducted in Singapore and one in the United States) were carried out to examine this relationship. In all three studies, trait self-esteem was measured at baseline. Subsequently, daily assessment was conducted on exposure to daily stressors, and positive and negative affect for seven to eight days. Multilevel modeling showed that trait self-esteem did not moderate the relationship …

Accessibility Rating Form For Websites And Other Online Platforms, Ethan Wu, Jafra D. Thomas, Regina F. Hockert, Jasmine C. Wong, Samantha M. Ross

Kinesiology and Public Health

Background. This file provides a coding form developed to judge how accessible websites and other online platforms are to users. Accessibility may be defined as the ease to which a person can perceive content and navigate material (Ross & Ross, 2021). Users are encouraged to adapt this form for their use.

Purpose. The rating form can be used to judge the pages of online media, using 14 criteria under two areas: Accessible Media and Accessible Design. One of three grades could be assigned to each criterion: Not Accessible (0 point), Somewhat Accessible (1 point), Accessible (2 …

Deconstructing Consciousness In Art, Leila Kincaid

Journal of Conscious Evolution

To the extent that art mirrors consciousness, what does the art of any age have to tell us about where we are as a species and civilization? In this paper, I suggest that modern and postmodern art reveals the tendency toward deconstruction, of our identities, as selves, as cultures, and as a civilization. Through this process of deconstruction, there is a space offered to us through the experience of art, of freedom to recreate ourselves, our identities, and our sense of purpose and meaning in the cosmos. Grounding the inquiry in texts from various authors in the field of art …

Reflections And Expressions, Lisa Blair

Journal of Conscious Evolution

No abstract provided.

Myth, Soul, And The Feminine

Journal of Conscious Evolution

What are some of the root causes that have caused the subjugation of women? Could it all have begun with the fantastical and alluring myths we were told? If so, how does myth become truth for societies as a whole? If that does happen, then it must be true that the mythic is where the emergence of the soul is found; the soul of humanity? Thereby, creating the realities found in the society of today. Even more intriguing is how consciousness and art find their way in merging with myth producing awareness, wonder, and connection in society. Thus, revealing the …

Consciousness, Evaluation, And The Self-Organizing Brain

Journal of Conscious Evolution

While evolution is guided by natural selection, it is internally driven by self-organizing processes. The brain encompasses these complementary forces and dynamics of evolution in both its structure and dynamics by embodying a historical record of the factors that have shaped it throughout its evolutionary past, as well as by being shaped by selective parameters in real time. Self-organization is evident in not only the brain’s structure and form, but also in the processes that support consciousness. From the convergence of complex structure and the novelty-generating dynamics of chaos that both characterize the brain arises the experience of explicit consciousness, …

Auditory Affective Processing, Musicality, And The Development Of Misophonic Reactions, Solena Mednicoff, Sivan Barashy, Destiny Gonzales, Stephen D. Benning, Joel S. Snyder, Erin Hannon

Psychology Faculty Research

Misophonia can be characterized both as a condition and as a negative affective experience. Misophonia is described as feeling irritation or disgust in response to hearing certain sounds, such as eating, drinking, gulping, and breathing. Although the earliest misophonic experiences are often described as occurring during childhood, relatively little is known about the developmental pathways that lead to individual variation in these experiences. This literature review discusses evidence of misophonic reactions during childhood and explores the possibility that early heightened sensitivities to both positive and negative sounds, such as to music, might indicate a vulnerability for misophonia and misophonic reactions. …

Post Covid-19 Cognitive Impairment In A Patient With Bipolar Disorder, Nilanjana Dutta, Raghav Gupta, Dr. M Kishor Mbbs, Md

Digital Journal of Clinical Medicine

COVID-19 has caused widespread health conditions, psychological and social distress among people and there is evidence that shows profound neuropsychiatric complications during acute and post-recovery phases of the infection. Cognitive impairment occurring after COVID-19 infection can be explained by various mechanisms, including persistent systemic inflammation, direct viral invasion, alteration in the blood-brain barrier, and cerebrovascular endothelial injury.There are few studies that have explored the impact of COVID-19 on pre-existing psychiatric conditions. This case report highlights the temporal association of cognitive impairment with COVID-19 and the need for cognitive assessment and management in post-COVID-19 patients with pre-existing psychiatric conditions.

Smart-Home Concept For Remote Monitoring Of Instrumental Activities Of Daily Living (Iadl) In Older Adults With Cognitive Impairment: A Proof Of Concept And Feasibility Study, Myeounggon Lee, Ram Kinker Mishra, Anmol Momin, Nesreen El-Refaei, Amir Behzad Bagheri, Michele K York, Mark E Kunik, Marc Derhammer, Borna Fatehi, James Lim, Rylee Cole, Gregory Barchard, Ashkan Vaziri, Bijan Najafi

Center on Aging Staff Publications

Assessment of instrumental activities of daily living (IADL) is essential for the diagnosis and staging of dementia. However, current IADL assessments are subjective and cannot be administered remotely. We proposed a smart-home design, called IADLSys, for remote monitoring of IADL. IADLSys consists of three major components: (1) wireless physical tags (pTAG) attached to objects of interest, (2) a pendant-sensor to monitor physical activities and detect interaction with pTAGs, and (3) an interactive tablet as a gateway to transfer data to a secured cloud. Four studies, including an exploratory clinical study with five older adults with clinically confirmed cognitive impairment, who …

Auditory Stream Segregation Of Amplitude-Modulated Narrowband Noise In Cochlear Implant Users And Individuals With Normal Hearing, Alexandria F. Matz, Yingjiu Nie, Harley J. Wheeler

Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders - Faculty Scholarship

Voluntary stream segregation was investigated in cochlear implant (CI) users and normal-hearing (NH) listeners using a segregation-promoting objective approach which evaluated the role of spectral and amplitude-modulation (AM) rate separations on stream segregation and its build-up. Sequences of 9 or 3 pairs of A and B narrowband noise (NBN) bursts were presented which differed in either center frequency of the noise band, the AM-rate, or both. In some sequences (delayed sequences), the last B burst was delayed by 35 ms from their otherwise-steady temporal position. In the other sequences (no-delay sequences), the last B bursts were temporally advanced from 0 …

Cultivating Positivity To Achieve A Resilient Society: A Critical Narrative Review From Psychological Perspectives, Andree Hartanto, K. T. A. Sandeeshwara Kasturiratna, Xun Ci Soh

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

With the rapid speed of globalization and technological breakthroughs, current social issues have become more complex than in past decades. As many issues such as pandemics, terrorism, and interracial conflict are realistically unpredictable, the idea of resilience offers an intuitively plausible and attainable strategy to deal with these potential adversities. The current narrative review explores the cultivation of positive emotions and traits as a plausible way to achieve a resilient society. Based on research in the social and industrial organizational psychology literature, we reviewed the role of positive emotions and traits on resilience. Lastly, we highlight important experiences and interventions …

Ssri-Induced Emotional Blunting: A Study Of Cognitive Changes In Pharmaceutically Treated Depression, Carly Tocco

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Objective: In recent years, approximately 12.7% of the American population are on a prescribed antidepressant medication. Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs) are a widely used pharmacological treatment for depressive and anxiety disorders, primarily due to their tolerance levels, mild side effects in comparison to other antidepressants, and broad range of clinical indications. However, there are still numerous concerns about SSRIs’ ability to improve depressive symptoms without adding side effects such as sexual dysfunction, gastrointestinal upset, and a restricted range of emotions. Although patients typically claim that they have less emotional pain while on SSRIs than they do during a depressive …

Case Study: Exploring College Students’ Transformative Learning Experience Through Co-Creation Of A Pilot Compassionate Parenting Module In A Humanities Class, Maria Silvia Casabianca

Theses and Dissertations

A case study was conducted with 14 students who took a 16-week college humanities course at a regional university in the state of Florida. The core subjects of the course were kindness, compassion, and empathy. The instructor’s approach to teaching included methods akin to those of transformational learning. Data were collected from 14 weeks of reflective journals, semi-structured interviews, and compassionate parenting modules written by the participants as final assignments. Findings indicated that transformative learning practices supported participants’ reflection and identification of acquired beliefs and new learning about kindness, empathy, and compassion. Participants also described perceived benefits of kindness for …

Understanding Across The Senses: Cross-Modal Studies Of Cognition In Cetaceans, Jason N. Bruck, Adam A. Pack

Faculty Publications

Cross-modal approaches to the study of sensory perception, social recognition, cognition, and mental representation have proved fruitful in humans as well as in a variety of other species including toothed whales in revealing equivalencies that suggest that different sensory stimuli associated with objects or individuals may effectively evoke mental representations that are, respectively, object based or individual based. Building on established findings of structural equivalence in the form of spontaneous recognition of complex shapes across the modalities of echolocation and vision and behavior favoring identity echoic–visual cross-modal relationships over associative echoic–visual cross-modal relationships, examinations of transitive inference equivalencies from initially …