Cognition and Perception Commons^™

Does Working Memory Capacity Modulate The Relationship Between Intentional Mind-Wandering And Task Demand?, Stephen Ware

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Mind wandering (MW) is affected by multiple factors. Among those factors, the present study investigated the effects of working memory capacity on task demands on types of mind wandering. It was hypothesized that individuals with high working memory capacity (WMC) would show more intentional mind wandering in a low demanding task, and in this case, task performance would not be impaired. On the other hand, individuals with low working memory capacity would show more unintentional mind wandering in the high demand condition; therefore, task performance would be affected. Task demand was manipulated with verbal n-back tasks and WMC was measured …

A Multi-Country Test Of Brief Reappraisal Interventions On Emotions During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Ka Wang, Amit Goldenberg, Charles Dorison, Et Al., Nadyanna Mohamed Majeed, Andree Hartanto

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

The COVID-19 pandemic has increased negative emotions and decreased positive emotions globally. Left unchecked, these emotional changes might have a wide array of adverse impacts. To reduce negative emotions and increase positive emotions, we tested the effectiveness of reappraisal, an emotion-regulation strategy that modifies how one thinks about a situation. Participants from 87 countries and regions (n = 21,644) were randomly assigned to one of two brief reappraisal interventions (reconstrual or repurposing) or one of two control conditions (active or passive). Results revealed that both reappraisal interventions (vesus both control conditions) consistently reduced negative emotions and increased positive emotions across …

More Evidence That Magnitude Interference In Temporal Reproduction Results From Memory, Not Clock, Interference, Steven A. Masi

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

Past research has found that errors made when acting on magnitude information is influenced by irrelevant magnitude information that is simultaneously present in the environment. This study investigated the processing stage during which the interference occurs. Each participant completed 80 test trials in stimulus (encoding stimulus) appeared on the computer screen for one of four lengths of time and then disappeared. After which, participants held down the computer spacebar for either the full or half the time that the encoding stimulus was on the screen. In both conditions, a second stimulus (reproduction stimulus) was displayed as the participants held down …

Math Predictors Of Numeric Health And Non-Health Decision-Making Problems, Clarissa A. Thompson, Jennifer M. Taber, Charles J. Fitzsimmons, Pooja G. Sidney

Psychology Faculty Publications

People frequently encounter numeric information in medical and health contexts. In this paper, we investigated the math factors that are associated with decision-making accuracy in health and non-health contexts. This is an important endeavor given that there is relatively little cross-talk between math cognition researchers and those studying health decision making. Ninety adults (M = 37 years; 86% White; 51% male) answered hypothetical health decision-making problems, and 93 adults (M = 36 years; 75% White; 42% males) answered a non-health decision-making problem. All participants were recruited from an online panel. Each participant completed a battery of tasks involving objective math …

Classical Conditioning Of Cognitive States, Arthur Burns

Neuroscience Presentations

This research sought out to do preliminary testing to prepare for honors research in the 2021 academic year. This research focuses on attempting to classically condition cognitive states. Learning tasks were designed to elicit relaxation or arousal in partisans and a combination of EEG data, pupil dilation data, performance on cognitive tasks, and self-report were used to evaluate the level of cognitive states in participants.

Classical Conditioning Of Cognitive States, Arthur Burns

Neuroscience Summer Fellows

This research sought out to do preliminary testing to prepare for honors research in the 2021 academic year. This research focuses on attempting to classically condition cognitive states. Learning tasks were designed to elicit relaxation or arousal in partisans and a combination of EEG data, pupil dilation data, performance on cognitive tasks, and self-report were used to evaluate the level of cognitive states in participants.

Examining The Antecedent Role Of Movement Proficiency In Child Development: Study Protocol, Catherine M. Capio, Kerry Lee, Rachel A. Jones, Rich S. W. Masters

Health Sciences Faculty Publications

Background: Decades of research, largely from associational studies, show that the relationships of movement proficiency with the cognitive and social aspects of development are particularly strong in early childhood. Children who move proficiently tend to have better cognitive skills and social behaviors. However, the mechanisms that underpin these relationships remain unclear and research that explores causation is necessary. This study will explore the antecedent role of movement proficiency in the cognitive and social domains of child development, by examining whether a targeted movement skills training program facilitates improvements in cognitive and social skills.

Methods: A group-randomized controlled trial will be …

What Shall We Call God? An Exploration Of Metaphors Coded From Descriptions Of God From A Large U.S. Undergraduate Sample, Adam K. Fetterman, Nicholas D. Evans, Julie J. Exline, Brian P. Meier

Psychology Faculty Publications

People use numerous metaphors to describe God. God is seen as a bearded man, light, and love. Based on metaphor theories, the metaphors people use to refer to God reflect how people think about God and could, in turn, reflect their worldview. However, little work has explored the common metaphors for God. This was the purpose of the current investigation. Four trained raters coded open-ended responses from predominantly Christian U.S. undergraduates (N = 2,923) describing God for the presence or absence of numerous metaphoric categories. We then assessed the frequency of each of the metaphor categories. We identified 16 metaphor …

Negative Urgency's Influence On State-Level, Emotion-Based Changes In Alcohol-Related Cognitions, Noah Wolkowicz

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This project expanded on the Acquired Preparedness Model of Risk (APMR) by examining how Negative Urgency (NU), the tendency to act rashly in negative emotional states, affects emotion-based changes in alcohol cognitions to produce risk for alcohol use. The APMR prioritizes the role of outcome expectancies as the means through which traits such as NU, convey alcohol use risk. However, this model treats these cognitions as static and often fails to assess their valence; further, alcohol-cognitions fluctuate in response to negative emotions and may become more salient during these states. Therefore, this study examined: 1) how NU impacts negative emotion-based, …

Vulnerability To And Protection Against Covid-19 Fear, Threat, And Worry, Marsha Kim Huh

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Drawing from a sample of 10,368 adults living in the U.S., the current study examines the role of social and psychological resources in lowering COVID-related fear, threat, and worry, controlling for a number of social vulnerabilities (e.g. gender, race/ethnicity, and presence of children). The impact of social location, particularly in regards to race, and how one accesses and/or utilizes social and psychological resources is also examined through disaggregated regression models. Results demonstrate that some social and psychological resources impact COVID-specific distress (fear/threat/worry), but depending on the resource, relationships vary in direction and significance. The strength of social ties and mastery …

Identity Transformation Through Substance Use Disorder Recovery: Introducing The Six Stage Model, Naomi Watkins, Austin Mcneill Brown, Kayce Courson

The Qualitative Report

Narratives of substance use disorder recovery experience can provide useful qualitative conceptual categories and novel theories about the way in which recovery is experienced by individuals. This information can better inform definitions, concepts, and supports for recovery processes. The current study reviewed 30 written personal recovery biographies which were contained within student applications to the collegiate recovery program housed in the Center for Young Adult Addiction and Recovery at Kennesaw State University. Using grounded theory methodology, common benchmarks, or topographic recovery features were revealed involving the evolution of identity as an inter-negotiated process throughout the addiction and recovery biographies (Charmaz, …

Combating Conspiracy Theories: An Attitudes-Based Approach, Marie Altgilbers

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The prevalence of conspiracy theories is a topic of increasing concern among researchers. Much of the research in this area has been focused on why people endorse conspiracy theories, and relatively little attention has been paid to how they may be mitigated. What research has been done focused primarily on interventions with arguments based in cognitive, fact-based appeals, with mixed success. The present research draws on findings from the attitudes and persuasion literature to test the hypothesis that conspiracy theory endorsement is more effectively reduced by affectively-based arguments than by cognitively-based arguments. Two affectively-based interventions were tested against a cognitively-based …

Intermittent Hypoxia And Effects On Early Learning/Memory: Exploring The Hippocampal Cellular Effects Of Pediatric Obstructive Sleep Apnea, Arvind Chandrakantan, Adam C Adler, Mehmet Tohsun, Farrah Kheradamand, Russell S Ray, Steven Roth

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

This review provides an update on the neurocognitive phenotype of pediatric obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). Pediatric OSA is associated with neurocognitive deficits involving memory, learning, and executive functioning. Adenotonsillectomy (AT) is presently accepted as the first-line surgical treatment for pediatric OSA, but the executive function deficits do not resolve postsurgery, and the timeline for recovery remains unknown. This finding suggests that pediatric OSA potentially causes irreversible damage to multiple areas of the brain. The focus of this review is the hippocampus, 1 of the 2 major sites of postnatal neurogenesis, where new neurons are formed and integrated into existing circuitry …

Cognition In Context: Pathways And Compound Risk In A Sample Of Us Non-Hispanic Whites, Jennifer W. Robinette, Jason D. Boardman

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

The population of individuals with cognitive impairment and dementia is growing rapidly, necessitating etiological investigation. It is clear that individual differences in cognition later in life have both genetic and multi-level environmental correlates. Despite significant recent progress in cellular and molecular research, the exact mechanisms linking genes, brains, and cognition remain elusive. In relation to cognition, it is unlikely that genetic and environmental risk factors function in a vacuum, but rather interact and cluster together. The purpose of the present study was to examine whether aspects of individual socioeconomic status (SES) explain the cognitive genotype-phenotype association, and whether neighborhood SES …

Social Distancing In The Context Of Covid-19 Anxiety: A Social Cognitive Approach, Allyson S. Graf, Abigail Nehrkorn-Bailey, Amy Knepple Carney

Journal of Social, Behavioral, and Health Sciences

As the impact of COVID-19 continues, engagement in social distancing is essential. Using Social Cognitive Theory, the current study examined the unique roles of COVID-19 anxiety and self-efficacy on the relationships between information-seeking and risk perception as predictors of social distancing intention. A convenience sample of 960 adults (M = 37.81 years, SD = 11.65) completed an author-designed online survey. Participants completed measures on behavioral intention, information-seeking, risk perception, COVID-19 anxiety, and self-efficacy. Moderated mediations examined the theoretically proposed relationships among the variables. COVID-19 anxiety moderated the relationship between risk perception and self-efficacy, but not the association between information-seeking …

Where To Draw The Line: Evaluating Visuospatial And Attentional Processing In Individuals With Autism Spectrum Disorders, Alisha Steigerwald

University Honors Theses

Objective: We investigated visuospatial processing in individuals with autism using bisection and quadrisection tasks to evaluate the presence of a possible downward vertical spatial bias that could provide insights into the preference for attending to the mouth in ASD populations.

Methods: Twenty participants with ASD and 20 age, IQ, and sex-matched control participants were recruited (ages 6-23). Participants were asked to bisect, quadrisect from the top, and quadrisect from the bottom vertical lines placed in their left, center, and right visual spaces. Distance from the true midpoint and quadripoint were calculated and compared between the two groups.

Results: No significant …

Designing A Replication Study In Kinesiology: Lessons From The Field, Ruben A. Montoya Vega, Regina F. Hockert, Emma L. Cutner, Jafra D. Thomas

Kinesiology and Public Health

The submitted presentation material summarizes a project presented at the 2021 Cal Poly Virtual BEACoN Symposium. The title of the project which the presentation is based is, “Towards Equitable Communication: Explorations to Guide Knowledge Translation in Kinesiology.” The uploaded file document presents the presentation abstract, student testimony, as well as suggested citations for individual aspects of the presentation material. Please follow the social media profiles of the faculty mentor to the project, Dr. Thomas, for timely project updates. You may find related work from this lab group published to Cal Poly Digital Commons under the Kinesiology and Public Health section …

Training Novices To Evaluate The Quality Of Physical Activity Promotion Material: Results Of A Pilot Study, Ethan N. Tse, Savannah A. Longoria, Cameron N. Christopher, Jafra D. Thomas

Kinesiology and Public Health

The credibility and usability of lay physical activity promotion material are a persistent problem (Thomas & Cardinal, 2020, TJACM). These quality issues deter the material in promoting health literacy, a major predictor of prevention-oriented health behaviors (e.g., regular exercise, U.S. National Action Plan to Improve Health Literacy). Few studies, however, have evaluated the quality of lay material over time (Thomas et al., 2018, Quest). PURPOSE: In order to conduct a repeated-measures study of the quality of physical activity promotion web articles for lay adults, one experienced researcher (JDT) trained undergraduates on how to use the Suitability …

Environmental Cues And The Sociospatial Imaginary: An Examination Of Spatial Perception And Meaning-Making In A Gentrifying Neighborhood, Todd Levon Brown

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

What could be more ordinary or pedestrian than two people walking down an urban street and talking about what we see and what we make of it? Yet this simple, quotidian act of walking a street—seeing, perceiving and experiencing physical spaces, places and objects—and making meaning of what is encountered, is the basis of my dissertation. It is also my basis for claiming that I have learned a great deal—and much unexpectedly—about how differently different people see and interpret the urban streetscape. What are the various environmental cues that stand out to different individuals? What are the psychosocial imaginaries that …

Characterizing The Brain Dynamics And Eye Movement Behavior Of Memory-Guided Saccades: A Preliminary Investigation Of Distractor Influence On Memory-Guided Saccades, Angelo V. Colmenero

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Research has helped to shed light on the functional organization and neural mechanisms of distractors on memory-guided saccades. In our current study we have utilized eye tracking and EEG technology to simultaneously record the changes in saccadic eye movement (SEM) behavior and event-related potentials (ERPs) associated with performance on a memory-guided saccade task with distractor conditions. Thirteen healthy control participants (n = 13; 6 female) were tasked to complete 864 memory-guided saccade trials with both visible (white) and invisible (black) distractors presented on a black background before saccade initiation. Compared with the control (black) distractor condition, distractor presentation produced a …