Cognition and Perception Commons^™

Emotion In The Common Model Of Cognition, Othalia Larue, Robert West, Paul Rosenbloom, Christopher L. Dancy, Alexei V. Samsonovich, Dean Petters, Ion Juvina

Faculty Journal Articles

Emotions play an important role in human cognition and therefore need to be present in the Common Model of Cognition. In this paper, the emotion working group focuses on functional aspects of emotions and describes what we believe are the points of interactions with the Common Model of Cognition. The present paper should not be viewed as a consensus of the group but rather as a first attempt to extract common and divergent aspects of different models of emotions and how they relate to the Common Model of Cognition.

Log Kya Kahenge: Psychological Well-Being And Perceived Stigma In The South Asian American Community, Khushboo Jain

Pomona Senior Theses

Current research has independently studied depression, stigma, and coping mechanisms in relation to culture, yet the effects of perceived stigma on the relationship between depression and control coping are heavily understudied. Typically, studies have broadly focused on comparing eastern and western cultures, but have not analyzed how populations with mixed cultural influences experience depression and stigma and further engage in control coping mechanisms. This study thus explores how perceived stigma moderates the relationship between depressive symptoms and control coping mechanisms for South Asian Americans. The study hypothesizes that the level of perceived stigma will moderate the relationship between depression and …

An Electrophysiological Study On Sex-Related Differences In Emotion Perception, Natalie Wiswesser, James Houston Phd, Philip Allen Phd

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The purpose of this research project was examine the following question: Do men and women respond differently, on a neurophysiological level, to stimuli that elicit an emotional valence? Participants completed an emotional expression face identification task in which participants made speeded responses to angry, happy, and neutral emotional faces. Behavioral and event-related potential (ERP) methods were utilized to examine emotion processing differences between females and males and whether those differences were associated with emotional arousal or emotion regulation differences. Results indicated that females and males did not differ in accuracy or response time. Furthermore, there were no observable differences in …

Face Perception And Identification, Audrey Aamot

Undergraduate Theses, Professional Papers, and Capstone Artifacts

The present research aimed to examine the combined effects of the own-race effect and own-age bias in relation to memory performance. The own-race effect suggests that individuals perform better when asked to remember faces of the same race as their own, as opposed to faces of a different race (Meissner, Brigham & Butz, 2005). Own-age bias is a tendency for individuals to perform better when remembering faces from the same age group as their own (Rhodes & Anastasi, 2005, 2012). It was hypothesized that when recognizing faces of a different age and race, memory accuracy would be worse, when compared …

Predicting Similarity Judgments In Intertemporal Choice With Machine Learning, Jeffrey R. Stevens, Leen-Kiat Soh

Jeffrey Stevens Publications

Similarity models of intertemporal choice are heuristics that choose based on similarity judgments of the reward amounts and time delays. Yet, we do not know how these judgments are made. Here, we use machine-learning algorithms to assess what factors predict similarity judgments and whether decision trees capture the judgment outcomes and process. We find that combining small and large values into numerical differences and ratios and arranging them in tree-like structures can predict both similarity judgments and response times. Our results suggest that we can use machine learning to not only model decision outcomes but also model how decisions are …

Heterogeneity And Parsimony In Intertemporal Choice, Michel Regenwetter, Daniel R. Cavagnaro, Anna Popova, Ying Guo, Chris Zwilling, Shiau Hong Lim, Jeffrey R. Stevens

Jeffrey Stevens Publications

Behavioral theories of intertemporal choice involve many moving parts. Most descriptive theories model how time delays and rewards are perceived, compared, and/or combined into preferences or utilities. Most behavioral studies neglect to spell out how such constructs translate into heterogeneous observable choices. We consider several broad models of transitive intertemporal preference and combine these with several mathematically formal, yet very general, models of heterogeneity. We evaluate 20 probabilistic models of intertemporal choice using binary choice data from two large-scale experiments. Our analysis documents the interplay between heterogeneity and parsimony in accounting for empirical data: We find evidence for heterogeneity across …

Managing Employee Attitude For A Successful Information System Implementation: A Change Management Perspective, Smita Chaudhry

Journal of International Technology and Information Management

In the last three decades, there has been considerable advancement in the design of information systems used in organizations. Information systems facilitate critical organizational activities like recording and processing of business transactions, analyzing complex and large sets of data and generating management and executive level reports. However, their adoption is generally fraught with challenges because of the negative attitude of employees to the impending change in their work life. Taking into account the enormous investment of cost, time and effort in information system implementation, it is imperative for organizations to recognize and influence employee attitude from the very beginning to …

Beauty Is In The Eye Of The Beer Holder: An Initial Investigation Of The Effects Of Alcohol, Attractiveness, Warmth, And Competence On The Objectifying Gaze In Men, Abigail R. Riemer, Michelle Haikalis, Molly R. Franz, Michael Dodd, David Dilillo, Sarah Gervais

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

Despite literature revealing the adverse consequences of objectifying gazes for women, little work has empirically examined origins of objectifying gazes by perceivers. Integrating alcohol myopia and objectification theories, we examined the effects of alcohol as well as perceived female attractiveness, warmth, and competence on objectifying gazes. Specifically, male undergraduates (n = 49) from a large U.S. Midwestern university were administered either an alcoholic or placebo beverage. After consumption, participants were asked to focus on the appearance or personality (counterbalanced) of pictured women who were previously rated as high, average, or low in attractiveness, warmth, and competence. Replicating previous work, appearance …

Can Neuroimaging In Dogs Have Practical Implications?, Tiffani J. Howell

Animal Sentience

Jealousy, or at least aggression, can be observed in dogs using neuroimaging techniques, but this response attenuates quickly following repeated exposure to the aggression-inducing stimulus. This may have a practical application. Early socialisation as a puppy, and habituation as an adult dog, could help prevent undesirable behaviours such as predatory behaviour. It is unclear whether these processes are the same, and affected only by the dog’s age. Neuroimaging could help us understand whether the same neurological processes underlie socialisation and habituation, and whether self-rewarding behaviours such as predatory behaviour could be stopped using socialisation/habituation techniques.

Perception Of American–English Vowels By Early And Late Spanish–English Bilinguals, Miriam Baigorri, Luca Campanelli, Erika S. Levy

Publications and Research

Increasing numbers of Hispanic immigrants are entering the US and learning American–English (AE) as a second–language (L2). Previous studies investigating the relationship between AE and Spanish vowels have revealed an advantage for early L2 learners for their accuracy of L2 vowel perception. Replicating and extending such previous research, this study examined the patterns with which early and late Spanish–English bilingual adults assimilated naturally-produced AE vowels to their native vowel-inventory and the accuracy with which they discriminated the vowels. Twelve early Spanish–English bilingual, 12 late Spanish–English bilingual, and 10 monolingual listeners performed perceptual-assimilation and categorical-discrimination tasks involving AE /i,ɪ,ɛ,ʌ,æ,ɑ,o/. Early bilinguals …

Mild Traumatic Brain Injuries And Their Implications On Changes In Event Related Potentials: A Look Into Visual Gating (P50), Katelynn M. Kozak

Dissertations and Theses

Concussions are a prevalent injury that affect a wide range of individuals. Commonly seen amongst individuals who play contact sports, there are many underlying factors that doctors and clinicians have yet to understand which include properties such as proper diagnosis standards or lasting impacts. In this study, we look at those impacts by using electroencephalographic (EEG) measures to study the changes in event related potentials (ERPs) associated with sensory gating and how this cognitive property is affected in those who have a self-reported concussion. Here we show that a visual attention and gating mechanism exists in both populations (control and …

Insulting Words: "They Are Animals!", Carolyn A. Ristau

Animal Sentience

As Chapman & Huffman state, creating divisive human categories has rationalized atrocities committed against the “other.” Labeling neighboring warring villagers as “animals” is considered a despicable insult. Yet contemporary scientific views of many animals grant them thinking and conscious faculties, and the capacity for impressive achievements, many unattainable by humans. Robots, too, can accomplish many similar feats. But the essential reason we must protect animals is not because of their admirable abilities, but their capacity for consciousness, for suffering. Robots are not conscious. Participants in the human-animal debate should not complain about changing criteria for determining human uniqueness. New and …

How Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder Recognize Facial Expressions Displayed By A Rear-Projection Humanoid Robot, Farzaneh Askari, Huanghao Feng, Anibal Gutierrez, Timothy Sweeny, Mohammad H. Mahoor

Electrical and Computer Engineering: Graduate Student Scholarship

Background: Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) experience reduced ability to perceive crucial nonverbal communication cues such as eye gaze, gestures, and facial expressions. Recent studies suggest that social robots can be used as effective tools to improve communication and social skills in children with ASD. One explanation has been put forward by several studies that children with ASD feel more contented and motivated in systemized and predictable environment, like interacting with robots.

Objectives: There have been few research studies evaluating how children with ASD perceive facial expression in humanoid robots but no research evaluating facial expression perception …

A Pilot Study On Facial Expression Recognition Ability Of Autistic Children Using Ryan, A Rear-Projected Humanoid Robot, Farzaneh Askari, Huanghao Feng, Timothy D. Sweeny, Mohammad H. Mahoor

Electrical and Computer Engineering: Graduate Student Scholarship

Rear-projected robots use computer graphics technology to create facial animations and project them on a mask to show the robot’s facial cues and expressions. These types of robots are becoming commercially available, though more research is required to understand how they can be effectively used as a socially assistive robotic agent. This paper presents the results of a pilot study on comparing the facial expression recognition abilities of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) with typically developing (TD) children using a rear-projected humanoid robot called Ryan. Six children with ASD and six TD children participated in this research, where Ryan …

The Imprint Of Childhood Abuse On Trauma-Related Shame In Adulthood, Joan A. Reid

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

Research has consistently linked residual trauma-related shame among child sexual abuse (CSA) survivors to sexual revictimization, health risk behaviors, and poorer response to mental health treatment. However, questions remain regarding the imprint of childhood maltreatment on trauma-related shame including which CSA characteristics or types of childhood maltreatment contribute to residual shame in adulthood. Using data drawn from a prospective study of 174 primarily African American women with histories of CSA and a matched comparison group, this study explores whether specific characteristics of CSA (familial CSA, CSA with penetration, force used by CSA perpetrator), repeat sexual victimization in adolescence, childhood physical …

Entropy, Order, And Agency: The Cognitive Basis Of The Link Between Agents And Order, Adena Schachner, Minju Kim

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

People often believe that orderly structures were created by agents. We examine the cognitive basis of this tendency, asking if learned associations or causal reasoning drives us to link order with agents. Causal reasoning predicts that knowledge of an alternative physical-mechanical cause should ‘explain away’ orderliness, weakening the link with agents. In a preregistered experiment, we manipulated the context to provide (or not provide) a physical-mechanical explanation for orderly outcomes, and participants judged if an object or agent had been present. We compared outcomes differing in (a)levels of orderliness and (b)whether context provided an alternative explanation. We found that environmental …

Poor Metacognitive Awareness Of Belief Change, Michael Wolfe, Todd J. Williams

Open Access Publishing Support Funded Articles

When people change beliefs as a result of reading a text, are they aware of these changes? This question was examined for beliefs about spanking as an effective means of discipline. In two experiments, subjects reported beliefs about spanking effectiveness during a prescreening session. In a subsequent experimental session, subjects read a one-sided text that advocated a belief consistent or inconsistent position on the topic. After reading, subjects reported their current beliefs and attempted to recollect their initial beliefs. Subjects reading a belief inconsistent text were more likely to change their beliefs than those who read a belief consistent text. …

Pokémon Go As A Positive Virtual Reality Game: Promoting Cognitive, Affective, And Empathic Benefits, Rachel Carpenter

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Video game popularity and time playing in children, adolescents, and adults is steadily increasing due to heightened accessibility, advanced technological game design, and a rising sedentary lifestyle among Americans. The advent of exergames and virtual reality paradigms has led to a new wave of mobile video games that can be played anywhere, involve the combination of mobility and gaming, and may be used to improve cognition, affect, and perhaps empathy. The aim of the present study was to examine if the exergame Pokémon Go would improve visual and verbal working memory, attention, positive and negative affect, and empathy. Additionally, the …

A Study Of State College Faculty Trust In Immediate Supervisors, Anna Byrd

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This quantitative study investigated faculty trust in their immediate supervisors (academic deans and faculty chairs) in a state college setting. A survey instrument created for this study was based on existing research on trust in schools by Bryk and Schneider (2002) and Tschannen-Moran and Hoy (1998), as well as research on trust in corporate setting. The study’s purpose was to determine the types and frequencies of interactions between community college faculty and deans/faculty chairs – i.e., faculty immediate supervisors – that are related to higher levels of faculty trust. Also investigated were the relationships between faculty trust and demographic characteristics …

Learning Strategies Employed By College Aged Students With Disabilities: The Link Between Metacognition, Motivation, And Working Memory, Michael Rodriguez

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The aim of this study is two-fold. First, we want to understand the levels of metacognitive awareness of learning strategies in undergraduates with learning disabilities. Previous research states that recall is the most effective method of studying, but most students prefer to reread their notes or textbook which is ineffective. Second, we want to explore the link between Working Memory and metacognitive awareness of learning strategies in undergraduates with learning disabilities. The learning strategies that college students with and without disabilities is examined, we found that students in both groups preferred the usage of the same strategies equally. The most …