Cognitive Psychology Commons^™

Evaluation Of A Cognitive Training Program For Older Adults With Mild To Moderate Cognitive Decline, Kelly Bergstrom

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

Older adults often experience varying levels of cognitive decline. Several interventions intended to help slow the effects of cognitive decline have been studied, including cognitive training. Cognitive training involves engaging individuals, typically in a group setting, in exercises that target specific cognitive domains, such as attention, perceptual speed, memory, language, and executive functioning. Literature on cognitive training provides mixed support for its efficacy. The purpose of the current study was to determine whether a manualized, in-person cognitive training program for individuals with mild to moderate cognitive decline would lead to an improvement in cognitive performance. The program targeted six cognitive …

On Elemental Phenomenology: Sallis And Dzogchen Buddhism, Schwartz, Michael

Journal of Conscious Evolution

John Sallis’ volumes on the Force of the Imagination (2000) and Logic of the Imagination (2012) constitute, in the field of contemporary Continental thought, a novel philosophical view of the elementals. Tibetan Buddhism has a more than a thousand-year old tradition of teaching about and practicing with the elements. This study is a preliminary exploration of the cross-currents of these two elemental teachings.

Uncovering The Lost Knowledge Of The Imagination In Films, Seda, Daniel A.

Journal of Conscious Evolution

Films have forever changed the way in which humans perceive reality and have provided significant opportunities to spread knowledge in ways that are both entertaining and deceptive. Uncovering the lost knowledge of the imagination shifts an individual’s perceptions of a shared experience and exposes film’s persuasive power to penetrate the psyche. This paper explores the constitutions of reality and how humans are able to tap into other realms of consciousness through mediums of creative expression. Topics such as the origins of life, the hidden knowledge of secret societies, and the burgeoning full disclosure movement for truth are discussed as a …

An Exploration Of The Adaptive Functions Of Dreams And Empirically-Based Methods Of Dream Interpretation, Isaac Roberts

CMC Senior Theses

This paper presents a meta-analysis of dream theory within psychology and neuroscience. The questions it attempts to answer are: what is the neuroscientific basis of dreaming? Why do dreams exist (do they have an adaptive function)? Could dreams possibly have no function? And, what is the best way to interpret a dream? The current analysis presents various theories relevant to each of these questions and compares their viability. It also briefly examines the origins of psychological thought on dreams and, towards the end, outlines the steps and empirical support for a well-regarded method of dream interpretation known as the cognitive …

The Changing Nature Of Death Qualification And Its Interaction With Attitude Salience, Brendan Busch

CMC Senior Theses

Death qualification is a problematic aspect of capital trials, as death qualified jurors have higher conviction rates than non-death qualified jurors. The current study examines whether the death qualification process itself affects juror decision-making via attitude salience effects.

Participants (n=90) recruited from the venire juror pool at the Santa Ana Superior Court were asked to read a trial transcript and decide guilt or innocence and whether they would sentence the defendant to death. Half of the participants were given a survey determining death qualification before they read the trial (making death qualification salient), while the other half were given the …

Score One For Jazz: Working Memory In Jazz And Classical Musicians, Bryan E. Nichols, Clemens Wöllner, Andrea R. Halpern

Faculty Journal Articles

Jazz musicians rely on different skills than do classical musicians for successful performances. We investigated the working memory span of classical and jazz student musicians on musical and nonmusical working memory tasks. College-aged musicians completed the Bucknell Auditory Imagery Scale, followed by verbal working memory tests and musical working memory tests that included visual and auditory presentation modes and written or played recall. Participants were asked to recall the last word (or pitch) from each task after a distraction task, by writing, speaking, or playing the pitch on the piano. Jazz musicians recalled more pitches that were presented in auditory …

Reframing Sports Psychology: A Phenomenological Perspective On Mental Imagery, Motivation, Emotions And Teamwork, Daniel Mcloughlin, Rachel Sowinski

Psychology Department Student Scholarship

The majority of research in the field of sports psychology focuses on quantifiable, evidence-based, universally applicable theory. Current evidence-based programs of intervention are heavily based on symptomatology and often ignore the lived experiences of athletes; an unspoken assumption seems to exist that events, dialogue, and emotions will elicit identical responses from all athletes. Many clinicians find a large portion of their work focused on the subfields of mental imagery, motivation, emotions, and teamwork. Each topic has a dominating theory, which is typically derived from the concepts of Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy. While CBT certainly has its benefits, its shortcomings are evident in …

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 …

Hard Copy Versus #Hashtag: Examining The Channels Of Terrorist Propaganda, Evan Copello

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In recent years, terrorism and radicalization has been a consistent issue that many countries have faced. The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) has been the most recent in a long trail of organizations that have sought to strike terror against the western world. However, ISIS is distinguished from other groups, like Al-Qaeda, in that ISIS supports a complex propaganda machine. Although ISIS is not the first organization to use the social media platform, they are the first to use it with such diversity. The two main channels that ISIS uses to spread their propaganda messages are through social …

Cross-Cultural Study Of The Predictors Of Learning In Children Ages 11-15 Years Old, Nadina Melina Williams

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Academic achievement is deemed a significant indicator for a successful future. Cognitive ability, home environment, and metacognition are among the many factors research has posited to contribute to academic achievement and later success (Alloway & Alloway, 2010; Bradley & Caldwell, 1984, Veenman, Wilhelm, & Beishuizen, 2004). The present study examines the relation between cognitive ability (working memory (WM) and nonverbal ability), metacognitive awareness, implicit theories of IQ, home environment (socioeconomic status (SES), home life, and parental involvement in homework), and learning outcomes (grades) in two distinct sample populations. The study used a sample of 11-15-year-olds and their parents from two …

Working Memory And Auditory Imagery Predict Sensorimotor Synchronisation With Expressively Timed Music, Ian D. Colley, Peter E. Keller, Andrea R. Halpern

Faculty Journal Articles

Sensorimotor synchronisation (SMS) is prevalent and readily studied in musical settings, as most people are able to perceive and synchronise with a beat (e.g., by finger tapping). We took an individual differences approach to understanding SMS to real music characterised by expressive timing (i.e., fluctuating beat regularity). Given the dynamic nature of SMS, we hypothesised that individual differences in working memory and auditory imagery—both fluid cognitive processes—would predict SMS at two levels: (1) mean absolute asynchrony (a measure of synchronisation error) and (2) anticipatory timing (i.e., predicting, rather than reacting to beat intervals). In Experiment 1, participants completed two working …

Attraction To Sad Music: The Role Of Imagery, Absorption, And Rumination, Emery Schubert, Andrea R. Halpern, Gunter Kreutz, Sandra Garrido

Faculty Journal Articles

Previous studies have identified links between attraction to negative emotion in music with the traits of absorption and rumination. However, no studies have examined the possible interdependencies and influences of these traits. We sought to determine whether a cognitive processing path that leads to attraction to sad music could be identified. We argued that auditory imagery might be an interesting competency to add to the investigation because of the links between imagery and absorption. Participants completed validated surveys measuring the three target cognitive measures, as well as a Like Sad Music Scale. Mediation analysis revealed that absorption mediated imagery in …

Promoting Preschoolers’ Emotional Competence Through Prosocial Tv And Mobile App Use, Eric Rasmussen, Gabrielle Strouse, Malinda Colwell, Collen Russo Johnson, Steven Holiday, Kristen Brady, Israel Flores, Georgene Troseth, Holly Wright, Rebecca Densley, Mary Norman

School of Education Faculty Publications

This study explored the relationship between preschoolers’ exposure to Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood television programming and its accompanying mobile app and preschoolers’ emotion knowledge and use of emotion regulation strategies. An experiment involving 121 parent-child dyads from 3 US metro areas found that children who played with the Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood app, and those who both played with the app and watched episodes of the program, employed the emotion regulation strategies taught by Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood media more frequently 1 month later than children in a control condition. Preschoolers (3- and 4-year-olds) also exhibited higher levels of emotion knowledge 1 month …

Eye Movements And Spatial Ability: Influences On Thinking During Analogical Problem Solving, Bradford Schroeder

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Classic studies have examined the factors that influence the way in which people can solve difficult "insight" problems, which require creative solutions. Recent research has shown that guiding one's eye movements in a pattern spatially congruent with the solution improves the likelihood of formulating a spatial solution. The authors in this line of research argued that guiding eye movements in a pattern spatially equivalent to the solution of the problem yields an embodied cognitive benefit that aids problem solving. Specifically, guiding eye movements leads to the generation of a mental representation containing perceptual information that helps a problem solver mentally …

Thinking Perspective Profiles As A Predictor Of Intelligence Analysts' Job Performance., Curtis Rasmussen

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Empirical research has supported the use of general cognitive ability to predict employee performance; however, studies have accounted for only a fraction of the variance. The current study addressed whether intellectual styles, which describe how individuals habitually acquire and use information, account for a significant portion of the variance in job performance not covered by general cognitive ability. The study followed a quantitative, nonexperimental design with a convenience sample of 77 intelligence analysts from 6 U.S. government agencies and 2 online professional groups. MindTime provided the primary theoretical framework. The International Cognitive Ability Resource, MindTime Profile InventoryTM, and Self-Rated Analytic …

Exploring How Reflective Exercises Affect First-Year Engineering Epistemological And Intelligence Beliefs, Amber J. Kemppainen

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

This work explores the effects of the implementation of a KWL reflective learning exercise on first-year engineering students’ self-efficacy, intelligence beliefs (mindset), and epistemological beliefs. A sample of 428 first-year engineering students were divided into three groups: a) control, b) exposure to KWL, and c) used KWL. Significant differences were found in self-efficacy between the groups with more efficacious students being less likely to utilize the KWL activity. Seventy-seven percent of the students who used the KWL activities reported positive learning outcomes by using the KWL activity to focus their class preparation or to reflect on their learning. No significant …

How Do Angry Drivers Respond To Emotional Music? A Comprehensive Perspective On Assessing Emotion, Seyedeh Maryam Fakhr Hosseini

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Driving is a complicated task that requires the coordination of visual and sensory-motor skills. Unsafe driving behavior and accidents can happen regardless of the level of drivers’ experience. The main cause of the most of these accidents is human error. Emotions influence the way drivers process and react to internal or environmental factors. Specifically, anger elicited either from traffic or personal issues, is a serious threat on the road. Therefore, having an affective intelligent system in the car that can estimate drivers’ anger and respond to it appropriately can help drivers adapt to moment to-moment changes in driving situations. To …

The Tracer Method: Don't Blink Or You Might Miss It. A Novel Methodology Combining Cognitive Task Analysis And Eye Tracking, Kaitlyn Marie Roose

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

This thesis describes the development and first demonstration of a new Human Factors method, The Tracer Method, which is a combination of Cognitive Task Analysis (CTA) and Eye Tracking. The study evaluated whether the two methods together produce new and different information than either method alone could provide. The method was tested using a video game, Overwatch, a dynamic, complex, and multiplayer game. The evaluation included: 1. Examining both in the same context (game), 2. Establishing unique contributions of each method alone, and 3. Evaluating overlapping information. Results identified some overlap between the two methods that provided some cross-validation …

Determining Criteria For Distinguishing States Of Consciousness, Barry Matthew Klein

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Even though there are many views on consciousness theory in the pertinent literature, there remains a need for a unifying framework for specifying the features of specific states of consciousness. In order to know what kinds of experiences conscious states have in common, researchers need to elicit testimony that is more direct and finer-grained than has been previously available. This dissertation endeavors to fill a gap in current research by addressing concepts and methods for making requisite distinctions. This research illuminates the question of whether specific states of consciousness can be reliably and validly distinguished from each other. In order …

Psychological Consequences Of The Boko Haram Insurgency For Nigerian Children, Paul Adebayo Adepelumi

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Studies have examined the causes and impacts of terrorism in Nigeria; however, no known research has documented the psychological impacts of witnessing ongoing Boko Haram terrorist violence based on the lived experiences of Nigerian children. The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to examine the psychological consequences of the Boko Haram insurgency based on the lived experience of Nigerian children exposed to terrorism in Nigeria. The study's theoretical framework combined Piaget's theory of cognitive development and punctuated equilibrium theory. The central research question examined the adverse psychological effects of the Boko Haram insurgency for Nigerian children residing in Nigeria. …