Cognitive Psychology Commons^™

Using Low-Stakes Repeated Testing Can Improve Student Learning: How (Some) Practice Makes Perfect, Sarah Grison, Steven G. Luke, Aya Shigeto, Patrick D.K. Watson

Psychology Faculty

Two studies in Introductory Psychology classes explored whether repeated low-stakes testing can augment learning. In Experiment 1, answering more in-class questions with student response systems (SRSs) predicted better learning when students had not read the text. In Experiment 2, taking online practice quizzes predicted better learning, especially when questions on a concept were grouped. Repeated low-stakes testing can aid learning, but we must develop evidence-based pedagogical tools to maximize effects.

University-Community Engagement: The Fresno Story Of Targeted Neighborhood Revitalization, D. Schecter, Ellen N. Junn, K. Coles

Office of the Provost Scholarship

In this article we take a closer look at a developing university-community engagement project being undertaken between California State University, Fresno, and the City of Fresno. A history of the project is provided, along with a review of the relevant literature and a summary of what pieces of the puzzle we feel should be in place for a successful collaboration of this sort. These include what structures should be institutionalized for successful collaboration at the university, in the partnering organizations, and in the community.

Brain Activity Elicited By Positive And Negative Feedback In Preschool-Aged Children, Xiaoqin Mai, Twila Tardif, Stacey N. Doan, Chao Liu, William J. Gehring, Yue-Jia Luo

CMC Faculty Publications and Research

To investigate the processing of positive vs. negative feedback in children aged 4–5 years, we devised a prize-guessing game that is analogous to gambling tasks used to measure feedback-related brain responses in adult studies. Unlike adult studies, the feedback-related negativity (FRN) elicited by positive feedback was as large as that elicited by negative feedback, suggesting that the neural system underlying the FRN may not process feedback valence in early childhood. In addition, positive feedback, compared with negative feedback, evoked a larger P1 over the occipital scalp area and a larger positive slow wave (PSW) over the right central-parietal scalp area. …

A Qualitative Study On Online Social Networks And Language Mistakes, Buket Akkoyunlu, Meryem Yılmaz Soylu

Department of Educational Psychology: Faculty Publications

The purpose of this study is to put the suggestions of the students for the solutions towards caring Turkish by examining their projects carried out by Primary School 7th and 8th grade students in the online social networks (Facebook, Youtube, Myspace, Twitter, Blogs) in order to detect the wrong use of Turkish. The case study among the qualitative research methods was used. In the study, 7th and 8th grade students examined how Turkish (language) is used in the correspondences in the online social networks (Facebook, Youtube, Myspace, Twitter, Blogs), detected the mistakes and presented solution suggestions towards the correct use …

Evaluation Of The Process Model Of Goal Orientation And Feedback-Seeking In Organizations, Naomi Lorine King

Theses Digitization Project

This study hypothesized that an individuals' cost and value perceptions of feedback-seeking were related to their goal orientation which further led to the preference for certain types of feedback. The 260 working adult participants for this study were asked to respond to several demographic questions on a survey link that was posted on social media websites.

The Influence Of Menstrual Cycle Phase On Threat Recognition, Melanie Lynn Beaussart

Theses Digitization Project

The aim of this study was to assess the relationship between women's perception of different types of threats and the menstrual cycle. This thesis argues for the existence of a specific cognitive adaptation in human females that reduces the possibility of rape during the time of maximum pregnancy risk.

Creative Achievement, Feedback, And Regulation Of Motivation For Creative Behaviors, Ryan Edward Holt

Theses Digitization Project

This study will explore the effects of self-regulation and the tendency to commit to or refrain from creative projects. The relationship between one's feelings of creative achievement and motivation to pursue creative activities will also be investigated. A total of 274 students of California State University, San Bernardino (CSUSB) were recruited from lower division and upper division psychology courses. Participants rated 12 questions regarding their creative identity on a 4 point scale.

Effects Of Bilingualism On Goal Representation And Maintenance, Amina Saadaoui

Theses Digitization Project

The main focus of this study was to examine whether the bilingual advantage in cognitive control is due to the bilinguals' ability to represent and maintain goal information in working memory. Cognitive control, also referred to as executive control, is the ability to inhibit one cognitive task while executing another task.

The Effect Of A Group-Affirmation On Prejudice, Adrian Joseph Villicana

Theses Digitization Project

The main goal of the current research was to examine the effects of a group-affirmation on evaluations of out-groups.

Evolution And Development Of Reasoning And Argumentation: Commentary On Mercier (2011), David Moshman

Department of Educational Psychology: Faculty Publications

For anyone who loves a strong major thesis—and I do—Mercier’s “Reasoning serves argumentation in children” [this issue] obliges right from the title. And for anyone who loves a carefully structured defense of a provocative perspective—and who does not?—Mercier’s article continues to fill the bill.

The “argumentative theory of reasoning” maintains that “reasoning is a fundamentally social ability” that “has evolved to serve argumentive ends: finding and evaluating arguments in a dialogic context.” There appear to be two distinguishable theses here: first, reasoning serves argumentive ends; second, reasoning has evolved. In their moderate versions, each thesis is true and useful; their …

The Role Of Cross-Language Activation In Syntactic Ambiguity, Li-Hao Yeh

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

There is much evidence demonstrating that bilinguals activate lexical representations from both of their languages in a non-selective manner even in sentence context. Comparatively less research has examined the extent to which bilingual lexical representations interacts with syntactic processing in sentence context. The purpose of this study is to examine whether bilinguals' cross-language lexical activation could influence their resolution of syntactic ambiguity (e.g. relative clause attachment). Proper attachment of relative clauses (RC) to noun phrases is critical for accurate interpretation of syntactically ambiguous sentences. For instance, the sentence The robber shot the secretary of my husband who goes to work …

Levels-Of-Processing Effects On "Remember" Responses In Recognition For Familiar And Unfamiliar Tunes, Esra Mungan, Zehra F. Peynircioğlu, Andrea R. Halpern

Faculty Journal Articles

We investigated the effect of level-of-processing manipulations on "remember" and "know" responses in episodic melody recognition (Experiments 1 and 2) and how this effect is modulated by item familiarity (Experiment 2). In Experiment 1, participants performed 2 conceptual and 2 perceptual orienting tasks while listening to familiar melodies: judging the mood, continuing the tune, tracing the pitch contour, and counting long notes. The conceptual mood task led to higher d' rates for "remember" but not "know" responses. In Experiment 2, participants either judged the mood or counted long notes of tunes with high and low familiarity. A level-of-processing effect emerged …

Express Yourself: The Effects Of Body Position On Non-Verbal Communication Of Emotions, Kathryn H. Mgrublian

CMC Senior Theses

Recent research has documented that we tend to use the face to express some emotions, but use the body to express other emotions. To understand the contributions of the body to non-verbal emotional communication, we compared the performance of able-bodied participants who were allowed to express emotions naturally (standing) to able-bodied participants who were confined to a wheelchair.  Theories of embodied emotion would predict that restraining the use of the body should change emotion production and communication confidence, especially for body-related emotions. Participants expressed six different emotions in three conditions: 1) naturally, 2) face only, and 3) body only. After …

Are Gender Differences In Empathy Due To Differences In Emotional Reactivity?, Linda Rueckert, Brandon Branch, Tiffany Doan

Psychology & Gerontology Faculty Publications

The purpose of this study was to determine whether gender differences in empathy reflect differences in self-rated emotion, and whether they are influenced by the nature of the target of the empathy (friend or enemy). 24 men and 36 women were asked to rate how much happiness, sadness, and anger they would feel if each of ten scenarios happened to themselves, and how they would feel if it happened to a friend or enemy. Overall, women rated themselves as feeling more happiness and sadness than men, whether the event happened to themselves, or to a friend or enemy. This suggests …

Psychosocial Aspects Of Physical Activity And Fitness In Special-Population, Minority Middle School Children, Jeffrey J. Martin, Nate Mccaughtry, Anne S. Murphy, Sara Flory, Kimberlydawn Wisdom

Kinesiology, Health and Sport Studies

Special-population research predicting physical activity (PA) and fitness with minority middle school children from at-risk environments is rare. Hence, the purpose of our investigation was to evaluate the ability of important social cognitive and environment-based measures to predict PA and fitness with children with developmental delay, cognitive, and emotional impairments. Children (N = 89, ages 11-15) completed questionnaires assessing social cognitive and environment-based constructs, self report PA, and completed fitness testing. Correlational results supported some hypotheses. The descriptive and correlational results also indicated commonalities with similar research on non special-population minority middle school children from at-risk environments.

Using Contextual Cues To Influence The Role Of Priming In The Transformation Of Stimulus Functions: A Relational Frame Theory Investigation In Implicit Social Stereotyping., Jacob Daar

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This basic study was designed to explore the conceptualization of prejudice as a form of contextually controlled, derived, and arbitrarily applicable relational responding. Basic studies utilizing RFT methodologies have yielded examples of how stimulus functions of one set of stimuli, such as a stereotyped group, can transform the functions of another stimulus, such as an individual. Priming procedures, as contextual cues, have been used to affect prejudicial responding. Stimuli participating in relational frames have been shown to be sensitive to such priming procedures; however, the role of context in the priming of derived relational responses has not yet been established. …

Context Dependent Pitch Perception In Consonant And Dissonant Harmonic Intervals, George Albert Seror

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Abstract

A Study In Texture Segmentation: Investigating The Role Of Template Retuning In Perceptual Learning, Kurt Douglas Streeter

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Quantifiable differences are recognized in observers performing perceptual tasks that may be the product of practice or the observer's familiarity with the task. These differences suggest the possibility of perceptual learning (PL), which could be linked to first-order information. The purpose of the present study was to establish learning and test for cases of PL in a perceptual task involving texture segmentation. Changes in contrast threshold measurements from fourteen naïve observers were analyzed based upon their performance in a texture segmentation task presented in periphery. Tests of general learning involving orientation contrast modulations within textures were measured and were found …

The Effect Of Response Format On Syllogistic Reasoning, Adam S. Billman

Calvert Undergraduate Research Awards

This study examined the effect of response format on the conclusions drawn in a categorical reasoning task. In Experiment 1, participants were required to respond in either a multiple-choice format or were required to produce their own conclusion (without any choices presented). In the multiple-choice task, people responded with a wider variety of conclusions, more No Valid Conclusion responses, and had a smaller forward bias. In terms of theoretical predictions, Mental Model Theory was better supported in the multiple-choice condition and more conclusions corresponded with initial models in the production task while more conclusions corresponded with alternative models in the …

The Claremont Autism Center, Alex E. Mitchell Mr.

CMC Senior Theses

The Claremont Autism Center is a 23 minute documentary on the strengths and benefits the Center brings to Claremont McKenna students, as well as children and families from the Inland Empire that deal with Autism on a daily basis.