Living On Autopilot: How Your Brain Thinks For You,
2010
DePauw University
Living On Autopilot: How Your Brain Thinks For You, Andrea Stathopoulos '10
Honor Scholar Theses
One way in which humans are set apart from other animals is by our impressive intellectual capacities. Humans are commonly considered to be true masters of rational, conscious control over our actions. However, that feeling of control may be mostly illusory. Accumulating evidence suggests that unconscious cognitive processes can account for much of human behavior. Homeostasis is a clear example of the evolutionary benefit of automation, allowing valuable energy and limited attention to be diverted elsewhere. I instead want to focus on the automaticity of more complicated behaviors, ones that are typically thought to require a large amount of cognitive …
The Effects Of Handedness And Bilateral Saccadic Eye Movements On False Alarms In Recognition Memory,
2010
Macalester College
The Effects Of Handedness And Bilateral Saccadic Eye Movements On False Alarms In Recognition Memory, Lisa Weinberg
Psychology Honors Projects
Handedness can be used as a marker for interhemispheric interaction, which can produce memory benefits. Bilateral saccadic eye movements can be used to manipulate levels of interhemispheric interaction. This study measured the effects of handedness and bilateral saccadic eye movement on memory using the Deese-Roediger-McDermott paradigm. This study predicted a memory advantage for left-handers and mixed-handers without eye movements and an advantage for right-handers with the eye movements. The results do not support these predictions but do suggest that handedness is a factor in episodic memory performance. The analyses for this study were run using A’ to compare false alarm …
Event Segmentation And Memory Retrieval In Reading Comprehension,
2010
Macalester College
Event Segmentation And Memory Retrieval In Reading Comprehension, Charles Baker Brenner
Linguistics Honors Projects
Comprehending text involves the convergence of top-down, expectation-driven processes and bottom-up, stimulus-driven processes. The precise nature of this convergence, however, is not well understood. The current study used narrative time shifts and shifts in protagonist goal, both hypothesized to encourage event-segmented memory representations, to investigate the interaction between automatic and constructive memory processes during reading. The addition of time and goal shifts was found to have no effect on the automatic retrieval of information from memory. The results are interpreted as support for the bottom-up account of retrieval of information during reading, and for the idea that the top-down account …
Trust Judgments And The Hindsight Bias Effect,
2010
Old Dominion University
Trust Judgments And The Hindsight Bias Effect, Martin Daniel Smith-Rodden
Psychology Theses & Dissertations
A decision to trust or not to trust can be examined within a broader category of cognition research concerning decisions under uncertainty. The purpose of this research was to investigate trust decisions through the lens of the hindsight bias effect. The hindsight bias effect (sometimes known as the "I knew it all along" effect) is a consequence that often follows judgments under uncertainty. Two experiments examined participants' evaluations of trust outcomes to determine if and how judgments of trust might be susceptible to hindsight biases. Experiment 1 exposed participants to vignettes depicting a third-party trust transaction between friends, with outcomes …
Neural Dedifferentiation In Relation To Risk For Alzheimer's Disease,
2010
Marquette University
Neural Dedifferentiation In Relation To Risk For Alzheimer's Disease, Nathan C. Hantke
Master's Theses (2009 -)
Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) research indicates that as an individual's age increases, the task-related spatial extent of neural activation increases. This decrease in neural specificity, or dedifferentiation, is often demonstrated by older adults during challenging cognitive tasks. Cognitively intact individuals at-risk for Alzheimer's disease (AD), as deemed by having an apolipoprotein-E ε4 allele or a family history of AD, demonstrate increased fMRI activation as compared to individuals at lower risk. Using a low effort, high accuracy event-related semantic memory task involving the presentation of famous and non-famous names, we examined spatial neural specificity through a measure of dedifferentiation using …
Locus Of Control And The Age Difference In Free Recall From Episodic Memory,
2010
Montclair State University
Locus Of Control And The Age Difference In Free Recall From Episodic Memory, Paul Amrhein, Judith K. Bond, Derek Hamilton
Department of Psychology Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works
The authors investigated the relation of locus of control (LOC) to age differences in free-recall memory performance. Older and younger participants completed P. C. Duttweiler's (1984) Internal Control Index (ICI) and subsequently performed free-recall memory tasks. Compared with the younger participants, the older participants exhibited poorer recall with more intrusions and uncorrected repetition errors as well as reduced categorical clustering. For the older participants with less internal LOC, recall proportion and item-pair associative recall clustering were lower than for the older participants with more internal LOC. By contrast, the younger participants did not exhibit any LOC effects in their recall …
Speech And Gesture In Language Acquisition Studies,
2010
National-Louis University
Speech And Gesture In Language Acquisition Studies, Gale Stam
Faculty Publications
No abstract provided.
The Cognitive Processes Of Japanese As A Foreign Language Learners In Understanding Videos.,
2010
Universiti Malaya
The Cognitive Processes Of Japanese As A Foreign Language Learners In Understanding Videos., Yoshida Masahiro
Student Works (2010-2019)
The aim of this study is to explore the differences between the thinking processes of proficient learners and less proficient learners of Japanese language while watching Japanese videos. This study examines facilitating and distracting factors which impact the learners’ understanding of the video content. Data of think aloud protocols, verbal summaries and semi-structured interviews were collected from four proficient learners and four less proficient learners while watching two kinds of videos; i.e., a Japanese animation “Doraemon” and a Japanese drama “Nodame Cantabile”. Analyses of listening strategies revealed that both proficient and less proficient learners used a lot of visual elements …
Can An L2 Speaker's Patterns Of Thinking For Speaking Change?,
2010
National Louis University
Can An L2 Speaker's Patterns Of Thinking For Speaking Change?, Gale Stam
Faculty Publications
No abstract provided.
Practice Makes Perfect: Improving Learning Of At-Risk Students,
2010
Parkland College
Practice Makes Perfect: Improving Learning Of At-Risk Students, Patrick D.K. Watson, Sarah Grison, Steven G. Luke, Aya Shigeto
Psychology Faculty
29 graduate TAs and 1 faculty member teach 2700 Introductory Psychology students annually. This year we developed an assessment program to improve student learning and graduate teaching training (Shigeto et al., 2010). We studied the value of pedagogical tools developed for students in the Educational Opportunities Program (EOP). EOP selects students based on demographics and academic vulnerabilities for a special intro psych section. This section has an extra day per week for content presentation and additional student development support. These interventions have been demonstrated to enhance learning in minority students (Treisman, 1992).
Can An Ethical Person Be An Ethical Prosecutor? A Social Cognitive Approach To Systemic Reform,
2010
University of Maryland School of Law
Can An Ethical Person Be An Ethical Prosecutor? A Social Cognitive Approach To Systemic Reform, Lawton P. Cummings
Faculty Scholarship
This Article argues that certain key structural factors within the prosecutorial system in the United States lead to prosecutorial misconduct by systematically encouraging 'moral disengagement' in prosecutors. 'Moral disengagement' refers to the social cognition theory developed by Albert Bandura and others, which identifies the mechanisms that operate to disengage an individual’s moral self-sanctions that would otherwise inhibit the individual from engaging in injurious conduct. Empirical studies have shown that a person’s level of moral disengagement, as a dispositional trait, is an accurate predictor of the person’s level of aggression and anti-social behavior, and that an individual’s level of moral disengagement …
The Effectiveness Of Altering Value Structure To Enhance Creativity,
2010
California State University, San Bernardino
The Effectiveness Of Altering Value Structure To Enhance Creativity, Christa Larai Taylor
Theses Digitization Project
The purpose of the current study is to determine if individual creativity may be lastingly enhanced by altering a more stable, enduring factor than those in previous studies, namely values. This study was designed to determine if values related to creativity may be enhanced using an established method of value change, known as Value Self Confrontation (VSC), and if an increase in "creative dimension" values would therefore result in enhanced creative behavior.
Individual Performance In Solving The Zin Obelisk Problem Solving Task: An Examination Of The Influence Of Cognitive And Personal Factors,
2010
California State University, San Bernardino
Individual Performance In Solving The Zin Obelisk Problem Solving Task: An Examination Of The Influence Of Cognitive And Personal Factors, Dalia Michelle Arellano Labrada
Theses Digitization Project
The purpose of this study was to bring together the findings to date regarding individual problem solving and to extend previous research in order to add to our understanding of problem solving by examining the factors that lead to effective individual problem solving on an analytical, timed task.
Because You Can't Teach It All And They Won't Read It All: Student Response Systems Do Improve Learning,
2010
Parkland College
Because You Can't Teach It All And They Won't Read It All: Student Response Systems Do Improve Learning, Steven G. Luke, Sarah Grison, Aya Shigeto, Patrick D.K. Watson
Psychology Faculty
In Introductory Psychology, 30 graduate TAs/faculty teach 2700 students annually. This year we developed an assessment program to improve student learning and graduate teaching training (Shigeto et al., 2010). Part of the program studied the pedagogical value of using student response systems to answer in-class multiple choice questions. Prior research lacks scientific rigor and provides equivocal evidence that SRSs improve learning (Caldwell, 2007).
Foreign Language Comprehension: Understanding The Centrality Deficit,
2010
University of Denver
Foreign Language Comprehension: Understanding The Centrality Deficit, Amanda C. Miller
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
The goal of this study was to determine how reading in a foreign language (L2) affects one's mental representation of the text and the ability to recognize and recall the text's important information. Using a within-participants design, the proportion of central and peripheral ideas recalled by participants reading in their L2 was compared to that when reading in their native language (L1). Readers recalled a greater proportion of central than peripheral ideas when reading in both their L2 and L1, but when their L2 and L1 recalls were directly compared, a very interesting, yet counterintuitive, result emerged. The greatest deficit …
The Effect Of Word Sociality On Word Recognition,
2010
Wayne State University
The Effect Of Word Sociality On Word Recognition, Sean Seaman
Wayne State University Dissertations
While research into the role of semantic structure in the recognition of written and spoken words has grown, it has not looked specifically at the role of conversational context on the recognition of isolated words. This study was a corpus-based and behavioral exploration of a new semantic variable - sociality - and used on-line behavioral testing to obtain new word recognition data using the visual and auditory lexical decision tasks. The results consistently demonstrated that sociality is one of the most robust predictors of lexical decision performance. Overall, it appears that the visual lexical decision task is quite sensitive to …
C-Reactive Protein, Homocysteine, And Cognitive Performance In Healthy Adults,
2010
Wayne State University
C-Reactive Protein, Homocysteine, And Cognitive Performance In Healthy Adults, Cheryl Dahle
Wayne State University Dissertations
Elevated blood levels of C-reactive protein (CRP) and homocysteine (Hcy) have received a great deal of attention as biomarkers for the development of cardiovascular disease. Their utility in predicting cognitive function has also been assessed, though the findings are equivocal. The current study examined the relationship between elevated blood levels of CRP and Hcy and their effect on cognition across several cognitive domains. As baseline blood levels of CRP and Hcy and cognition are in part regulated by genetic factors, the impact of T carrier status for variants in the CRP -286 C>T>A and the MTHFR 677C>T …
Feeling Of Knowing And Retrieval Failure: Tip-Of-The-Tongue State Is Not The Only Option,
2010
Butler University
Feeling Of Knowing And Retrieval Failure: Tip-Of-The-Tongue State Is Not The Only Option, Amanda C. Gingerich
Scholarship and Professional Work - LAS
We investigated whether individuals are able to differentiate being in a tip-of-the-tongue state from the metacognitive experience of knowing information, but being unable to recall it. Results indicate that being unable to recall known information is separate from, and more common than, experiencing a tip-of-the-tongue state.
Application Of The Theory Of Planned Behaviour To Career Choice: The Role Of An Improved Measure Of Emotion,
2010
Edith Cowan University
Application Of The Theory Of Planned Behaviour To Career Choice: The Role Of An Improved Measure Of Emotion, Saveta Tegova
Theses : Honours
Adherents of the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) propose that intention to perform behaviour can be predicted by attitudes, subjective norms and perceived behavioural control. Recent studies, however, have indicated that the standard TPB predictor variables account for 28% to 40% of the variance in intention, leaving a considerable percentage of the variance in intentions to be explained. Attitude is traditionally measured by the valence associated with the intention. The present study employed an improved measure of attitude, including both emotional dimensions of valence and arousal (Bradley & Lang, 1999), rather than using valence alone, and tested whether this enhanced …
A Conceptual Guide To Natural History Museum Visitors’ Understanding Of Evolution,
2010
University of Michigan
A Conceptual Guide To Natural History Museum Visitors’ Understanding Of Evolution, E. Margaret Evans, Amy N. Spiegel, Wendy Gram, Brandy N. Frazier, Medha Tare, Sarah Thompson, Judy Diamond
Department of Educational Psychology: Faculty Publications
Museum visitors are an ideal population for assessing the persistence of the conceptual barriers that make it difficult to grasp Darwinian evolutionary theory. In comparison with other members of the public, they are more likely to be interested in natural history, have higher education levels, and be exposed to the relevant content. If museum visitors do not grasp evolutionary principles, it seems unlikely that other members of the general public would do so. In the current study, 32 systematically selected visitors to three Midwest museums of natural history provided detailed open-ended explanations of biological change in seven diverse organisms. They …
