Cognitive Psychology Commons^™

Distinctive Sans Forgetica Font Does Not Benefit Memory Accuracy In The Drm Paradigm, Anie Mitchell

Honors Theses

A common method used by memory scholars to enhance retention is to make materials more challenging to learn—a benefit termed desirable difficulties. Recently, researchers have investigated the efficacy of Sans Forgetica, a perceptually disfluent or distinctive font, which may increase the processing effort required at study and, as a result, enhance memory. We examined the effects of Sans Forgetica relative to a standard control font (Arial) on both correct memory and associative memory errors using the Deese/Roediger-McDermott (DRM) false memory paradigm. Across four experiments which included nearly 300 participants, Sans Forgetica was found to have no impact on correct or …

Two Essays On The Role Of Empathy In Consumer Response To User-Generated Content, Mohammadali Koorank Beheshti

Theses and Dissertations in Business Administration

Empathy is known to be the basis of all human interactions and an essential component of human psychology. Empathy includes a cognitive component (perspective-taking) and an affective component (e.g., emotional contagion). The two essays of my dissertation investigate how each of these components of empathy affect consumer responses to user-generated content.

Essay 1: Although both price and online review ratings are important cues in consumers’ product quality judgment, most previous studies have treated price and review ratings as separate inputs into consumer decision-making. The current research shows that the two cues are intertwined, such that consumers’ perception of the same …

Let's Get Physical: Exploring The Socioemotional Motivators Of Group Exercise For Older Adults, Tessneem S. Hasan, Alyssa R. Minton, Jason Snyder, Joseph A. Mikels

DePaul Discoveries

Approximately 75% of active adults in the U.S. do not meet the recommended levels of overall physical activity (CDC, 2021a). Given the beneficial impact of physical activity on health, an 8-week long, evidence-based group exercise program—Fit & Strong! (F&S!)—was created to improve the health of older adults (Hughes et al., 2004, 2006, 2010). Despite the clear physical benefits of F&S!, it remains unknown what motivates F&S! participants to initially participate in the program and also throughout the program. Drawing from core notions of socioemotional selectivity theory (SST; Carstensen, 2006), research has found that older adults are highly motivated to exercise …

The Abstract Language: Symbolic Cogniton And Its Relationship To Embodiment, Steven A. Lenarduzzi

ETD Archive

Embodied theories presume that concepts are modality specific while symbolic theories suggest that all modalities for a given concept are integrated. Symbolic and embodied theories do fairly well with explaining and describing concrete concepts. Specifically, embodied theories seem well suited to describing the actual content of a concept while symbolic theories provide insight into how concepts operate. Conversely, neither symbolic nor embodied theories have been fully sufficient when attempting to describe and explain abstract concepts. Several pluralistic accounts have been put forth to describe how the semantic/lexical system interacts with the conceptual system. In this respect, they attempt to “embody” …

Sound Judgment: Review Of Noise: A Flaw In Human Judgment (2021) By Daniel Kahneman, Olivier Sibony, And Cass R. Sunstein, Anne Kelly

Numeracy

In Noise: A Flaw in Human Judgment (2021), Daniel Kahneman, Olivier Sibony, and Cass R. Sunstein convincingly demonstrate the pervasiveness and harmfulness of unwanted internal variability or noise. Using examples from both public and private sectors to demonstrate the quality and limits of the judgments we make, they argue that, despite objections based on possible cost, difficulty, and dehumanization, the reduction of noise is imperative for the fairness and equitability of systems upon which we depend.

Psychology In The Modern World, Kutay Agardici

Open Educational Resources

This syllabus is created for the two courses I will be teaching at City College in the psychology dept. Topics include cognition, language, learning, memory, nature vs. nurture, abnormal psychology, social psychology, etc.

Origins Of High Latitude Introductions Of Aedes Aegypti To Nebraska And Utah During 2019, Andrea Gloria-Soria, Ary Faraji, Jeff Hamik, Gregory White, Shanon Amsberry, Matthew Donahue, Bryan Buss, Evlyn Pless, Luciano Veiga Cosme, Jeffrey R. Powell

Department of Educational Psychology: Faculty Publications

Aedes aegypti (L.), the yellow fever mosquito, is also an important vector of dengue and Zika viruses, and an invasive species in North America. Aedes aegypti inhabits tropical and sub-tropical areas of the world and in North America is primarily distributed throughout the southern United States states and Mexico. The northern range of Ae. aegypti is limited by cold winter months and establishment in these areas has been mostly unsuccessful. However, frequent introductions of Ae. aegypti to temperate, non-endemic areas during the warmer months can lead to seasonal activity and disease outbreaks. Two Ae. aegypti incursions were …

The Influence Of Parental Psychological Control On Offspring Anxiety Symptomatology: A Cognitive Model, Yu Ping Wong

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

Parental control has often been purported to be a risk factor for offspring anxiety. Recent studies however, identify that a particular dimension of control - parental psychological control - is an especially important contributor to anxiety. However, the mechanisms behind this relationship remain unknown. Thus, in this study, we seek to bridge this gap in the literature by examining whether a cognitive mechanism underlies this relationship. Drawing on Beck's model of emotional disorders, we propose that control- related beliefs and negative automatic thoughts would serially mediate the influence of psychological control on anxiety symptoms. Moreover, we sought to examine the …

Examining The Generalizability Of Research Findings From Archival Data, Andrew Delios, Et. Al., Andree Hartanto

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

This initiative examined systematically the extent to which a large set of archival research findings generalizes across contexts. We repeated the key analyses for 29 original strategic management effects in the same context (direct reproduction) as well as in 52 novel time periods and geographies; 45% of the reproductions returned results matching the original reports together with 55% of tests in different spans of years and 40% of tests in novel geographies. Some original findings were associated with multiple new tests. Reproducibility was the best predictor of generalizability—for the findings that proved directly reproducible, 84% emerged in other available time …

Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy And Stress Reduction, John C. Buchanan

Sabbatical Projects

During my sabbatical, I worked to increase my knowledge of Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) through formal training and credentialing, also through retreat experiences and daily practice, and to apply that knowledge to enhance the resources and service delivery of stress management and wellness programming for JCCC students, staff and faculty. My goal was to enhance and improve related campus resources such as the written handbook on stress management, and educational programming/ curriculum for students and staff such as presentations to JCCC staff and faculty through staff development days and expansion of resources for students in high stress programs such …

Algorithmic Manipulation: How Social Media Is Shaping Our Theology, Ethan Jago

Liberty Theological Review

The average individual in Generation Z spends nine hours a day on social media and derives over 62% of the information retained from social applications such as YouTube and Instagram. Social media applications are designed to track and adapt a user's activity to custom-tailor their internet experience resulting in a controlled, one-sided view of the information flow custom-tailored to an individual's usage, which subtly changes the disposition concerning the interpretation of theological and biblical truths. The algorithm of social media responds adapts and directly impacts individuals in what they think, purchase, and places they visit. Social media is not neutral …

Influences Of Sentence Context And Individual Differences In Lexical Quality On Early Phonological Processing During Silent Reading, Sara Milligan

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The current thesis investigates the role of sentence context and individual differences in the quality of sub-lexical representations of words in activation of phonological forms during silent reading. More specifically, this study aims to determine how these situational and participant-level factors influence the use of phonology to aid word recognition during parafoveal processing, before a reader directly fixates the word. Therefore, I manipulated sentence constraint in two eye tracking during reading experiments (one using real-word and one using pseudoword parafoveal previews) that utilized the gaze-contingent boundary paradigm (Rayner 1975) and measured individual’s scores on assessments of spelling ability, phonological decoding …

Misinformation And Disinformation: Detecting Fakes With The Eye And Ai, Victoria Rubin

Data and Test Instruments

How do we detect, deter, and prevent the spread of mis- and disinformationwith the human eye and AI? How does theory inform the practice, and how do theevidence-based research and best practices in lie-catching and truth-seekingprofessions—inform AI? The book looks into well-established human practicessuch as the routines and processes used in detective work, journalism, and scientificinquiry, and how they contribute toward innovative AI solutions. The book explainsthe principles, inner workings, and recent evolution of five types of state-of-the-artAI technologies suitable for curtailing the spread of mis- and disinformation:automated deception detectors, clickbait detectors, satirical fake detectors, rumordebunkers, and computational fact-checking tools.

Evaluating The Effects Of Mindfulness Practice On Attentional Control And Episodic Memory, Jacob M. M. Namias

Master's Theses

Mindfulness refers to a mental state of being that involves nonjudgmental acceptance of current cognitions and emotions with awareness of the present moment. Researchers and clinicians have shown the efficacy of mindfulness as a treatment for psychological disorders such as anxiety and depression and have found reductions in reported stress. Building on clinical benefits, mindfulness practice may also facilitate attentional processes as practitioners are required to inhibit distracting thoughts and re-direct their focus to the present moment. My thesis examined the relationship between mindfulness practice and attentional control and potential spillovers to episodic memory. Experiment 1 gauged the relationship between …

How Do We Represent Possibilities In The Visual World? — An Analysis Of Amodal Completion Under Cognitive And Perceptual Load., Camden Parker

Dartmouth College Undergraduate Theses

How do cognitive and perceptual load affect the way we experience the world when the visual scene is incomplete or partially occluded? The present study seeks to answer this question with a series of experiments based on primed matching, amodal completion, and load theory. In Experiment 1, we replicated results that amodal completion is automatic and supports multiple possible completions. In Experiment 2, we found that working memory load decreases the priming effects of both partially occluded and fully visible shapes. In Experiment 3, we found that perceptual load decreases the priming effect of partially occluded shapes more so than …

Individual Differences In Coping With Large Multimodal Conflicts In A Spatial Orientation Paradigm, Cassandra J. Engstrom

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This study examined how humans respond to large 180º disparities between internally generated self-motion cues and external landmarks in a navigation task. Subjects learned the locations of 4 objects in a virtual environment, navigating back to these sites in a testing phase that probed their sense of direction at dead-ends. In select (incongruent) trials, subjects’ virtual rotations were mirrored relative to their physical turns, forcing them to navigate along separate virtual and physical trajectories. On these trials, subjects were either instructed to navigate using their memory of the required turn sequence (proprioceptive instructions) or the external environment (visual …

Evaluating The Effects Of Initial Testing On Misinformation Suggestibility For Eyewitnessed Videos, Wryleigh Shearin-Anderson

Honors Theses

Exposure to misleading details following an eyewitnessed event often leads to memory errors for these misleading details—a pattern termed the misinformation effect. A recent debate is whether completing a memory test after a witnessed event, but before exposure to misleading details, can reduce subsequent misinformation (a protective effect of testing; PET) or increase subsequent misinformation (retrieval-enhanced suggestibility; RES). We further evaluated the initial testing effects using witnessed videos (vs. static images) which often yield a RES pattern and using household scenes which often yield a PET pattern. Following study of four household videos (e.g., bathroom, bedroom, etc.) that depicted an …

Examining The Effectiveness Of Misinformation Warnings To Alter Stereotypes For Public Figures And Memories For Public Events, Madalyn P. Prince

Student Theses

Social media allows individuals to share, receive and engage with information and content on an international scale, often with other likeminded individuals and relatively few restrictions (Carr & Hayes, 2015). However, with this access comes the likelihood of engaging with and disseminating misinformation (Allcott et al., 2019), a form of information that may seem true initially but is later revealed as false (Cook et al., 2015). Misinformation is often disseminated by those whose political ideology matches that of the misinformation (Kahan, 2017; Kahan, 2013). The current study aims to expand on the extant literature to examine how misinformation warnings impact …

Testing An Overtraining Protocol For Fear Learning In Humans, Gordon M. Haskell

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Successful regulation of fear memories is a fundamental tenet to the exposure-based therapies often employed by mental health professionals for individuals with PTSD, phobias, and other anxiety disorders. Consequently, the efficacy of these treatment methodologies is largely dependent on the strength of the fear memory, as stronger memories are often characterized by an increased resistance to extinction and heightened fear recovery. However, there is little consensus within the scientific community regarding how to effectively maximize fear memory strength in human studies, and the literature exploring the impact of variability in acquisition parameters on memory strength is sparse. Here, we tested …

Withdrawal From Voluntary Oral Methamphetamine Reveals Female Specific Susceptibilities To Behavioral Deficits And Neurochemical Perpetuators Of Neurotoxicity And Drug Seeking Behavior, Nicoletta K. Memos

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

MA is a potent, highly addictive psychomotor stimulant known to produce neurotoxic effects on the brain leading to neurological impairments^1-6 characterized by neurodegeneration of dopaminergic fibers, cell bodies and pathways, as well as brain regions such as the hippocampus, frontal cortex, and midbrain^1,5.

In MA addiction, women are more vulnerable to the behavioral and cognitive effects of MA compared to men. Adult human literature reveals gender differences in usage patterns and women demonstrate increased vulnerability to the neurotoxic effects and health effects of MA use. Women begin drug use at an earlier age, escalate drug use quicker, …