Cognitive Psychology Commons^™

Developing A Brief Behavior Rating Scale For Progress Monitoring Of Depression In School Settings, Evan H. Dart, Prerna G. Arora, Tai Collins, Kevin Stark, Clayton R. Cook, Mylien T. Duong, Carolyn A. Mccarty, Beth Doll

Department of Educational Psychology: Faculty Publications

Frequent formative assessment of students’ functioning, or progress monitoring, is a critical component of multi-tiered systems of support as data inform data-driven decisions about response to treatment. Progress monitoring tools for students’ academic and behavioral functioning are readily available and widely researched; however, despite the documented prevalence of depressive disorders among youth and that schools have been put forth as an ideal location for the delivery of mental health services, there are currently no progress monitoring tools to examine students’ response to interventions that target depression. To address this gap, this study sought to develop a progress monitoring assessment of …

Mothers’ And Fathers’ Self-Regulation Capacity, Dysfunctional Attributions And Hostile Parenting During Early Adolescence: A Process-Oriented Approach, Melissa L. Sturge-Apple, Zhi Li, Meredith Martin, Hannah R. Jones-Gordils, Patrick T. Davies

Department of Educational Psychology: Faculty Publications

The parent-child relationship undergoes substantial reorganization over the transition to adolescence. Navigating this change is a challenge for parents because teens desire more behavioral autonomy as well as input in decision-making processes. Although it has been demonstrated that changes in parental socialization approaches facilitates adolescent adjustment, very little work has been devoted to understanding the underlying mechanisms supporting parents’ abilities to adjust caregiving during this period. Guided by self-regulation models of parenting, the present study examined how parental physiological and cognitive regulatory capacities were associated with hostile and insensitive parent conflict behavior over time. From a process-oriented perspective, we tested …

Mothers’ And Fathers’ Self-Regulation Capacity, Dysfunctional Attributions And Hostile Parenting During Early Adolescence: A Process-Oriented Approach, Melissa L. Sturge-Apple, Zhi Li, Meredith J. Martin, Hannah R. Jones-Gordils, Patrick T. Davies

Department of Educational Psychology: Faculty Publications

The parent-child relationship undergoes substantial reorganization over the transition to adolescence. Navigating this change is a challenge for parents because teens desire more behavioral autonomy as well as input in decision-making processes. Although it has been demon- strated that changes in parental socialization approaches facilitates adolescent adjustment, very little work has been devoted to understand- ing the underlying mechanisms supporting parents’ abilities to adjust caregiving during this period. Guided by self-regulation models of parenting, the present study examined how parental physiological and cognitive regulatory capacities were associated with hostile and insen- sitive parent conflict behavior over time. From a process-oriented …

The Impact Of The Covid-19 Pandemic On Marginalized Populations In The United States: A Research Agenda, Neeta Kantamneni

Department of Educational Psychology: Faculty Publications

International and national crises often highlight inequalities in the labor market that disproportionately affect individuals from marginalized backgrounds. The COVID-19 pandemic, and the resulting changes in society due to social distancing measures, has showcased inequities in access to decent work and experiences of discrimination resulting in many of the vulnerable populations in the United States experiencing a much harsher impact on economic and work-related factors. The purpose of this essay is to describe how the COVID-19 pandemic may differentially affect workers of color, individuals from low-income backgrounds, and women in complex ways. First, this essay will discuss disproportionate representation of …

Does The Spiritual Values/Religion Subscale Of The Self-Description Questionnaire Iii Function Differentially Across Heterosexual And Non-Heterosexual Young Adults? A Measurement Invariance Study, Thai Q. Ong, Deborah L. Bandalos, Susan M. Swearer

Department of Educational Psychology: Faculty Publications

We evaluated the dimensionality and measurement invariance of the Spiritual Values/Religion (SVR) subscale from the Self-Description Questionnaire III across heterosexual and non-heterosexual young adults. We found a one-factor model provided adequate fit to the data for each group, with the SVR items exhibiting configural, metric, and scalar invariance across the two groups. Given that we established measurement invariance, we examined the latent mean difference on the construct and found the heterosexual group reported significantly higher levels of spiritual value/ religion than the non-heterosexual group. Our results provided empirical support for the theorized factor structure of the SVR items and the …

Differential Effects Of Self- Vs. External-Regulation On Learning Approaches, Academic Achievement, And Satisfaction In Undergraduate Students, Jesús De La Fuente, Paul Sander, Douglas Kauffman, Meryem Yılmaz Soylu

Department of Educational Psychology: Faculty Publications

The aim of this research was to determine the degree to which undergraduate students’ learning approach, academic achievement and satisfaction were determined by the combination of an intrapersonal factor (self-regulation) and a interpersonal factor (contextual or regulatory teaching). The hypothesis proposed that greater combined regulation (internal and external) would be accompanied by more of a deep approach to learning, more satisfaction and higher achievement, while a lower level of combined regulation would determine a surface approach, less satisfaction and lower achievement. Within an ex post facto design by selection, 1036 university students completed validated questionnaires using an online tool. Several …

Ideology And Predictive Processing: Coordination, Bias, And Polarization In Socially Constrained Error Minimization, Nathan E. Wheeler, Suraiya Allidina, Elizabeth U. Long, Stephen P. Schneider, Ingrid J. Haas, William A. Cunningham

Department of Political Science: Faculty Publications

Recent models of cognition suggest that the brain may implement predictive processing, in which top-down expectations constrain incoming sensory data. In this perspective, expectations are updated (error minimization) only if sensory data sufficiently deviate from these expectations (prediction error). Although originally applied to perception, predictive processing is thought to generally characterize cognitive architecture, including the social cognitive processes involved in ideological thinking. Scaling up these simple computational principles to the social sphere outlines a path by which group members may adopt shared ideologies and beliefs to predict behavior and cooperate with each other. Because ideological judgments are of specific interest …

Developing A Computer-Controlled Treat Dispenser For Canine Operant Conditioning, Walker Arce, Jeffrey R. Stevens

Jeffrey Stevens Publications

When performing canine operant conditioning studies, the delivery of the reward can be a limiting factor of the study. While there are a few commercially available options for automatically delivering rewards, they generally require manual input, such as using a remote control, in accordance with the experiment script. This means that human reaction times and transmission distances can cause interruptions to the flow of the experiment. The potential for development of non-supervised conditioning studies is limited by this same factor. To remedy this, we retrofitted an off-the-shelf treat dispenser with new electronics that allow it to be remotely controllable as …

Words Have A Weight: Language As A Source Of Inner Grounding And Flexibility In Abstract Concepts, Guy Dove, Laura Barca, Luca Tummolini, Anna M. Borghi

Faculty and Staff Scholarship

The role played by language in our cognitive lives is a topic at the centre of contemporary debates in cognitive (neuro)science. In this paper we illustrate and compare two theories that offer embodied explanations of this role: the WAT (Words As social Tools) and the LENS (Language is an Embodied Neuroenhancement and Scaffold) theories. WAT and LENS differ from other current proposals because they connect the impact of the neurologically realized language system on our cognition to the ways in which language shapes our interaction with the physical and social environment. Examining these theories together, their tenets and supporting evidence, …

The Role Of Mirror Neurons In Relational Dysfunction In Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, Andrew Walker

Theses and Dissertations

American military involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan has created a new generation of veterans suffering from posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). It has repeatedly been noted that these returning veterans have a particularly difficult time reconnecting with family and friends. Because of these findings, the impact of multiple deployments and prolonged combat exposure is shifting from the individual veteran to its effects on their ability to reestablish intimate relationships after the completion of their service.

Over the last 20 years, numerous studies have directly observed the firing of the same neurons of non-human primates while seeing a member of their species …

Examining Boundary Conditions To The Attitude Consistency Effect, Dylan Blaum

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

Research on the impact of attitudes on argument processing has found that attitudes and beliefs can impact evaluation and processing, but has not deeply explored boundary conditions to this attitude consistency effect. This dissertation investigates three types of boundary conditions to this effect: whether the quality of the argument matters (argument quality), whether the individual’s strength of that attitude matters (attitude strength), and whether the evaluative nature of the task matters (task).

In Experiment 1, I found some support for argument quality as a boundary condition to the attitude consistency effect. Attitude consistent arguments were rated as higher quality/stronger than …

Construct Validity Of The Teate Depression Inventory: Convergent And Discriminant Validity And Equivalence For Black/African American And White/Caucasian Samples, Dylin Coons

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study was to replicate the construct validity of a new measure of depression, the Teate Depression Inventory (TDI; Balsamo & Saggino, 2013), with the primary focus on Black/African American participants. Research has purported that Black/African Americans experience inequality in obtaining mental health care for internalizing disorders. This may partially be caused by errors in diagnosing these individuals with symptoms. Correctly diagnosing internalizing disorders is a critical step in obtaining appropriate treatment. More research on depression and anxiety is needed to enhance mental health practices by addressing the need for professionals to be culturally competent and conscious …

The Process Of Therapeutic Change In The Attention Training Technique, Benjamin J. Laman-Maharg

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

Background: An unacceptably large proportion of individuals remain symptomatic after receiving first-line interventions. The attention training technique (ATT) is a potentially effective treatment augmentation and standalone treatment that may help improve the treatment of psychological disorders. The machanisms of therapuetic change of ATT remain understudied. This study is a randomized controlled trial of ATT compared to progressive muscle relaxation (PMR) that examined mindfulness and attentional control as potential mechisms of therapeutic change.

Method: A convenience sample of 64 participants (Mage = 20.13, SD = 3.65; 42.2% Male; 64.1% non-Hispanic White; 23.4% Black; 9.4% Hispanic/Latino; 3.1% Other) were randomly assigned to …

Teacher Perceptions About Teaching Students With Executive Function Deficits, Susan Lynn Dunlap

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The problem that prompted this study was that kindergarten through 5th grade teachers were struggling to find appropriate interventions to support the rising number of students exhibiting executive function deficiencies (EFD). The purpose of this qualitative study was to investigate the experiences and perceptions of local elementary teachers about students with EFD, about instructional strategies used to help focus EFD students, and about teachers’ professional needs to work effectively with EFD students. Diamond’s core characteristics of EFD served as the conceptual framework guiding this study. The research questions focused on teachers’ experiences and perceptions of strategies used for students with …

Aviation Maintenance Technician Decision-Making, Dominic Hemingway

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Aircraft accidents caused by human decision-making errors cause property loss and fatalities on a global scale in the aviation industry. Aviation repair technician decision-making perceptions influence aviation safety. The purpose of transcendental phenomenological study was to explore the lived experiences of aviation repair technicians related to decision-making perceptions regarding aviation safety. The central research question and sub-question focused on the lived experiences of repair technicians’ decision-making perceptions. The naturalistic decision-making framework, decision theories, and decision-making models comprised the lens to assess the impact of aviation maintenance technician decision-making perceptions in aviation safety. Data were collected using semistructured interviews with 12 …

The Midsession Reversal Task With Pigeons: Effects Of A Brief Delay Between Choice And Reinforcement, Megan Ashley Halloran

Theses and Dissertations--Psychology

During a midsession reversal task, the session begins with a simple simultaneous discrimination in which one stimulus (S1) is correct and the alternate stimulus (S2) is incorrect (S1+/S2-). At the halfway point, the discrimination reverses and S2 becomes the correct choice (S2+/S1-). When choosing optimally, a pigeon should choose S1 until the first trial in which it is not reinforced and then shift to S2 (win-stay/lose-shift). With this task pigeons have been shown to respond suboptimally by anticipating the reversal (anticipatory errors) and continuing to choose S1 after the reversal (perseverative errors). This suboptimal behavior may result from a pigeon’s …

Elementary School Children’S Understanding Of Disproportionate Discipline, Sharla D. Biefeld

Theses and Dissertations--Psychology

In the U.S. Black students, particularly Black boys, receive more out of school punishments, are punished more frequently, and are punished for more subjective behaviors than their White peers (Skiba, Michael, Nardo, & Peterson, 2002). This phenomenon is referred to as disproportionate discipline and is an early precursor to the disproportionate number of Black men and boys incarcerated in the U.S. Disproportionate discipline begins as early as preschool, and continues throughout elementary, middle, and high school (Gregory & Fergus, 2017). Perceptions of discrimination greatly impact children’s school involvement, school belonging, and educational outcomes (Brown, 2017, for review). However, little is …

Attentional Control In Infancy: The Role Of Sociodemographic Risk, Cortisol, And The Home Environment, Hannah B. White

Theses and Dissertations--Psychology

Infants’ ability to channel their cognitive resources by controlling their visual attention allows them to be active agents in their learning and development. Individual differences in attentional control have been linked to a wide variety of developmental outcomes including disparities between social classes in cognitive functioning. However, it is yet unknown when in development differences in attentional control related to sociodemographic factors emerge, or how factors of the home environment and the infant’s stress response relate to this effect. Accordingly, Experiment 1 examined whether certain sociodemographic factors, such as socioeconomic and minority status, predict 3.5-month-old infants’ (N = 102) …

Comparisons Of Spatial Reasoning Abilities Of String And Non-String Professional Musicians, Baby Vivian L. Esenbock

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

This study provides evidence to support the transferable benefits of musical training to enhance performance on cognitive tasks involving spatial reasoning abilities. Spatial reasoning is an important skill that is essential for success in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) achievement. Previous research indicates that students involved with musical instrument training score higher on measures of spatial temporal abilities than students with no musical training. We hypothesized that the greatest development of spatial visualization will be found in string instrument musicians when compared to non-string musicians, because of the visualization required due to the design of these instruments. Two studies …

Bilingual Children's L1 And L2 Word Frequency Effects: The Role Of Individual Differences, Astrid Michelle Portillo

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Bilingualism continues to grow among the world's population. Nevertheless, most research studies on language processing have focused on monolingual individuals, leaving questions about how language processing unfolds in bilingual individuals. Here, we investigated how individual differences in bilingual experience, indexed by current L2 exposure, impact eye movement measures of reading fluency, indexed by word frequency effects, in an understudied population: bilingual children. Prior eye movement research involving bilingual younger adults (aged 18 to 30) has reported a trade-off in L1 and L2 word frequency effects with greater levels of current L2 exposure (Whitford & Titone, 2012, 2017). We wanted to …