published_or_final_version / Psychology / Master / Master of Philosophy

Previous bilingual studies showed reduced hemispheric asymmetry in visual tasks such as face perception in bilinguals compared with monolinguals, which suggested that hemispheric asymmetry in visual tasks could be modulated by experience in reading one or two languages. Here I examined whether differences in hemispheric asymmetry in visual tasks can also be observed in bilinguals who have different language backgrounds. I compared the behavior of three language groups: (1) English monolinguals, who acquire only one alphabetic language, (2) European-English bilinguals, who know two alphabetic languages, and (3) Chinese-English bilinguals, who master an alphabetic language and a logographic language; in three tachistoscopic tasks: (1) English word sequential matching task, (2) Intact-altered face judgment task, and (3) face sequential matching task. The results showed that European-English bilinguals had a stronger right visual field (RVF)/ left hemispheric (LH) advantage in the English word sequential matching task than English monolinguals and Chinese-English bilinguals, suggesting that different language learning experiences can influence how visual words are processed in the brain. However, the results showed no group difference between the left visual field (LVF)/ right hemisphere (RH) advantage in the intact-altered face judgment task and the face sequential matching task. These results suggested a modulation of language experience on visual word processing but not on face processing. In addition, I showed that the hemispheric asymmetry in visual word processing could be accounted for by a computational model that implements a theory of hemispheric asymmetry in perception (i.e. the Double Filtering by Frequency theory, Ivry & Robertson, 1998); the modeling data suggested that this lateralization difference in visual word processing may be due to both the difference in participants’ vocabulary size and the difference in word-to-sound mapping between alphabetic and logographic languages. / published_or_final_version / Psychology / Master / Master of Philosophy

abstract / Business / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

Six experiments were conducted in order to examine the role of movement specific reinvestment in performance of a range of tasks of varying complexity under different performance contexts. The first experiment investigated the role of movement specific reinvestment in performance of a fundamental laparoscopic skill under time pressure. It was found that individuals with a lower propensity for movement specific reinvestment were able to meet task demands by performing faster under time pressure than individuals with a higher propensity for movement specific reinvestment. Although movement specific reinvestment is often treated as a uni-dimensional construct, it is comprised of two dimensions of conscious processing; movement self-consciousness and conscious motor processing. These dimensions appear to exert a differential influence on performance in different contexts. The second experiment therefore investigated the differential influence of the two dimensions of movement specific reinvestment on performance of a fundamental laparoscopic skill early and later in practice and on performance of a more complex, cross-handed laparoscopy task. Movement self-consciousness was found to play a more dominant role early and later in practice of a relatively simple, fundamental, laparoscopic skill than conscious motor processing, which played a more dominant role in performance of a more complex, cross-handed laparoscopic skill. The third and fourth experiments examined the differential influence of the two dimensions of movement specific reinvestment on a complex golf-putting skill early and later in practice (Experiment 3) and under low- and high-anxiety conditions (Experiment 4). Experiments 3 and 4 also examined the kinematic mechanisms underlying the influence of the two dimensions on putting performance. Findings from Experiment 3 revealed that movement self-consciousness and conscious motor processing positively influenced putting performance early in practice, when learners were consciously engaged in the control of movements. However, later in practice movement self-consciousness alone positively influenced putting performance. Analysis of kinematic measures suggested that reduced variability of both impact velocity and putter face angle at impact mediated the positive influence of both movement self-consciousness and conscious motor processing on putting performance. Findings from Experiment 4 revealed that movement self-consciousness positively influenced performance in the low-anxiety condition (and appeared to reduce variability of impact velocity), but not in the high-anxiety condition. It was argued that the attention demanding nature of anxiety (Eysenck & Calvo, 1992) potentially subdued the influence of movement self-consciousness under high-anxiety conditions. The fifth experiment confirmed this proposition as the positive influence of movement self-consciousness on quiet standing performance was no longer evident when an attention demanding dual-task was performed concurrently with a primary quiet standing task. The final experiment examined the unique influence of the two dimensions on laparoscopic performance during practice and under anxiety in a real-world anxiety provoking situation, the objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) (Muldoon, Biesty, & Smith, 2014; Nasir et al., in press). The findings of the six experiments are discussed within the framework of the Theory of Reinvestment (e.g., Masters, 1992; Masters & Maxwell, 2008). / published_or_final_version / Human Performance / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

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published_or_final_version / Psychology / Master / Master of Philosophy

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This study investigated rowers' cognitive pain coping strategies during a 2,000 metre ergometer race. The concepts of association and dissociation were expanded upon by devising five thought categories: performance dissociation (PerfD), pain association (PaA), pain dissociation (PaD), psychological performance association (PsyA), and technical performance association (TechA). Sixteen rowers, five males and eleven females, between the ages of 19 and 27 years, rowed at maximum intensity for four race segments of 500 m, 1,000 m, and 2,000 m on separate occasions. A forty-one item Thoughts During Rowing Questionnaire was administered upon completion of each distance. Subjects' average thought category scores were analyzed by a 4 x 5 (Distance x Thought category) MANOVA. Results indicated significant (p $<$.005) effects for distance and thought category, and an interaction. Results suggest that while racing, rowers rarely dissociate from their performances. As pain awareness rises, rowers dissociate from pain and associate with the psychological or technical aspects of their performances.