The purpose of this dissertation is to examine aspects of the representational and computational influences on Bayesian reasoning as they relate to reference dependence. Across three studies, I explored how dependence on the initial problem structure influences the ability to solve Bayesian reasoning tasks. Congruence between the problem and question of interest, response errors, and individual differences in numerical abilities was assessed. The most consistent and surprising finding in all three experiments was that people were much more likely to utilize the superordinate value as part of their solution rather than the anticipated reference class values. This resulted in a weakened effect of congruence, with relatively low accuracy even in congruent conditions, as well as a different pattern of response errors than what was anticipated. There was consistent and strong evidence of a value selection bias in that incorrect responses almost always conformed to values that were provided in the problem rather than errors related to computation. The one notable exception occurred when no organizing information was available in the problem, other than the instruction to consider a sample of the same size as that in the problem. In that case, participants were most apt to sum all of the subsets of the sample to yield the size of the original sample (N). In all three experiments, higher numerical skills were generally associated with higher accuracy, whether calculations were required or not.

Working memory (WM) is a crucial component of cognitive function that affects learning, reasoning, and problem solving, all of which are important for daily functioning. Therefore, addressing factors that can impact working memory, such as stress, are incredibly relevant to understanding WM efficiency. WM is an important component of higher order cognitive function and high WM capacity has been shown to be important for academic and occupational performance. Thus, understanding the relationship between stress-related factors and WM could aid in identifying strategies to mitigate the deleterious effects of stress on working memory. Although some previous research has indicated a negative impact of acute stress on WM, other research has indicated no impact or even a positive impact of stress on WM. As the relationship between acute stress and WM is mixed, examining other stress-related factors may provide further insight into the relationship. The current study examines how adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and acute stress influence WM, and how frontal theta and alpha activity are affected by WM task demands. Participants completed a working memory task while their EEG was recorded. Participants then completed the PANAS to assess their current emotional state. Following the PANAS, participants viewed a stressful or neutral video as an acute stress induction, followed by a second PANAS to ensure effectiveness of stress induction. Participants then completed the WM task a second time. Finally, the participants completed the ACEs questionnaire. Bayesian linear mixed effects models were used to examine the relationships between ACEs, acute stress, WM, and frontal theta and alpha frequencies. Findings suggest there is not enough evidence to support a relationship between acute stress, ACEs, WM, and WM-related theta and alpha. While the current study did not reveal a relationship, future research should explore how acute stress and exposure to specific stressors during childhood could explain individual differences in WM.

In L2 performance assessment, raters can significantly affect test validity due to rater variability, a source of construct-irrelevant variance in scores caused by differences in raters’ characteristics rather than test takers’ ability. To improve scoring validity, we must investigate what rater characteristics are likely to contribute to rater variability. The current study thus investigated the combined effects of three major rater characteristics, i.e., rater expertise, working memory capacity (WMC), and cognitive functionality, on raters’ scoring performance in L2 speaking assessment. Exploring these questions may increase our understanding of what rater-associated factors contribute to rater variability, thereby shedding light on rater selection, training, and scoring practices. To this end, 90 raters from the US and the UK participated in two parts of the study. In Part I, the 90 raters completed a rater background survey designed to measure their L2 performance assessment-related experience, scored 27 responses from the Aptis speaking test, and completed one verbal working memory task. Hierarchical regression analyses were conducted to explore: 1) the relative contributions of rater expertise and WMC to scoring performance, and 2) any possible interaction between the two characteristics in their joint influences on scoring performance. Results from the analysis indicate that rater expertise had a significant effect on raters’ scoring accuracy. However, WMC was not found to significantly influence raters’ scoring performance. In addition, no significant interaction was found between rater expertise and WMC, which suggests independent influences of these two characteristics on scoring performance. In Part II, six out of the 90 raters were randomly selected to participate in a cognitive lab session, where they scored three Aptis spoken responses and verbally reported their thinking process during scoring. The raters’ reports were coded and analyzed based on a hypothesized taxonomy of rater strategies invoked in the L2 scoring process. Fourteen major strategies were identified from the raters’ verbal reports. Differences were also found in the expert and novice raters’ quantity and quality of strategy use. These findings have revealed the mental mechanisms underlying raters’ scoring performance and associated differences in the raters’ strategy use to different levels of rater expertise.

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Because Western art music is harmonically more complex than popular music and because it is written with musical notation, it may be challenging for certain people with no music training (non-musicians), those who did not grow up with Western art music, or those who did not choose to listen to this type of music for enjoyment to understand and appreciate it. Furthermore, there is a prevalent belief that Western art music is for the wealthy and elderly. This belief may be preventing symphony orchestra groups from cultivating new audiences. This study aims to determine if a narrative music listening activity would generate emotional response and cognitive engagement in a study group of non-Western art music listeners and prompt them to create musical narratives. Theoretically, narrative form music listening may present episodic memories, which can be built up into stories. To test the effect of narrative music listening activities, an online survey was distributed to non-Western art music listeners in the 20 through 40 age range, and pretest–treatment–posttest activity was devised and administered to three groups, an absolute music listening group, a programmatic music listening group, and a polyphonic texture listening group. In the treatment section, the creative listening activity, participants were prompted to create musical narratives, which take the form of colors, shapes, dialogues, or explicit stories. Participants were then asked to write about the music they heard before and after the narrative music listening activity. Participants’ motivation to attend a Western art music concert was assessed via a motivation scale using Likert scales. The results suggest that this online activity’s multimodality was a promising method for enhancing the appreciation of Western art music.

Collaborative problem solving (CPS) is a critical competency, because much of the work people do occurs in a social context involving direct collaboration. Meanwhile, schools are being pressured to reduce the amount of time devoted to large-scale assessments, and to adopt more natural or authentic assessments. It may be possible to address both these issues at once, if collaboration experiences are viewed as opportunities to assess student achievement.However, several issues arise in evaluating individuals’ problem solving skills in a collaborative context: (1) collaborative learning outcomes may obscure individuals’ contributions, making it difficult to isolate individuals’ performance; (2) outcome-based measures may ignore the processes of individuals’ or groups’ problem solving, thus leading to inaccurate estimations of individuals’ or groups’ knowledge, abilities and skills; and (3) prior evaluative focus of CPS research has usually been on social aspects of collaboration rather than domain-relevant cognitive skills. Therefore, the present study aimed to develop a process-based scoring rubric to evaluate individual student achievement in problem solving using collaboration process data. Furthermore, this study explored how group ability composition affects group performance and individual learning gains. The content domain was solving mathematical combinatorics and probability word problems. Participants included 306 Chinese high school students, who performed the following three tasks in order: (1) an individual pretest with seven problems; (2) a collaborative task with three problems; and (3) an individual posttest with seven problems. The results were as follows: First, a four-indicator scoring rubric was developed to evaluate student achievement in solving combinatorics and probability problems using collaboration process data. Evidence suggested that the scoring rubric can be considered reliable and valid in terms of being used as an individual assessment and a teaching tool. Thus, this scoring rubric may provide insights useful for developing relevant performance assessments on more complex and authentic performance tasks. Second, significant differences were found in group performance among dyads as a function of the group’s minimum student ability. Third, students working in dyads with higher maximum or average ability tended to gain more after collaboration. Finally, certain collaborative problem solving behaviors could be linked to individual learning gains.

With the continued expansion in access to touchscreen devices, the question of whether such interactions are beneficial to the preschool user is increasingly important. Touchscreens allow for contingent responses from the viewer, a feature that is now utilized by the new modality of interactive television. This dissertation study investigates whether the addition of full interactivity to an educational cartoon facilitates narrative comprehension and learning of STEM-based curriculum. Forty-seven 4- to 5- year-olds watched a researcher-developed cartoon about two characters who were learning about the concept of rotation in outer space. Same-gender and age matched pairs individually watched the cartoon and were assessed on measures of narrative comprehension and, after a two-week delay, on a measure of rotation knowledge learning. Participants in the active condition watched the cartoon with the ability to make 5 character decisions at different points throughout the video. Those children in the passive condition saw the same path determined by their active pair, without any choice points. Results indicated that learning, as demonstrated on transfer items, was enhanced by the addition of choice, albeit no immediate gains in story understanding. The implications for interactive cartoons targeted to the age range in the context of differential access to family resources are discussed.

The language-based analogical reasoning abilities of Deaf children are a controversial topic. Researchers lack agreement about whether Deaf children possess the ability to reason using language-based analogies, or whether this ability is limited by a lack of access to vocabulary, both written and signed. This dissertation examines factors that scaffold the development of language-based analogical reasoning through signed language. First it examines how background factors, such as age, race/ethnicity, or additional disabilities can affect the development of language-based analogical reasoning. Second, it looks at how different kinds of American Sign Language (ASL) vocabulary support the development of language-based analogical reasoning. Five-hundred and fifty-six Deaf children were given five tasks from the ASL Assessment Instrument; one analogies task and four vocabulary tasks: an antonyms task, a synonyms task, a definitions task, and a contextual-based vocabulary task. The data showed that background traits can and do affect how well Deaf children reason using language-based analogies. The most important predictor of performance on the analogies task was ASL vocabulary knowledge, although other factors such as age, race/ethnicity, and additional disabilities can impact task performance. The data also showed that ASL vocabulary knowledge that promotes metalinguistic thinking is the best predictor of language-based analogical reasoning abilities. Potential applications to the classroom and to teacher training are also discussed.

Eyewitness testimony is critical in both criminal court and civil court, so determining the most reliable method to gain information from witnesses is imperative. Past research in this area has focused on false memory, assisted recall, stress, and event perception. A gap exists in the current literature regarding the best method to gain the most accuracy in recall. The purpose of this study was to evaluate free recall, cued recall, and recognition, in an attempt to examine the accuracy of eyewitness memory. The study utilized a quantitative design to assess the accuracy of eyewitness memory as measured by results on free-recall, cued recall, and recognition tests. The theoretical foundation for this study was the theory of information processing, which contends that information is processed in stages and combines visual cognition, memory, and memory recall; therefore, this theory applies to the study by helping determine the most accurate way for individuals to recall events. Introduction to Psychology students were shown a video, then asked to recall what they saw using either free recall, cued recall, or recognition. A one-way between-subjects analysis of variance was utilized to determine whether there were significant differences in the number of items recalled as a function of recall format. Results suggested that participants were more accurate with the utilization of recognition techniques for recall, as opposed to the free or cued-recall. The importance of evaluating effective methods to promote accurate eyewitness testimony is to advance forensic science. The implications for social change include the ability to have more effective methods to gain accurate eye-witness testimony, thereby assisting with proper outcomes during trials.

Weight control is an area of research which continues to generate attention in an endeavor to find the most effective and long lasting weight loss methods. In the realm of the behavioral modification of weight control, emphasis has been given to the impact of external stimuli on eating behavior. Less well researched are internal stimuli, that is, cognitive events, feelings, and thoughts which influence eating habits. The literature on obesity has yet to empirically differentiate the effects of the cognitive and external factors on weight control. A cognitive restructuring approach to weight reduction was hypothesized to be the more effective treatment when compared to a strictly external self-modification weight control program. The Cognitive Restructuring group received training in cognitive intervention techniques such as, rehearsal, covert sensitization, relaxation, cognitive countering, recording of moods, and covert imagery, in addition to skills in external cue control. The external group was designed to maximize the incorporation of external cues in a weight control paradigm. The two treatment methods were compared with a control group. Each treatment group and control group consisted of six subjects.