Children with ADHD suffer from low and high order attention deficits. Work by E.P. Lorch and colleagues shows that these attention deficits affect televised narrative comprehension. The purpose of this research was to determine the extent to which the televised narrative comprehension deficits are the result of an inability to inhibit processing of irrelevant information. To achieve this, data were collected from 16 healthy adults and 37 preschool age children who varied in their ADHD symptoms. Participants were instructed to attend to one of two simultaneously presented audio tracks from children’s television shows. For all participants the video that matched the target audio track was presented on a screen in front of them. Throughout viewing, white noise probes were played from the same locations as the attended and unattended audio tracks. Each participant sat through two different televised narratives. Narrative comprehensibility was manipulated within-subject such that each participant saw one comprehensible narrative and one incomprehensible narrative. Throughout both, EEG was recorded and subsequently time-locked to the presentation of the auditory probes from the attended and unattended locations. After each narrative, participants were asked to recall aspects of the story that were either central or peripheral to the causal chain of events. The morphology of the participants’ auditory evoked potentials followed the expected pattern (a positivenegative- positive complex for adults and a broad positivity for children during the 300ms after stimulus onset). All participants showed greater processing of the probes from the attended location during the incomprehensible narrative than during the comprehensible narrative, which suggests that participants were processing more information from the attended location when the sequence of events in the narrative was unpredictable. Only children with relatively higher levels of ADHD symptoms showed processing of the probes during the comprehensible narrative. This pattern of results suggests that children with ADHD symptoms were as capable as the typically developing children and adults at the spatially selective attention task, but that they had difficulty engaging in selective attention within the target channel. Contrary to our hypotheses, the amount and type of information recollected did not differ by ADHD status.

Low-frequency (LF) words have higher hit rates (HRs) and lower false alarm rates (FARs) than high-frequency (HF) words in recognition memory, a phenomenon termed the mirror effect by Glanzer and Adams (1985). The primary mechanism for producing the mirror effect varies substantially across models of recognition memory, with some models localizing the effects during encoding and others during retrieval. The current experiments contrast two retrieval-stage models, the Source of Activation Confusion (SAC; Reder, Nhouyvanisvong, Schunn, Ayers, Angstadt, & Hiraki, 2000) model and the unequal variance signal detection theory (UVSDT) criterion shift model (e.g., DeCarlo, 2002). The SAC model proposes that two distinct processes underlie the HR and FAR effects, with a familiarity process driving the FAR effect and a recollective process driving the HR effect. The UVSDT criterion shift model assumes that subjects use different criteria when making recognition judgments for HF and LF words, with this single process driving both the HR and FAR effects. Experiment 1 incorporated divided attention and speeded responding manipulations designed to remove the contribution of recollection in the SAC model, thereby eliminating the LF HR advantage. Experiment 2 manipulated the salience of the frequency classes, as the UVSDT criterion shift model requires that subjects are aware of the distinct frequency classes in order to shift their criteria. Across both experiments, model simulations and direct fits of the SAC model demonstrated systematic errors in prediction. While the UVSDT model struggled in fits to Experiment 1 data, the model provided acceptable fits to Experiment 2 data and accurately predicted the general pattern of effects in all cases. Furthermore, state-trace analyses provided compelling evidence in favor of single-process rather than dual-process models of recognition memory, casting serious doubt on the validity of the dual-process SAC model. Finally, the current experiments highlight the importance of obtaining model-based estimates of sensitivity and bias across frequency classes, as the standard practice of conducting direct comparisons of HRs and FARs for HF and LF words confounds bias and sensitivity differences.

Extensive evidence shows that listeners use global knowledge to generate predictions of upcoming sentences themes; however, there is less investigation on how local context that semantically conflicts with long-standing global knowledge is integrated and applied in real-time sentence comprehension. Three studies used the visual world paradigm to study this question. Experiment 1 replicated previous findings that listeners typically rely on global knowledge to anticipate sentence themes. Experiment 2 suggests that adult listeners rapidly increase the weight of combinatorial evidence from local context and decrease the weight of global knowledge to anticipate the appropriate sentence theme. Experiment 3 shows that 5-8 year-old children do not overcome semantic conflict in time to generate predictions of the sentence theme. These results indicate that in the presence of semantic conflict, adult comprehenders rapidly learned to favor local context over global knowledge, but this ability appears to emerge after a child turns 8 years-old. / A Thesis submitted to the Department of Psychology in partial fulfillment of the Master of Science. / Fall Semester 2016. / November 14, 2016. / Includes bibliographical references. / Michael Kaschak, Professor Co-Directing Thesis; Arielle Borovsky, Professor Co-Directing Thesis; Colleen Kelley, Committee Member.

Bock and Griffin (2000) presented two experiments demonstrating that structural priming (i.e., increased likelihood of producing a given syntactic form if you have just produced that form in another utterance) can be long-lasting. In their experiments, participants alternated between reading sentences aloud (where they read prime sentences aloud) and describing pictures (where the target pictures gave participants the opportunity to produce the same syntactic structure as was used for the prime sentence). The likelihood of describing the target picture with the same structure as the prime sentence was shown to be equally strong when the prime and target were presented in immediate succession (Lag 0) and when they were separated by up to 10 intervening filler sentences (Lag 10). This result has been taken as evidence for the claim that structural priming is the result of implicit learning within the language production system. The current project is aimed at taking a closer look at the factors that affect the persistence of structural priming across numerous filler items. Overall, our data provided mixed support for Bock and Griffin's (2000) claims. Although we found a robust priming effect at adjacent prime-target trials, our prime-target pairs that were separated by intervening trials were not significant. These findings suggest follow-up studies to clarify the effects of structural priming in a long term setting. / A Thesis submitted to the Department of Psychology in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science. / Fall Semester 2018. / November 8, 2018. / language production, psycholinguistics, structural priming / Includes bibliographical references. / Michael P. Kaschak, Professor Directing Thesis; Walter R. Boot, Committee Member; Andrea Meltzer, Committee Member.

Many classical studies examining sex differences in visuospatial abilities have shown a male advantage in measures of skills like mental rotation and spatial navigation. However, a number of investigations of strategy selection differences between men and women have begun to question the notion that individual differences in general skills may be the primary explanation for the observed sex differences in performance. Another line of individual-differences-focused research has examined the effects of videogame experience on development of visuospatial skills, and several studies have found that individuals with an extensive history of action videogame play demonstrate superior performance on tasks demanding dynamic spatial cognition. Some researchers have proposed the likely explanatory mechanism for this phenomenon is that action videogame play encourages growth of generalizable enhancements to attentional control or cognitive flexibility. Extending from these findings, the effects of sex differences and videogame experience have recently come together in a series of studies positing that action videogame training can reduce observed sex differences in visuospatial skills. One of the major limitations of the existing videogame training literature is that very little behavioral data is typically collected during the training tasks, so it is unclear what patterns of behavior these participants are executing while performing the tasks. Thus, many of the conclusions regarding the role of individual differences in explaining participant performance are made without considering how participant strategy selection may also be contributing to performance. Additionally, individuals with extensive action videogame experience may become highly familiarized with a particular control interface, which could vary considerably from game to game, and the design of the control interface may have a nontrivial influence on learning a novel visuospatially-demanding task. The present study examined sex differences, the effect of prior action videogame experience, and the influence of varying control interfaces on participants' development of control performance across ten games of a novel action videogame, Space Fortress. Latent curve analyses revealed significant sex differences in control skill performance, indicating non-gamer men displayed better performance overall than non-gamer women. A significant gaming experience by interface interaction indicated that men with extensive action videogame experience outperformed men with very little gaming experience, but this performance advantage was limited to playing with the keyboard interface. Investigation of player behavior revealed that a participants' ship control behaviors were associated with observed sex and gaming experience differences. Additionally, it was found that playing the game with a keyboard-and-mouse interface was generally associated with better performance than playing with a joystick-and-mouse interface. Finally, analysis of variance testing was performed to compare levels of understanding of the game's control mechanics across sex and gaming experience categories, revealing that men and gamers displayed greater knowledge of Space Fortress ship control procedures than women and non-gamers, respectively. Results are discussed in the context of existing sex differences and videogame training literature. The present investigation extends previous research by presenting evidence that strategy selection differences may play a crucial role in explaining the origins of sex differences and calls into question current models of complex skill learning that argue extensive action videogame experience may be associated with enhanced cognitive processes. / A Thesis submitted to the department of Psychology in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science. / Fall Semester 2018. / August 22, 2018. / Includes bibliographical references. / K. Anders Ericsson, Professor Directing Thesis; Walter R. Boot, University Representative; Colleen M. Ganley, Committee Member.

The number of crash-related fatalities in the United States climbed to over 35 thousand from 2014 to 2015, representing a 7.2% increase, and ending a 50-year trend of decline in this rate (NHTSA, 2016). The ability to drive safely represents an important activity of daily life that is closely tied to maintaining independence in old age (Persson, 1993), and with more older drivers logging more vehicle miles travelled than in previous cohorts, supporting safe driving in this age group is paramount. Advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) are rapidly being introduced into new vehicles with each successive model year, and their incorporation into the driving task stands to bring many safety and convenience benefits to drivers of all ages. Despite the hope that the addition of more ADAS into the driving task leads to an additive safety benefit, previous research conducted in samples comprised largely of younger to middle-aged adult suggests otherwise. Also, safety benefits may not be realized if these vehicle technologies are not adopted, or if the incorporation of multiple systems leads to reductions in driving performance due to mode confusion, overreliance, or increased distraction. This dissertation provided a sample of older drivers (N = 101) experience with either a longitudinal warning system (Forward Collision Warning; FCW), a lateral warning system (Lane Departure Warning; LDW), or both systems over the course of a simulated drive to gauge effects on driving performance, as well as attitudes toward the system. Headway distance was not found to differ across groups, but drivers that received lateral warnings were found to show less deviation from lane center than drivers who did not receive lateral warnings. Attitudes toward these systems were found to be mostly positive prior to the simulated drive, and experience with the assigned system did not significantly alter these perceptions post-drive. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Psychology in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Fall Semester 2017. / December 13, 2017. / Aging, Forward Collision Warning, Human Factors, Lane Departure Warning, Transportation / Includes bibliographical references. / Neil Charness, Professor Directing Dissertation; Mark Horner, University Representative; Walter Boot, Committee Member; K. Anders Ericsson, Committee Member; James McNulty, Committee Member.

abstract: Mindfulness meditation practices have become an intervention of focus in the literature, but little attention has been drawn to the effectiveness of this practice as a single execution in an online format. Several approaches were employed to capture the effects of a mindful breathing exercise and yoga experience on working memory capacity. Through several analyses, they found that though there was no significant difference between working memory capacity scores before and after this breathing exercise, and mindfulness and yoga experience had no influence on working memory performance. Although these findings were not statistically significant, there are several trends to note and implications for this research within the body of literature. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Human Systems Engineering 2020

Three experiments investigated the effect of emotional stimuli on recognition accuracy and response bias for younger and older adults using ROC analysis and Ratcliff's (1978) diffusion model. Theoretically, emotion may enhance memory accuracy either by improving encoding processes or by altering the memory consolidation process. These competing hypotheses were evaluated in a recognition experiment that tested memory both before (immediate testing) and after (20 minute delay) the consolidation process would likely be completed. The emotion-specific consolidation hypothesis was not supported: there was no interaction of emotional-valence with test delay. Because previous research has shown that negatively-valenced items consistently lead to more liberal responding for both older and younger adults, and inconsistently affect memory accuracy (Kapucu, Rotello, Ready, & Seidl, 2008), confidence ratings and reaction time data were assessed. These data were modeled with signal-detection and diffusion approaches that allow independent measurement of memory accuracy and response bias effects. Although the two methods did not converge for all subjects, in general negative words led to large shifts in response bias and increased recognition accuracy for both younger and older adults.

A new cognitive theory of innovation, the Obscure Features Hypothesis (OFH), states that many innovative solutions result from two steps: (1) noticing a rarely noticed or never-before noticed (i.e., obscure) feature of the problem's elements, and (2) then building a solution based on that obscure feature. The OFH deepens the analysis of the previous theories of innovation and opens up a systematic research program of uncovering aspects of the human semantic, perceptual, and motor systems that inhibit the noticing of obscure features and the derivation of counteracting techniques to unearth obscure features that have a high probability of being useful in problem solving. Specifically, in this study we derive a technique called the Generic Parts Technique (GPT) designed to unearth the types of obscure physical features that can counteract functional fixedness (Duncker, 1945) in insight problems involving concrete objects. Subjects trained in the GPT solved on average 33% more problems more than a control group, which has a very large standardized effect size, a Cohen's d of 1.6. Further, in a subsequent feature-listing task with concrete objects, the GPT subjects listed more obscure physical features. These results support the OFH in that obscure features seem to be one key to solving concrete object insight problems and techniques such as the GPT that are designed to unearth obscure features improve performance on these types of problems.

Previous studies have found interactions between the meaning of a word and the spatial position of the word (Barsalou, 2008; Zwaan and Yaxley, 2003). Some studies find that words or sentences with a directional component facilitate detection toward the congruent spatial direction (e.g., Šetić & Domijan, 2007; Dils & Boroditsky, 2007; Dils & Boroditsky, 2010; Pecher et al; 2010). For instance, the word "jump" would cue toward the top of a screen. Other studies find the opposite effect, where words with implicit spatial meaning show an interference effect (e.g., Bergen et al, 2007; Estes et al, 2008; Dils & Boroditsky, 2010). In these cases the word "jump" would result in faster reaction times to stimuli in the bottom of the screen. This experiment attempts to answer this controversy by looking at temporal effects. These differences might be due to inhibition of return (Posner & Cohen, 1984). If that is the case, you would expect to see a timeline where there is a facilitation effect followed by interference. Results of the study show no effect of time, however there were strong item effects. Most sentences consistently showed either a facilitation or inhabitation effect across all times. This suggests that these effects are modulated by the items that are used. / A Thesis submitted to the Department of Psychology in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science. / Summer Semester 2015. / July 16, 2015. / Language, Spatial / Includes bibliographical references. / Michael Kaschak, Professor Directing Thesis; Walter Boot, Committee Member; Arielle Borovsky, Committee Member.