Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hong Kong, 2009. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 159-182) Also available in print.

During a university lecture, students’ attention typically declines as the lecture progresses. Lapses in attention can interfere with learning and memory for the presented material to negatively impact a student’s overall academic performance. Prior research has shown that incorporating five-minute high-intensity exercise breaks during a university lecture improved student attention and comprehension compared to a computer break or no break. Although promising, high-intensity exercises may not be suitable for a university classroom. To improve feasibility for implementation, the current study aimed to determine whether reducing the intensity of the exercise breaks could still yield similar cognitive benefits. One hundred participants watched a 50-minute online lecture with no breaks (control; n = 25) or while intermittently taking exercise breaks of high (n = 26), medium (n = 26) or low intensity (n = 23). Attention was measured throughout the lecture and comprehension was measured after learning. The groups did not significantly differ on their ability to pay attention (Time 1: X2(2) = 3.61, p = .31; Time 2: X2(2) = 3.20, p = .36) or comprehend (F(1,93) = . 26, p = .6) the lecture material. However, when controlling for significant group differences in academic performance outside of the study (F(3, 113) = 3.52, p = .02) and baseline comprehension performance during the study, small positive improvements were observed on comprehension following an exercise break of all intensities (Cohen’s d < .67 and >.08), but with the largest effect size seen for high intensity exercise breaks towards the end of the lecture. These positive trends point to the benefit exercise breaks on learning in a university setting and establish the foundation for further research. / Thesis / Master of Science (MSc)

Spatial neglect has mainly been described through its spatial deficits (such as attentional bias, disengagement deficit or exploratory motor behavior), but numerous other studies have reported non-spatial impairments in patients suffering from this disorder. In the present thesis, non-spatial deficits in neglect are hypothesized to form a core impairment, which can be summarized as a difficulty to learn and benefit from regularities in the environment. The different studies conducted and reported in the present thesis have converged to support this hypothesis that neglect patients have difficulty to interact with environmental statistics. The two first studies, which tested the visual modality (Chapters 2 and 3), have demonstrated that neglect patients have difficulties to become faster to respond to targets that appear successively at the same location (position priming). This difficulty is also more generic, as neglect patients do not learn that some things occur more often than others, such as for example that a target has a high probability to be repeated at a specific region. Those two studies have shown that neglect patients are impaired in position priming and statistical learning, which corresponds to difficulties benefiting from regularities presented in the visual domain. This difficulty may be explained by patients’ impairment in working memory or temporal processing. Several studies have reported the implication of those two mechanism in statistical learning: if patients tend to underestimate the time that a target is presented on the screen and have difficulties keeping in memory its precedent location, this translates into a difficulty to benefit from the repeats of the target position as well as a difficulty to benefit from transition probability. In order to verify if priming and statistical learning impairments were specific to the visual modality or if neglect patients present a multimodal difficulty to learn the transition probability in general, brain damaged patients were tested in the auditory domain (Chapter 5), with a paradigm that has shown statistical learning in infants. This study confirmed that for the auditory modality too, brain damaged patients are impaired in statistical learning. The different results of the studies reported in Chapters 2, 3, 4 and 5 converge to support the hypothesis that spatial neglect patients have difficulties benefiting from regularities of their environment. Nevertheless, this impairment is not irreversible, as it was demonstrated by a chronic neglect patient who was trained with three sessions distributed over three days (Chapter 2). Although having similar results to the other patients for the first session, this patients’ performance improved over the sessions to show a faster reaction time for the targets presented on the high probability region (his contralesional side). Therefore, priming and statistical learning investigated in this thesis are worth exploring further for their potential outcome in the rehabilitation domain.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Florida, 1982. / Description based on print version record. Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 188-197).

This dissertation presents an investigation of the modifying role of attention and awareness in human learning and decision making. A series of experiments showed that performance in a range of tests of unconscious cognition can be better explained as resulting from conscious attention rather than from implicit processes. The first three experiments utilised a modification of the Serial Reaction Time task in order to measure the interaction of implicit and explicit learning processes. The results did not show evidence for an interaction, but did exhibit an effect of explicit knowledge of the underlying rules of the task. Subsequent studies examined the role of selective attention in learning. The investigation failed to provide evidence that learning inevitably results from the simple presentation of contingent stimuli over repeated trials. Instead, the learning effects appeared to be modulated by explicit attention to the association between stimuli. The following study with a novel test designed to measure the role of selective attention in prediction learning demonstrated that learning is not an obligatory consequence of simultaneous activation of representations of the associated stimuli. Rather, learning occurred only when attention was drawn explicitly to the association between the stimuli. Finally, the Deliberation without Attention Paradigm was tested in a replication study along with two novel versions of the task. Additional assessment of the conscious status of participants' judgments indicated that explicit deliberation and memory could best explain the effect and that the original test may not be a reliable measure of intuition. In summary, the data in these studies did not require explanation in terms of unconscious cognition. These results do not preclude the possibility that unconscious processes could occur in these or other designs. However, the present work emphasises the role conscious attention plays in human learning and decision making.

Baseada na abordagem da cognição enativa (VARELA, F.,1990), a temática principal deste estudo tem como objetivo abordar o acesso e exploração dos conhecimentos pré-refletidos numa experiência vivida em primeira pessoa. Para tanto, primordialmente, utiliza-se como eixo teórico, o desenvolvimento husserliano (1913/2006) sobre a redução fenomenológica-èpoché. Por sua vez, o fio condutor do desenvolvimento da práxis da pesquisa, orienta-se pelos estudos dos pesquisadores Depraz, Varela e Vermersch (2003) que a partir da releitura da obra de Husserl, propõem uma abordagem pragmática da experiência de como podemos nos tornar cientes da nossa própria consciência em ação, denominada de devir-consciente. Esta modalidade de atenção é acessada em primeira pessoa e para ser alcançada necessita ser cultivada. Na pesquisa que realizamos, os eventos em primeira pessoa aconteceram a partir de experiências de aprendizagem da matemática vivenciadas por dois alunos que apresentaram dificuldades de aprendizagem nesta área do conhecimento: ambos alunos frequentavam o Laboratório de Aprendizagem (LA) da Rede Municipal de Ensino de Porto Alegre. Utilizou-se a técnica da Entrevista de Explicitação (VERMERSCH, P.,2003) com os alunos durante as sessões de aula do LA, como instrumento de acesso aos conhecimentos pré-refletidos e como ferramenta de intervenção pedagógica para o acolhimento de breakdowns e cultivo do processo de devirconsciente. Esta técnica foi criada por Vermersch (2003), sendo embasada nos pressupostos da fenomenologia husserliana e na teoria de Piaget (1973,1977) sobre a tomada de consciência. O estudo sugeriu que é possível desenvolver nos alunos o cultivo da habilidade de torná-los cientes do seu fluxo cognitivo. Esta possibilidade foi alcançada a partir de um trabalho prático e disciplinado de atenção e acesso às experiências singulares de aprendizagem e conhecimentos ainda pré-egóicos e portanto, pré-refletidos nos alunos. Igualmente, o emergir dos momentos de breakdowns demonstraram ser sinalizadores importantes (DE-NARDIN, SORDI, 2007) e que, quando acolhidos pelo aluno e professor, podem servir como disparadores do processo de devir-consciente. Do ponto de vista da cognição, o desenvolvimento desta modalidade atencional que resgata os conhecimentos pré-refletidos do aluno, pode trazer a tona um manancial de conhecimentos e saberes teoricamente acessíveis, porém usualmente pouco explorados em situações de ensino-aprendizagem. / Based on the enactive cognitive approach (VARELA, F.,1990) , the main theme of this study is concerned to the access of one’s pre-reflected knowledge in a vivid experience in first person. The main theoretical ground comes from Husserl´s phenomenological development of èpoché (1913/2006). In turn, the main stream of the research praxis is guided by studies performed by researchers such as Depraz, Verela and Vermersch (2003), who reread Husserl’s work and proposed a pragmatic approach of the experience of becoming-aware of one’s own awareness in action. This modality of attention can be accessed in first person and, to be achieved, it needs to be cultivated. In this research, the first person events were developed in math learning experiences lived by two students who showed learning disabilities in that field. Both students attended the Learning Laboratory (LL) in a municipal public school of Porto Alegre. The Explicitation Interview Method (VERMERSCH, P.; 2003) was used with the students during the LL class sessions as a tool to access pre-reflected knowledge as well as a tool for pedagogical intervention during breakdowns and becoming-aware process of development. This method was based on Husserl’s phenomenology and on Piaget’s assumptions about the grasp of consciousness (1973,1977). The study suggested that it is possible to develop the student’s ability of becoming aware of her/his own cognitive flow. This possibility was achieved from a practical and disciplined work of attention in order to access to the particular experiences of learning which were still pre-reflexive and pre-egoic. Likewise, the emergence of breakdown moments showed to be an important sign (DENARDIN, M.H. & SORDI, R. 2007) which, once accepted by student and teacher, served as a trigger the becoming-aware process. From the point of view of cognition, the development of this modality of attention that recovers the student’s pre-reflected knowledge, can bring to surface a great variety of theoretical known devices although usually less explored in teaching-learning situations.

Baseada na abordagem da cognição enativa (VARELA, F.,1990), a temática principal deste estudo tem como objetivo abordar o acesso e exploração dos conhecimentos pré-refletidos numa experiência vivida em primeira pessoa. Para tanto, primordialmente, utiliza-se como eixo teórico, o desenvolvimento husserliano (1913/2006) sobre a redução fenomenológica-èpoché. Por sua vez, o fio condutor do desenvolvimento da práxis da pesquisa, orienta-se pelos estudos dos pesquisadores Depraz, Varela e Vermersch (2003) que a partir da releitura da obra de Husserl, propõem uma abordagem pragmática da experiência de como podemos nos tornar cientes da nossa própria consciência em ação, denominada de devir-consciente. Esta modalidade de atenção é acessada em primeira pessoa e para ser alcançada necessita ser cultivada. Na pesquisa que realizamos, os eventos em primeira pessoa aconteceram a partir de experiências de aprendizagem da matemática vivenciadas por dois alunos que apresentaram dificuldades de aprendizagem nesta área do conhecimento: ambos alunos frequentavam o Laboratório de Aprendizagem (LA) da Rede Municipal de Ensino de Porto Alegre. Utilizou-se a técnica da Entrevista de Explicitação (VERMERSCH, P.,2003) com os alunos durante as sessões de aula do LA, como instrumento de acesso aos conhecimentos pré-refletidos e como ferramenta de intervenção pedagógica para o acolhimento de breakdowns e cultivo do processo de devirconsciente. Esta técnica foi criada por Vermersch (2003), sendo embasada nos pressupostos da fenomenologia husserliana e na teoria de Piaget (1973,1977) sobre a tomada de consciência. O estudo sugeriu que é possível desenvolver nos alunos o cultivo da habilidade de torná-los cientes do seu fluxo cognitivo. Esta possibilidade foi alcançada a partir de um trabalho prático e disciplinado de atenção e acesso às experiências singulares de aprendizagem e conhecimentos ainda pré-egóicos e portanto, pré-refletidos nos alunos. Igualmente, o emergir dos momentos de breakdowns demonstraram ser sinalizadores importantes (DE-NARDIN, SORDI, 2007) e que, quando acolhidos pelo aluno e professor, podem servir como disparadores do processo de devir-consciente. Do ponto de vista da cognição, o desenvolvimento desta modalidade atencional que resgata os conhecimentos pré-refletidos do aluno, pode trazer a tona um manancial de conhecimentos e saberes teoricamente acessíveis, porém usualmente pouco explorados em situações de ensino-aprendizagem. / Based on the enactive cognitive approach (VARELA, F.,1990) , the main theme of this study is concerned to the access of one’s pre-reflected knowledge in a vivid experience in first person. The main theoretical ground comes from Husserl´s phenomenological development of èpoché (1913/2006). In turn, the main stream of the research praxis is guided by studies performed by researchers such as Depraz, Verela and Vermersch (2003), who reread Husserl’s work and proposed a pragmatic approach of the experience of becoming-aware of one’s own awareness in action. This modality of attention can be accessed in first person and, to be achieved, it needs to be cultivated. In this research, the first person events were developed in math learning experiences lived by two students who showed learning disabilities in that field. Both students attended the Learning Laboratory (LL) in a municipal public school of Porto Alegre. The Explicitation Interview Method (VERMERSCH, P.; 2003) was used with the students during the LL class sessions as a tool to access pre-reflected knowledge as well as a tool for pedagogical intervention during breakdowns and becoming-aware process of development. This method was based on Husserl’s phenomenology and on Piaget’s assumptions about the grasp of consciousness (1973,1977). The study suggested that it is possible to develop the student’s ability of becoming aware of her/his own cognitive flow. This possibility was achieved from a practical and disciplined work of attention in order to access to the particular experiences of learning which were still pre-reflexive and pre-egoic. Likewise, the emergence of breakdown moments showed to be an important sign (DENARDIN, M.H. & SORDI, R. 2007) which, once accepted by student and teacher, served as a trigger the becoming-aware process. From the point of view of cognition, the development of this modality of attention that recovers the student’s pre-reflected knowledge, can bring to surface a great variety of theoretical known devices although usually less explored in teaching-learning situations.

Baseada na abordagem da cognição enativa (VARELA, F.,1990), a temática principal deste estudo tem como objetivo abordar o acesso e exploração dos conhecimentos pré-refletidos numa experiência vivida em primeira pessoa. Para tanto, primordialmente, utiliza-se como eixo teórico, o desenvolvimento husserliano (1913/2006) sobre a redução fenomenológica-èpoché. Por sua vez, o fio condutor do desenvolvimento da práxis da pesquisa, orienta-se pelos estudos dos pesquisadores Depraz, Varela e Vermersch (2003) que a partir da releitura da obra de Husserl, propõem uma abordagem pragmática da experiência de como podemos nos tornar cientes da nossa própria consciência em ação, denominada de devir-consciente. Esta modalidade de atenção é acessada em primeira pessoa e para ser alcançada necessita ser cultivada. Na pesquisa que realizamos, os eventos em primeira pessoa aconteceram a partir de experiências de aprendizagem da matemática vivenciadas por dois alunos que apresentaram dificuldades de aprendizagem nesta área do conhecimento: ambos alunos frequentavam o Laboratório de Aprendizagem (LA) da Rede Municipal de Ensino de Porto Alegre. Utilizou-se a técnica da Entrevista de Explicitação (VERMERSCH, P.,2003) com os alunos durante as sessões de aula do LA, como instrumento de acesso aos conhecimentos pré-refletidos e como ferramenta de intervenção pedagógica para o acolhimento de breakdowns e cultivo do processo de devirconsciente. Esta técnica foi criada por Vermersch (2003), sendo embasada nos pressupostos da fenomenologia husserliana e na teoria de Piaget (1973,1977) sobre a tomada de consciência. O estudo sugeriu que é possível desenvolver nos alunos o cultivo da habilidade de torná-los cientes do seu fluxo cognitivo. Esta possibilidade foi alcançada a partir de um trabalho prático e disciplinado de atenção e acesso às experiências singulares de aprendizagem e conhecimentos ainda pré-egóicos e portanto, pré-refletidos nos alunos. Igualmente, o emergir dos momentos de breakdowns demonstraram ser sinalizadores importantes (DE-NARDIN, SORDI, 2007) e que, quando acolhidos pelo aluno e professor, podem servir como disparadores do processo de devir-consciente. Do ponto de vista da cognição, o desenvolvimento desta modalidade atencional que resgata os conhecimentos pré-refletidos do aluno, pode trazer a tona um manancial de conhecimentos e saberes teoricamente acessíveis, porém usualmente pouco explorados em situações de ensino-aprendizagem. / Based on the enactive cognitive approach (VARELA, F.,1990) , the main theme of this study is concerned to the access of one’s pre-reflected knowledge in a vivid experience in first person. The main theoretical ground comes from Husserl´s phenomenological development of èpoché (1913/2006). In turn, the main stream of the research praxis is guided by studies performed by researchers such as Depraz, Verela and Vermersch (2003), who reread Husserl’s work and proposed a pragmatic approach of the experience of becoming-aware of one’s own awareness in action. This modality of attention can be accessed in first person and, to be achieved, it needs to be cultivated. In this research, the first person events were developed in math learning experiences lived by two students who showed learning disabilities in that field. Both students attended the Learning Laboratory (LL) in a municipal public school of Porto Alegre. The Explicitation Interview Method (VERMERSCH, P.; 2003) was used with the students during the LL class sessions as a tool to access pre-reflected knowledge as well as a tool for pedagogical intervention during breakdowns and becoming-aware process of development. This method was based on Husserl’s phenomenology and on Piaget’s assumptions about the grasp of consciousness (1973,1977). The study suggested that it is possible to develop the student’s ability of becoming aware of her/his own cognitive flow. This possibility was achieved from a practical and disciplined work of attention in order to access to the particular experiences of learning which were still pre-reflexive and pre-egoic. Likewise, the emergence of breakdown moments showed to be an important sign (DENARDIN, M.H. & SORDI, R. 2007) which, once accepted by student and teacher, served as a trigger the becoming-aware process. From the point of view of cognition, the development of this modality of attention that recovers the student’s pre-reflected knowledge, can bring to surface a great variety of theoretical known devices although usually less explored in teaching-learning situations.

Ionotropic glutamate AMPA-type receptors mediate fast excitatory neurotransmission in the central nervous system and are essential for synaptic plasticity. Expression of the receptor subunits varies with cell type, stage of development and brain region. Subunit composition determines functional properties of the receptor, including gating kinetics and synaptic trafficking. The research aimed to selectively disrupt the GluA1 subunit abundantly expressed in the hippocampus of the wild-type mouse, so as to examine its role in learning and memory. Site-directed monoclonal antibodies were engineered to target the extracellular amino-terminal domain of GluA1 for subunit-selective manipulation. The antibody-binding region was selected for heterogeneity and accessibility based on the amino acid sequences and crystal structures solved for the AMPA receptor subunits. Immunisations of peptide antigen in mice generated serum antibodies that recognise the equivalent epitope on the fully folded GluA1 subunit. The antigen-binding Fab fragment of the monoclonal anti-GluA1 antibody was cloned from hydridoma mRNA and purified from large-scale transient expression in mammalian cells. Biophysical characterisations of anti-GluA1 Fab immunoglobulin showed high specificity and affinity for the target subunit. Acute bilateral intrahippocampal administration of anti-GluA1 Fab protein into awake, behaving wild-type mice produced dissociations in spatial memory performance that resembled GluA1-/- knockout mice. Impaired short-term spatial working memory but intact long-term spatial reference memory observed with anti-GluA1 Fab infusions suggested that the immunoglobulin reagent exerted an acute, reversible, localised, GluA1-specific antagonism in the brain. The findings argue for a critical involvement of the hippocampal GluA1 subunit in certain short-term memory processes, but not in other distinct long-term memory processes. Temporal resolution of the antibody-mediated disruption revealed novel fractionations of short-term memory performance never before observed in the GluA1-/- knockout mice, demonstrating the strength of the monoclonal anti-GluA1 antibodies as an investigative tool.