Master of Science / Department of Psychology / Lester C. Loschky / How are episodes of picture stories remembered, and what role does the order of their components (exposition, complication, and resolution) play in that memory? We presented picture sequence episodes of the “Red Balloon” with the order of their components either normal or scrambled. As predicted by story grammar theories, scrambling episode components reduced self-rated comprehension and recall. However, scrambling also produced faster recognition memory responses for hits. This suggests that episode component scrambling interfered with the transformation of perceptual to conceptual information in LTM, producing an advantage for familiarity over recollection. Additionally, recall memory decreased monotonically from exposition to resolution, whereas recognition memory showed the opposite result, and this was the same whether components were normally ordered or scrambled. This suggests that memory for picture story episode components is based on their information content rather than their temporal order, and that information from picture stories moves from perceptual to conceptual memory representations.

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Educational Leadership / Sarah Jane Fishback / This study investigated the relationship between the tolerance of ambiguity (AT) levels of the officers attending the U.S. Army’s School of Advanced Military Studies (SAMS) and the creativity of the military plans they developed. Located aboard Fort Leavenworth, KS, SAMS is an Army school providing education to specially selected officers in preparation for duties in positions as battalion commanders and lead planners for Army divisions and corps. The officers at SAMS are grouped into seminars for their classes, and they remain with their seminars throughout the yearlong educational program. The twin purposes of this study were to (a) test for the relationship between AT and creativity suggested by various theories of creativity and (b) contribute to the Army’s efforts to increase the creativity of its officers by empirically identifying the expected positive correlation between the officers AT levels and the creativity of their plans. A sample of 66 officers participated in the study. They each independently developed a military plan in response to a common notional scenario. Subsequently they each independently completed the short version of Norton’s (1975) MAT-50 to measure their levels of AT. Their plans were assessed for creativity using Amabile’s Consensual Assessment Technique (CAT). The high inter-rater reliability among the judges (r = .82) demonstrated the effectiveness of the CAT as a method for assessing the creativity of military plans. Counter to the expectation, analysis of the data revealed a small negative correlation throughout the sample between AT scores and the creativity of the plans, producing a disconfirmation dilemma for the researcher. Analysis revealed that the sample’s collective levels of AT differed among the various subscales of the MAT-50. Additionally, post hoc analysis revealed statistically significant variance of the creativity of the officers’ plans between the different seminars to which they were assigned. In the seminar with the highest creativity scores, there was a small positive correlation between AT and creativity, while in the seminar with the lowest creativity scores, there was a medium sized negative correlation between the two variables. Implications of these findings and recommendations for future research are discussed.

Master of Science / Department of Psychology / Richard J. Harris / The present study examined the effects of discourse context information on English Monolinguals' and Spanish-English Bilinguals' ability to 1) translate Spanish and Finnish vocabulary words and 2) comprehend inferential and factual comprehension questions based on language-mixed prose. Language-mixed (i.e., codeswitched) prose varied in the number of foreign words presented in each sentence (i.e., 0, 1, 2, or 3 words per sentence). Results indicated that Monolinguals and Bilinguals' ability to translate Finnish words from pre-test to post-test increased due to their use of contextual information as an aid in translation. Furthermore, Monolinguals' translation accuracy increased from pre-test to post-test when tested on Spanish vocabulary words, but Bilinguals' translation difference scores did not increase from pre-test to post-test, due to their high prior knowledge of Spanish. Monolinguals and Bilinguals' comprehension accuracy was high throughout all conditions, even when tested on material conveyed by Finnish and Spanish words. Results from the study suggest that the use of language-mixed prose does not necessarily impair comprehension or translation ability for Monolinguals or Bilinguals, but in fact provides the context to help translate foreign vocabulary words and draw pragmatic inferences and factual information from text. The findings from this study are of importance in suggesting that, through the use of written contextual information, it is possible to learn basic foreign language vocabulary. Implications for foreign language learning, language-mixing as a mode of communication, and models of language acquisition and lexical access are discussed.

Master of Science / Department of Psychology / Richard J. Harris / Memory processes have undergone extensive investigation using various experimental methods. While working memory studies have profoundly influenced the development of new cognitive theories, including the Dual-Processing Theory (Mayer & Moreno, 1998), limited research has investigated the effects of subtitled messages on multimedia comprehension. Previous eye movement research has investigated the ability of observers to attend to the multiple sensory inputs associated with multimedia viewing (D’Ydewalle, Van Rensbergen & Pollet, 1987; D’Ydewalle & De Bruycker, 2007); however, eye movement research only scratches the surface of cognitive abilities associated with multimedia learning. In order to satisfy the need for more subtitling research two studies were performed to investigate the effects of subtitled movies on the comprehension of movie content. Both investigations involved the presentation of 10-minute movie clips from A Few Good Men and See No Evil, Hear No Evil. Participants completed three types of multiple-choice recognition questions for each movie, including: pictorial-only questions, verbal-only questions and combined-information questions. Experiment 1 was designed to investigate the difference between levels of comprehension, when verbal information was presented only in the participants’ native language (i.e. English soundtrack and/or subtitles). Results of Experiment 1 indicate that participants performed significantly better on verbal-only and combined-information questions when their native language was present in the subtitles as opposed to the soundtrack. These findings confirm previous findings that reading verbal information in subtitles is more efficient than listening to the soundtrack. Comparison of performance on the pictorial-only questions across presentation formats in Experiment 1 showed participants in the English soundtrack with no subtitles condition performed significantly better than all other conditions. Although Experiment 1 provides a basic understanding of how native language soundtracks and subtitles influence comprehension of movies, subtitled media are primarily used when viewing a movie with verbal information from a foreign language. Experiment 2 built on the results of Experiment 1 by incorporating an unfamiliar language (i.e. French). The question sets used in Experiment 1 were also used in Experiment 2; however, two French vocabulary tests were also used in Experiment 2 to measure incidental foreign language acquisition. Consistent with the results of Experiment 1, participants performed significantly better on verbal-only and combined-information questions when their native language was in the subtitles. This finding extended the conclusion that native language verbal information presented visually (i.e. subtitles) yields better performance on questions requiring verbal cues than native language verbal information presented orally (i.e. soundtrack) to foreign language material. Comparison of performance on the pictorial-only questions across presentation formats in Experiment 2 showed no significant differences. Comparison across the two experiments reflected a distraction effect associated with the presence of a foreign language. Performance on the French vocabulary tests was very poor across all conditions and yielded no significant differences, suggesting that the tasks may have been too difficult.

Master of Science / Department of Psychology / James C. Shanteau / This project included two studies that looked at how the brand name and price of consumer products can affect intended purchasing decisions. In Study 1, 30 undergraduate students tested products from three different product categories (crayons, tissues, and tortilla chips). Each product category consisted of three different brands; one with high brand value, one with medium, and one with low brand value (generic). The brands for each product were as follows: Crayons (Crayola, Roseart, and Dollartree); Tissues (Puffs, Kleenex, and Wal-Mart); Chips (Tostitos, Mission, and Kroger). The design for this study was a 3x3+3+3 matrix. For each brand, there were five conditions: 1) the product in the correct brand name; 2) the product in a switched brand name; 3) the product in the other switched brand name; 4) the product alone, no brand name; and 5) the brand name alone, no product. The product alone and brand name alone conditions acted as controls. Participants were unaware that the products had been switched. After trying each product, participants rated their likelihood to purchase that product on a 9-point Likert scale; 1 being “definitely would not buy” and 9 being “definitely would buy.” In Study 2, 47 participants completed an online survey assessing their likelihood to purchase three different products (a bicycle, a watch, and a T.V.) based on the price alone. The brand names were removed so as to not create an interactive effect. This study had the same design as Study 1. After a within-subjects Repeated Measures ANOVA, it was found in Study 1, that the two brands with higher brand value were rated as higher quality than the generic. Study 2 found that when just looking at price, subjects were more likely to purchase the cheapest product. In conclusion, it seems that the brand name associated with a product can cause people to rate the quality of that product as either higher or lower depending on the strength of the brand, even if the product itself is lower quality. Also, when looking at the prices of products without the brand names, people want to purchase the lowest priced product.

Master of Science / Department of Psychology / Lester C. Loschky / To investigate the role of various bands of spatial frequencies for drawing, untrained artists drew four portraits from four different bands of spatial frequencies (e.g. unfiltered, 4-8, 8-16, & 16-32 cycles per face width (c/fw)). Raters then judged the accuracy of the drawings in comparison to both the source image from which the drawings were produced and an unfiltered version of the same face. The results show that low spatial frequencies (LSFs) and high spatial frequencies (HSFs) were useful for drawing, relative to middle spatial frequencies (MSFs). Additionally, the unfiltered condition that contained all spatial frequencies produced the most accurate drawings. This suggests that when artists are allowed access to both LSFs and HSFs they are able to utilize the global structure information carried in LSFs as well as the edge and detail information carried in HSFs to create more accurate drawings. The author posits that the MSFs that are useful for face recognition become redundant for drawing and that novice artists discount these MSFs in the control condition in order to increase the saliency and usefulness of the LSFs and HSFs. The results have implications for art education, drawing technology and the development of low-level drawing theory.

Master of Science / Department of Psychology / Richard J. Harris / Previous research has indicated that many factors influence the likelihood of using the central or peripheral routes of processing during exposure to a persuasive message, including involvement in the message. Previous research has generally focused on response involvement, which is based on outcome, while the focus of the present study is involvement based on personal investment. In the present study, 229 undergraduates were assessed on their trait empathy toward animals, and attitudes toward animals. They read a strong or weak persuasive message presented by either an attractive or less attractive writer. This design replicated previous findings by Bae (2008) on empathy and attitude change, and extended them by examining them experimentally, with a focus on issue-based involvement, which relies on moral or ego involvement. Participants were tested on several distinct DVs designed to indicate their change in attitude and behavior. Results varied for each DV, with source attractiveness predicting willingness to wear a button and display a bumper sticker, but with trait empathy predicting willingness to adopt a pet and vote to support a petition. The results imply that participants relied on different routes of processing depending on the DV, and that the role of emotion in issue involvement may inform advertisers in ways to effectively increase the likelihood of paying attention to a message.

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Psychology / James C. Shanteau / Four variables from the HBM of healthcare behavior were used to examine immunization decision making by the lay public. Although there was evidence to support the HBM in general, results of these studies suggest that up to 70% of the variance in immunization decision-making could be explained by disease base rates alone. When there is a main effect of immunization side effects, this effect was entirely within the most severe category of side effect. In initial four experiments, there was a consistent interaction between the variable of disease type and the variables of disease severity and immunization side effects. The fifth experiment showed an interaction between disease type and immunization efficacy. Functional measurement was used to examine the nature of the interaction between the variables of disease base rates and immunization efficacy. This interaction is neither clearly additive nor multiplicative. Disease base rate dominates the other variables, although each modifies immunization likelihood somewhat in interaction with disease base rates. Furthermore, results suggest that participants did not appear to react to the difference between different disease base rates when the probabilities are small. Participants also did not conceptualize immunization efficacy as a conditional probability. Suggestions for how to address these issues via decision support were made. The principle contribution of this study, however, is development of a methodology. The method developed here investigates the variables of the HBM in an ecologically valid factorial design. This approach takes the HBM beyond description of variables to provision of prediction and generalizable results.

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Psychology / James C. Shanteau / Unstructured decision making is a dynamic process where an individual must create an alternative because one is not available or provided. In this type of a decision, an individual may not have formed preferences or may not know the path to arrive at a solution. As opposed to selecting from existing alternatives, little research examines when decision makers create an alternative. Electronic commerce websites allow individuals to create a product by customizing it. A web-based simulation called Interactive Choice was developed for the investigation. It is an interactive naturalistic decision space permitting experimental controls such as random placement of participants into conditions and random display of stimuli. Participants customized three products (pizza, cell phones, shoes). Building on theoretical foundations of unfolding model and Image Theory, a model asserts the presentation of the information and preparation of the decision maker influences a decision maker. A phased examination explores decision makers’ cognitive processes by measuring participants’ evaluations of the product created and the process to create it. In the first phase, three experiments find, contrary to previous independent investigations, participants rarely retain a pre-selected default value. Logistic regression reveals that the odds ratio of predicting default retention is dependent on product type. In the second phase, results identify that problem solving instructions influence decision making. Analyses of multidimensional scaling and cluster analysis reveal patterns for default retention and problem solving instructions that define an electronic decision aid called Choice Builder. The dissertation suggests that when an individual creates a product, he or she has more control over the process that subsequently reduces the influence of the default. A new theoretical foundation is proposed identifying that for unstructured decisions individuals construct both decision strategies and preferences while creating an alternative. With an active process of acquiring and evaluating information, an individual forms a decision strategy and updates preferences to achieve an ideal outcome. This dissertation makes four contributions that include 1) a research tool, Interactive Choice, for exploration, 2) the identification of cognitive processes involved, 3) a proposal of a new theoretical approach, and 4) an electronic decision aid, Choice Builder.

Master of Science / Special Education, Counseling, and Student Affairs / Christy D. Moran / With increased attention related to internationalization and intercultural learning within higher education, increasing numbers of college students are participating in international cross-cultural activities. Participants in short-term international Christian mission experiences are increasing dramatically. These students frequently participate in such activities during the course of their college career and subsequently experience reentry issues during their readjustment back into college life. This report reviews literature and student comments related to the reentry experiences of the growing college population of short-term international Christian mission participants. What follows is a review of various explanations of the reentry phenomenon related to socio-psychological, expectation, systems, identity formation, and grief theories. College adjustment and support literature, as it relates to student retention, is explored along with reentry services and practices associated with student affairs, international program offices, and collegiate Christian campus ministries or colleges. Student affairs professionals have a strategic role to play by intervening with students returning from short-term international experiences. By providing personal and programmatic support for students readjusting to American culture, we have the opportunity to assist students integrate what they have learned from their global experience into the development of individual identities, values, and behaviors. There are substantive educational, spiritual, social, and psychological reasons given from the literature to justify a level of intervention, unique and appropriate for each individual institution, from student life professionals directed towards supporting college students as they return from short-term international Christian mission experiences. This review highlights the need for more extensive in depth studies seeking to understand the relationship between interpersonal and programmatic support and the learning process of college students as they go through the reentry experience.