abstract: Multimodal presentations have been found to facilitate learning, however, may be a disadvantage for low spatial ability students if they require spatial visualization. This disadvantage stems from their limited capacity to spatially visualize and retain information from both text and diagrams for integration. Similarly, working memory capacity (WMC) likely plays a key role in a learner's ability to retain information presented to them via both modalities. The present study investigated whether or not the act of self-explaining helps resolve deficits in learning caused by individual differences in spatial ability, working memory capacity, and prior knowledge when learning with text, or text and diagrams. No interactions were found, but prior knowledge consistently predicted performance on like posttests. The author presents methodological and theoretical explanations as to the null results of the present study. / Dissertation/Thesis / M.S. Applied Psychology 2014

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Psychology / James C. Shanteau / A training protocol was developed to teach an implicit reasoning strategy to encourage the consideration of alternatives, specifically in behavioral trap decision environments. Engaging the strategy would thereby decrease the effect of focusing on traps, resulting in more rational behavior. In two studies, training was delivered in an instructor-less environment using paper-pencil and multimedia examples. The main training components consisted of analogical problem solving and counterfactual thinking. The potential moderators between training and performance outcomes consisted of an information processing disposition Need for Cognitive Closure, an individualized approach to decisions, Decision-Making Style, and a capacity to process information Working Memory Capacity. Arousal and mood were also measured before, during, and after the training as both have been linked with learning. In Study 1, participants engaged in analogical problem solving, additive counterfactual thinking, subtractive counterfactual thinking, or none of these (i.e., control group). Results revealed that the training was minimally effective, although some comparisons revealed a large shift from pre- to post-training in commitment score away from trap options. Likewise, the Need for Cognitive Closure was the best predictor of decision behavior revealing that a predisposition for amount of information processed during decision making is indicative of behavioral outcomes in this decision environment. Based on results from Study 1, the training was reformatted in Study 2 to obtain the maximum potential benefit. Analogical problem solving was coupled with each form of counterfactual thinking so participants engaged in both critical thinking processes. When training was effective, the two forms were differentially effective as related to behavioral trap problem type. Forward-looking training assisted problem types that force explicit cost recognition and immediate decision outcomes. Past-looking training assisted problem types that force little cost recognition and delayed decision outcomes. Results of this project could be used to enhance the acquisition of critical thinking as well as improve educational practices. Both information processing disposition and decision approach style predicted learning whereas capacity to process information and training manipulations did not. Future projects will examine how long the training effects last and if critical thinking training can be successfully applied to other decision environments.

The aim of the study was to investigate the association between working memory capacity and golf performance in a dual-task paradigm. Twenty-eight golfers with ages varying from 19-58 participated in the study. The participants were instructed to, after assessing their working memory capacity with digit span tests, hit ten golf putts from varying distances in two different conditions, one single-task condition (just performing the golf putts) and one dual-task condition (golf putts plus a working memory task). In the dual-task condition the participants were given an address (including street name, postal code and city) to remember while hitting all ten putts. After hitting the putts in each condition the participants reported their perceived mental effort. Results from the study showed that participants with higher working memory capacity performed better than participants with lower working memory capacity in general, but especially in the distracted condition. Results also showed that participants with higher working memory capacity perceived less mental effort compared to participants with lower working memory capacity, especially in the distracted condition. The findings from this study indicate that working memory capacity is related to performance and mental effort exerted during performance, especially in a distracted condition.

No description available.

Second language acquisition (SLA) has been a dominant field in linguistics research over the past several decades. In this field, researchers have investigated what makes learning the grammar of a second language difficult and they have identified many factors that may contribute to this difficulty, including agreement processing. In linguistic terms, agreement refers to the necessary covariation of grammatical features between two of more syntactic constituents. In prior years of agreement processing research, some authors examined how native speakers process varying grammatical features (e.g. number and gender) in agreement relations. In recent years, however, they have turned towards L2 learners and have investigated whether learners can attain native-like levels of processing agreement in a second language.While some researchers have investigated differences between learners and native speakers, others have examined the effect of individual differences on agreement processing. Of particular interest to this thesis is working memory capacity (WMC) and its effect during the different processing stages of agreement. Lastly, features expressed through agreement may affect individuals' processing behavior. Different features (e.g. person, number, gender) are regularly expressed in agreement relations by different manifestations of exponence. Many authors have investigated the effect different features have on processing agreement when those features are expressed by separative exponence. Fewer have examined the effect of cumulative exponence on agreement processing.Eye tracking is a useful psycholinguistic tool to investigate these questions. Using eye tracking, I examine English learners of Spanish and their eye behavior as they processed Spanish verbal agreement and investigate whether they demonstrate sensitivity similar to native Spanish speakers while processing verbal agreement errors. I investigate if individuals demonstrate similar sensitivity when processing three different types of verbal agreement errors—number, person, and tense. Additionally, I examine whether individuals' sensitivity to agreement errors is affected by working memory capacity. Using a linear mixed effects model, I analyze the eye tracking data and share the results of the analyses and their implications for L2 research in agreement processing.

Syftet med studien var att undersöka sambandet mellan arbetsminneskapacitet och mental ansträngning respektive prestation (poäng och tid det tar att utföra uppgiften) vid utförandet av en fotbollsrelaterad uppgift utförd både med och utan distraktion. Totalt deltog 22 deltagare varav 11 kvinnor och 11 män. Alla deltagare var aktiva fotbollsspelare. Studien genomfördes i form av ett experiment med två delar. Den första delen bestod av att deltagarna skulle dribbla mellan fem koner för att sedan slå en passning på 16,5 meter in i ett litet mål sju gånger för att sedan mäta mental ansträngning genom Rating Scale Mental Effort (RSME). Deltagarna gjorde även detta sju gånger med en distraktion i form av att räkna baklänges från 300 med trehopp (300, 297, 294 och så vidare) och därefter mättes deltagarnas mentala ansträngning igen. Experimentets andra del bestod av att deltagarna fick genomföra ett test med digit span forward och digit span backward för att mäta deras arbetsminneskapacitet. Det förekom inget signifikant samband mellan arbetsminneskapacitet, poäng, tid för utförandet av fotbollsuppgiften och mental ansträngning med och utan distraktionen. Det framkom dock en signifikant skillnad i mental ansträngning med och utan distraktion, men ingen signifikant skillnad i vare sig poäng eller tid med och utan distraktion. Resultatet visar på att irrelevanta tankar (i from av en räkneuppgift) går att kompensera för via en högre mental ansträngning och därför kan idrottaren ha en fortsatt bra kvalité på prestationen. Dock tyder resultaten på att arbetsminneskapaciteten inte är relaterat till hur idrottarens prestation påverkas av distraktionen. / The aim of the study was to investigate the association between working memory capacity and mental effort and performance (points and time it takes to complete the football task) when executing a football related task performed with and without a distraction. A total of 22 participants participated in the study, 11 women and 11 men. All participants were active football players. The study used an experimental design consisting of two parts. The first part consisted of a football task where the participants had to dribble a ball between five cones and then pass the ball, at a distance of 16,5 meters, into a small goal seven times and afterwards mental effort was measured with Rating Scale Mental Effort (RSME); the participants also had to do this seven times with a distraction and then mental effort was measured once again. The distraction was that they had to count from 300 backwards with three steps (300, 297, 294 and so on). The second part of the experiment consisted of measuring the participants working memory capacity using digit span forward and digit span backward tests. The result showed no significant association between working memory capacity and points, time, or mental effort with and without distraction. However, the result showed a significant difference in mental effort with and without distraction, but no significant difference in time or points with and without distraction. The results show that the athlete can compensate for irrelevant thoughts (in the form of a counting task) by using a higher mental effort and therefore maintain a good quality in the athletic performance. The results also indicate that working memory capacity is not related to how the athlete's performance is affected by the distraction.

No description available.

Although the independent roles of working memory capacity (WMC) and knowledge in problem solving have been thoroughly researched, there is significantly less work that has explored how WMC and knowledge interact during problem solving. The present study investigated how the quality of knowledge representations contribute to rule transfer in a problem-solving context and how WMC might contribute to the subsequent failure or success in transferring the relevant information. Participants were trained on individual figural analogies rules and then asked to rate how similar they thought the rules were to determine how stimulispecific or abstract their rule representations were. Their rule representation score, along with other measures (WMC and fluid intelligence measures) were used to predict accuracy on a set of test items, of which half included only the trained rules, and the other half were comprised of entirely new rules. Results indicated that the training did improve performance on the test items and that WMC largely explained the ability to transfer rules. Although the rule representations scores did not predict accuracy on the trained items, the results suggest that rule representations may be important for inductive reasoning or pattern recognition, rather than explaining transfer. Furthermore, rule representations uniquely explained performance on the figural analogies task, even after accounting for WMC and fluid intelligence. Altogether, these results indicate that WMC plays a large role in knowledge transfer, even when transferring to a more complex problem-solving context, and that rule representations may be important for novel problem solving.

Listening ability is affected by external factors such as background noise and internal factors such as attention-allocation. I varied listening conditions and cognitive load and evaluated auditory word recognition and ratings of listening effort. Additionally, I investigated how individual differences in working memory capacity affected word recognition, recall, listening effort, and how working memory capacity interacted with other factors. Rönnberg et al.’s (2013) Ease of Language Understanding (ELU) model states that individual differences in working memory capacity will lead to differences in language comprehension in challenging listening conditions, where those with higher working memory capacity will be better at speech recognition. Using a dual-task experiment, participants heard and repeated words presented in three listening conditions: masked with pink noise, masked with babble, and processed through a hearing loss simulator. To manipulate cognitive load, participants completed the speech recognition task in both single- and dual-task paradigms. In the dual-task paradigm, participants continuously tracked a pseudo-randomly moving target on a screen for half the experiment. Participants reported perceived listening effort for each combination of listening condition and tracking condition. Additionally, memory for correctly heard words was tested with a recognition memory test. Word recognition performance and listening effort rating data agreed with my hypotheses that difficult listening conditions would produce poorer word recognition performance and increased listening effort. Interesting effects of cognitive load are discussed. The relation between working memory capacity and performance on various measures is also discussed in the context of the ELU model and theories of working memory capacity. Internal and external factors clearly interact to affect listening, and this interaction varies across individuals. / Thesis / Master of Science (MSc) / The ability to hear is affected by many factors, including attention and memory. The goal of this research is to investigate the cognitive factors (attention and memory) that affect hearing and how these effects differ on an individual level. My findings contribute to a better understanding of how background noise and mental demand affect hearing ability and listening effort, as well as how individual differences in cognitive ability further influence these factors. Results suggest that background noise and increased mental demand will decrease listening ability and increase listening effort. These changes in listening differ according to individual cognitive ability.

Speech perception is a fundamental function of successful vocal communication, and through prosody, we can communicate different emotions. The ability to recognize emotions is important in social interaction. Emotional prosody facilitates emotion recognition in vocal communication. Acoustic conditions are not always optimal, due to either environmental disturbances or hearing loss. When perceiving speech and recognizing emotions we make use of multimodal sources of information. The effect of noise-vocoding on speech perception and emotion recognition can increase the knowledge of these abilities. The effect of emotional prosody on speech perception and emotion recognition ability in adverse acoustic conditions is not widely explored. To explore the role of emotional prosody during adverse acoustic conditions, an online test was created. 18 participants (8 women) listened to semantically neutral sentences with different emotions expressed in prosody and presented with five different levels of noise (NV1, NV3, NV6, NV12, and Clear) using noise-vocoding. Participants’ task was to reproduce the spoken words and identify the expressed emotion (happy, surprised, angry, sad, or neutral). A Reading span test was included to investigate any potential correlation between working memory capacity and the ability to recognize emotions in prosody. Statistical analysis suggests speech perception could be facilitated by emotional prosody when sentences are noise-vocoded. The ability to recognize emotions in emotional prosody differentiated between the emotions on the different noise levels. The ability to recognize anger was least affected by noise-vocoding, and sadness was most affected. Correlation analysis shows no significant result between working memory capacity and emotion recognition accuracy.