When presented with two identical sounds from different locations separated by a short onset asynchrony, listeners report hearing a single source at the location of the lead sound, a phenomenon called the precedence effect (Wallach et al., 1949; Haas, 1951). When the onset asynchrony is above echo threshold, listeners report hearing the lead and lag sounds as separate sources with distinct locations. Event-related potential (ERP) studies have shown that perception of separate sound sources is accompanied by an object-related negativity (ORN) 100-250 ms after onset and a late posterior positivity (LP) 300-500 ms after onset (Sanders et al., 2008; Sanders et al., 2011). The current study tested whether these ERP effects are modulated by attention. Clicks were presented in lead/lag pairs at and around listeners’ echo thresholds while in separate blocks they 1) attended to the sounds and reported if they heard the lag sound as a separate source, and 2) performed a difficult 2-back visual task. Replicating previous results, when attention was directed to the sounds, an ORN and LP were observed for click pairs 1 ms above compared to 1 ms below echo threshold. In contrast, when attention was directed away from the sounds to the visual task, neither the ORN nor the LP was evident. Instead, click pairs 1 ms above echo threshold elicited an anterior positivity 250-450 ms after onset. In addition, an effect resembling an ORN was found in comparing ERPs elicited by unattended click pairs with SOAs below attended echo threshold. These results indicate that attention modulates early perceptual processes in the precedence effect and may be critical for auditory object formation under these conditions.

We often think of architecture as distinct buildings, yet as we move through the city we continuously pass through a built environment that is a collage of buildings. These spaces between buildings are underestimated as influences on our experience of everyday life in the city. Considering architecture as linked existential experiences through spaces rather than confined to individual buildings is more in line with our experience of the city as a series of interconnected spaces and places. Rather than describing a single, static architecture through words, how can we express this linked experience of spaces dynamically through narratives? Can writing reveal subtle experiences of interconnected atmospheres within the city? If so, how could this understanding inform the way architects consider the relationship between built-forms and the greater urban context? This thesis investigates and interprets the atmospheres of pathways and in-between spaces to understand their influence on the experience of moving through the city. Although in-between spaces are where much of the human experience of the city occurs, they are rarely discussed and, in many ways, this keeps them out of the realm of design consideration. Atmospheres (discussed by Peter Zumthor, Juhani Pallasmaa and Alberto Pérez-Gómez) arise from our multi-sensory perception of space. The thesis investigates the literature surrounding the phenomenological study and design of atmospheres as well as the connection between atmospheres and narratives—how they develop and are essential in creating meaningful spaces for embodied-experience. Assuming the identity of the flâneur—city-wanderer, documentarian, and observer—as an entry point into investigating the city through movement, the project aims at documenting and rendering atmospheres in the city through photography and writing. Through the intersection of architecture, atmosphere and narrative, the thesis presents a multi-media study of atmospheres of in-between spaces in Montreal focusing on writing as a tool for generating new narratives that inform design. This research project develops a new methodology that reorients design-thinking towards a sequence of experiences through atmospheres in the city. Ultimately, this research sets the conditions, methodology and context for the architectural intervention of attuned public spaces for events along an extension of Parc linéaire du Réseau-Vert (the Greenline).

Some scholars have formed a more expansive view of knowledge that moves beyond the cognitive notion of intellect. For example, emotional intelligence (EI) theory posits that human intelligence encompasses both cognitive and emotional competencies, providing a framework for the concept of contemplative practices in an endeavor to support an eclectic understanding of cognition. Contemplative practices may benefit graduate student disposition and inform areas of educator preparation through the use of emotional adeptness in higher education. The purpose of this study was to: (a) develop a self-report measure: Scale of Contemplative Practice in Higher Education (SCOPE); (b) address the issues of validity and reliability related to the SCOPE; and (c) expand the understanding of contemplative practices in the literature. Data collected from an extensive review of the literature, reference to personal experiences, and consultation with an expert panel were used to generate scale items. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were conducted to test the factor model. Analyses resulted in a 30-item factor model with strong reliabilities.

Counseling psychologists are tasked with understanding optimal psychological and cognitive functioning. Recent theoretical predictions (Crisp & Turner, 2011) and growing evidence suggest that cross-race interactions are important ways individuals might improve their cognitive and psychosocial functioning. However, the theoretical predictions from Crisp and Turner have not yet been tested in one model. Further, much of the empirical support for the theoretical predictions has been from studies using 1) undergraduate samples and 2) weak theory-measurement fit. The present study used an online, community survey (N = 270) to test Crisp and Turner’s (2011) predictions that cognitive flexibility would mediate the relationship between cross-race interactions and psychological well-being in both a White sample (N = 198) and a sample of Color (N = 70). Results supported the hypothesized mediational model, indicating that more frequent cross-race interactions were associated with greater psychological well-being, through greater cognitive flexibility. The findings are discussed in the context of Crisp and Turner’s model (2011). Implications for sociological, educational, and psychological professionals are also discussed. Recommendations for future studies include experimental, longitudinal, and intervention studies with strong theory-measurement fit.

Previous studies have established that when a subject’s attention is directed to a specific body part, the subject is able to move that body part faster than a body part their attention was not drawn to. This is known as the body compatibility effect, and it has been shown that this effect only occurs when viewing upright images of the human body. In this study, we presented control subjects and expert acrobats with inverted and upright stimuli. We hypothesized that the amount of time the acrobats spent inverted would result in the acrobats exhibiting body compatibility effects for both upright and inverted stimuli. Compatibility effects were observed in the upright condition for both groups, but neither group exhibited any compatibility effects in the inverted position. Unexpectedly the acrobats responded significantly faster to incongruent trials compared to the control subjects, leading to the conclusion that there must be some form of priming occurring concurrently with the body compatibility task allowing the acrobats to respond faster than the control participants.

While previous studies have investigated country-of-origin effect from various angles, it remained unexplored the extent to which Country of Origin Labeling (COOL) affects U.S. beef imports from specific countries. Using choice-experiment data, willingness to pay (WTP) for Australian, Canadian beef in addition to other enhancement attributes were estimated with a Mixed Logit Model and a Latent Class Model. The results revealed unobserved taste heterogeneity and important differences in the WTP between the imported and domestic steak. The Latent Class Model estimated the range of discount needed for consumers to switch from U.S. to Canadian steak was a range from $1.09 to $35.12 per pound. Results from the Mixed Logit Model reiterated strong domestic preference. Significant positive WTP for BSE-tested, traceable, and tenderness-assured beef were also observed. In addition, perceived risk theory was utilized to explain the difference in WTP for domestic and imported beef. The psychometric method proposed in Pennings et al. (2002) were adopted, which disentangled perceived risk into risk perception and risk attitude. Using a mixed logit model with error component specification, the result revealed a strong link between risk perception and risk attitude towards consumer choice of country-of-origin labeled beef. Specifically, we found that perceived risk factors have a stronger impact on imported beef than domestic beef, which could partially explain consumers’ aversion towards imported beef. Lastly, the perceived risk framework was expanded to explain variation in the WTP for traceable and BSE-tested beef. The results indicated significant and non-linear impact from risk attitude and risk perception to WTP for the attributes. In addition, BSE-concern, and perceived level of control agribusiness has on food safety significantly influenced WTP for traceable and BSE-tested beef.

No description available.

This thesis questions the effectiveness of anti-racial discrimination mechanisms in France, particularly in relation to the national political culture. Considering the overall import of republican ideology in France, which emphasizes values of universalism, colour-blindness, and laïcité, there are significant implications for how institutional, legal and civil society actors have traditionally approached issues of racism in France. From primary data, gathered through fieldwork in France (consisting of a series of semi-structured interviews with key antiracist and anti-racial discrimination actors), this thesis highlights the ways in which the political culture impacts the anti-racial discrimination agenda. By taking into account the various levels of antiracism in France, this thesis constitutes a unique, holistic and race critical analysis whereby legal, civil society, institutional and non-conventional mechanisms are considered in conjunction with each other, instead of separately. Using “race” as an analytical tool for understanding the French context, this thesis offers a critical re-reading of French history, linking an ethnicized and racialized formation of national identity throughout key historical moments to contemporary forms of racism. This research thus argues that certain antiracist approaches based on republican ideology result in a limited understanding of racialized processes, which appears to constrain actors from producing effective mechanisms for challenging racism and racial discrimination.

Objective: The goal of this research was to explore how the design of clothing, specifically the design of the suit, can create height illusions. Background: Taller people enjoy many advantages, such as increased income and perceived attractiveness. These advantages motivate people to try to appear taller than they actually are, and clothing experts provide advice on how to accomplish this. However, there is little empirical evidence to validate the illusory effects clothing might have on overall height perception. The few studies that have explored illusions of body size created by clothing design have been limited in two important ways – the test stimuli have included unnatural body shapes and have failed to include naturalistic context (i.e., surrounding depth and size cues available in real scenes). Method: In the first phase, participants (nonexperts in clothing design) provided suggestions for how to appear taller by changing clothes. In the second phase, participants 1) viewed photographs of a variety of targets wearing suit designs that are commonly believed to manipulate viewers’ perceptions of height, 2) rated the targets on traits associated with height such as income and attractiveness, and 3) estimated the heights of these individuals. This study focused on the potential effects of suit color, specifically overall lightness (light vs. dark) and monochromaticity (monochromatic vs. lightness blocking). The effects of these designs were tested with and without contextual information by presenting targets within a natural streetscape or on a white background. Results: In the first phase, we found that nonexperts provided similar suggestions as experts in clothing design, including those pertaining to monochromaticity and lightness. In the second phase, we found that estimates were more accurate with more contextual information, and that clothing can impact height estimations, where monochromatic outfits yielded taller height estimates, although other outfit comparisons did not have effects. Outfits overall did not impact ratings such as income and attractiveness, although estimated height did correlate with these same social attributes. In an exploration of the impact of contextual and target-specific cues other than clothing on height estimations, we found that height perception was potentially dependent on a variety of factors such as the target's race, location (indoors vs. outdoors), stance, and the presence of nearby people. Scientific merit: This study increased our understanding of the conditions under which illusions of size in simple geometric stimuli generalize to the manipulation of size perception in real-world scenes. Broader impact: A better understanding of biases in height perception is relevant to domains in which such estimates are used to identify individuals (e.g., criminal justice) as well as domains in which visual characteristics of individuals are associated with errors in judgments of performance-based merit. (e.g., personnel selection and promotion).

The principle of least effort suggests that animals should minimize effort to reinforcement. Thus, not pecking should be preferred over pecking. However, pigeons often peck when it is allowed but not required (e.g., fixed time schedules) but pecking may be adventitiously reinforced. In the present experiment, to better compare a schedule of reinforcement that requires pecking with one that requires the absence of pecking, we compared a fixed-interval (FI) schedule in which reinforcement follows the first peck after the interval has elapsed and a differential-reinforcement-of-other behavior (DRO) schedule which requires pigeons abstain from pecking for a similar interval. The delay to reinforcement was matched on a trial-by-trial basis by extending the duration of the FI to match the DRO schedule that preceded it. Of 12 pigeons, 6 preferred the DRO schedule over the FI schedule and 6 did not show a schedule preference. Those that were indifferent between the schedules had acquired the contingences, as they responded appropriately to the two schedules but had a spatial preference stronger than their schedule preference. Individual differences in the preference of the pigeons may be related to their behavior during the DRO.