Our tactile perceptual experiences occur when we interact, actively and passively, with environmental objects and surfaces. Previous research has demonstrated that active manual exploration enhances the tactile perception of object shape. Nevertheless, the factors that contribute to this enhancement are not well understood. The present study evaluated the ability of 14 older adults to discriminate curved surfaces by actively feeling objects with a single index finger and by passively feeling objects that moved relative to a restrained finger. The curvature discrimination thresholds obtained for passive-dynamic touch were significantly lower than those that occurred during active-dynamic touch. This result demonstrates that active exploratory movements of the hand and fingers do not necessarily lead to the best curvature discrimination performance; rather, performance was best in the current study when dynamic tactile stimulation occurred in the absence of active movement. The results of the present study also clarify those obtained by Norman et al. (2013), who found that active-dynamic touch was superior to static touch -- the current findings extend this previous research and indicate that passive-dynamic touch can yield performance that is even higher than what is obtained for active-dynamic touch.

There is a long history of research on the effects of reward motivation on memory, but there are still questions concerning how such motivational variables affect memory. In a study that examined the influence of reward anticipation on episodic memory, Adcock, Thangavel, Whitfield-Gabireli, Knutson, and Gabrieli (2006) found that memory was better for scenes preceded by high value reward cues than low value cues (see also Cushman, 2012; Spaniol, Schain, & Bowen, 2013). More recently, Castel, Murayama, Friedman, McGillivray, & Link (2013) observed that anticipation of reward influences selective attention to “to be remembered” (TBR) words and the memories that are formed in both younger (YA) and older adults (OA). Finally, in an examination of reward-motivated memory for both word items and pairs, Mutter, Luttrell, & Steen (2013) found that high reward enhanced associative memory for word pairs for both YA and OA. The theoretical explanation for this finding attributed word pair stimuli as promoting and high reward motivation as selectively enhancing relational encoding strategies for both OA and YA, producing reward effects for associative recognition performance only. The present study conceptually replicated the methodology from Mutter, Luttrell, and Steen (2013) in an examination of how reward motivation at study affects non-verbal single item recognition and dual item recognition for picture pair stimuli. It was expected that high reward will induce both YA and OA to engage in more extensive encoding of TBR information, but that, due to age-related associative deficits (e.g., Naveh – Benjamin, Hussain, Guez, & Bar-On, 2003), the type of encoded representations would differ for the two groups. YA would perform better than OA on the types of recognition that require memory for relational information (i.e., associative and context recognition), but YA and OA would perform equally well on the types of recognition that require memory for item-specific information (i.e., pair and no context recognition). As compared to the word pair stimuli used by Mutter and colleagues (2013), it was expected that picture pair stimuli would alternatively promote item-specific encoding strategies for both OA and YA and high reward would selectively enhance single item recognition performance.

The term 'crossmodal correspondence' refers to the tendency for people to match information across the senses. In this thesis, the associations between taste/flavour (tastants and words) information with shapes and colours is investigated. Furthermore, such correspondences are addressed in the context of multisensory packaging design. The focus in this thesis is on the way in which taste/flavour information can be communicated by means of the visual elements of product packaging. Through a series of experiments, I demonstrate that people associate tastes and the roundness/angularity of shapes, and that taste quality, hedonics, and intensity influence such correspondences. However, packaging roundness/angularity does not seem to drive these associations. Additionally, I demonstrate that culture and context systematically influence colour/flavour associations. Importantly, the results reported in this thesis suggest that taste/shape correspondences can influence taste expectations as a function of the visual attributes of product packaging. The results reported here also reveal that colour can influence the classification of, and search for, flavour information on a product’s packaging. It turns out that the strength of the association between a flavour category and a colour is crucial to such an effect. The implications of these findings are discussed in light of the theories of crossmodal correspondences, its applications, and directions for future research.

In the current study 24 younger adults and 24 older adults haptically discriminated natural 3-D shapes (bell peppers, Capsicum annuum) using unimanual (one hand used to explore two objects) and bimanual (both hands used, but each hand explored separate objects) successive exploration. Haptic exploration using just one hand requires somatosensory processing in only one cerebral hemisphere (the hemisphere contralateral to the hand being used), while bimanual haptic exploration requires somatosensory processing in both hemispheres. Previous studies related to curvature/shape perception have found either an advantage for unimanual exploration over bimanual exploration or no difference between the two conditions. In contrast to the results of previous studies that found an advantage for unimanual exploration, the current study found that unimanual and bimanual haptic exploration produced equivalent shape discrimination performance. The current results also document a significant effect of age on haptic shape discrimination: older adults exhibited moderately reduced shape discrimination performance compared to younger adults, regardless of the mode of exploration (unimanual or bimanual).

The success of Rater Cognitive Processes Training as a strategy for eliminating sex bias in ratings of performance in a physically demanding job was investigated in the present study. One hundred undergraduate students from a mid -sized regional university served as subjects. The independent variables were type of training and sex of the ratee. resulting in a two by two factorial design. The dependent variable was the performance ratings assigned by the subjects. Subjects in the experimental condition were trained to recognize the important dimensions of performance for the lob of feed handler and received one Practice/feedback session. Subjects in the control condition completed a case study exercise in lieu of training. All subjects then viewed a videotape showing a feed handler moving and stacking what appeared to be 25 lb. bags, and afterward assigned ratings using a graphic rating scale. An ANOVA revealed a significant main effect for sex (p < .026 , and a significant main effect for training (p < .013). The interaction between sex and training was not significant. Results indicated that Rater Cognitive Processes Training was not effective in eliminating sex bias. Instead. a clear contrast effect emerged. Potential implications of this study and future research directions are subsequently explored.

The present study brought together two lines of research in an attempt to explain some issues in perceptual development. The first pertained to the Mueller-Lyer illusion which tends to decrease with age. Piaaet attributed this change to increased perceptual activities, such as eye movements in the older subjects. Pollack related it to changes in the physical structure of the eye. Grice attributed the charge partially to cognitive processes, and partially to perceptual activities. Second, the concept of iconic memory was reviewed. Grice had employed the concept of iconic memory in an attempt to relate the age related changes in illusions to cognitive changes. He posited that adults are more active in their processing of information from the icon than children. If the use of information in iconic memory could be restricted, differences between children and adults should be reduced. The present study attempted to reduce the use of information from iconic memory in perception of the Mueller-Lyer figure by presenting it simultaneously with an unrelated stimuli and asking subjects to identify the unrelated stimuli before judging line lengths in the Mueller-Lyer figure. It was believed that this process would consume the time available for abstracting information from the icon pertaining to the Mueller-Lyer figure. Three groups of subjects, representing three age levels (children 7-9, intermediate 10-12, and adults) were presented the Mueller-Lyer figure under three viewing conditions. In condition I there were no restrictions on length of time for inspecting the figures. In condition II the figures were shown for only .3 of a second. In condition III the figures were shown for .3 of a second along with two single digits in which the subject was asked to identify the digits before judging the figure. It was hypothesized that condition IT would partially increase the magnitude of the illusion and that condition III would bring a further increase. It was hypothesized that such restrictions would increase the magnitude of illusion for more mature subjects, while having little effect on the younger subjects. The present study confirmed the hypothesis, consistent with the theory that changes in the magnitude of illusion are related to cognitive growth rather than physical structural changes.

This research examined gender and employment status (full-time worker or student) differences in perceptions of workplace sexual harassment and incivility. Previous and recent meta-analyses suggested small effects by gender. The current research introduced a method of measuring perceptions by forcing a choice of identifying a behavior as sexual harassment, incivility, or neither. The instrument was designed in this way to determine if small effects existed because males tended to have overlapping definitions of sexual harassment and incivility. Propensity to sexually harass was also measured. Results suggest no gender or employment status effects on the method, but propensity to sexually harass effects were found.

The current study evaluated the ability of 20 younger and 20 older adults to discriminate shapes depicted by Glass patterns. On any given trial, observers identified a particular pattern as either possessing a radial or concentric organization. Detecting a shape defined by a Glass pattern requires the successful detection of the orientations of its constituent local dipoles. In addition, long-range processes are needed to integrate the spatially separated dipoles into perceivable contours that have a particular (e.g., radial or concentric) organization. In the current experiment, the shapes were defined by either 40 or 200 oriented dipoles spread over an area with a diameter of either 6 or 25 degrees visual angle. Three amounts of visual noise were added to the patterns to manipulate task difficulty: 1) no added noise points, 2) low amounts of noise (a 1:1 ratio of randomlyplaced noise points and signal dipoles), and 3) large amounts of noise (a 5:1 ratio of randomly-placed noise points and signal dipoles). The results of the current study indicate that human observers, both younger and older, possess an effective ability to integrate visual information across space (using Glass patterns as stimuli). There is a small age-related deterioration in discrimination performance and this is most likely due to the deficits in orientation discrimination that accompany reductions in inhibitory GABA activity in visual cortex.

The focus of this study is to explore the effect social media have on influencing consumers’ purchase intentions for different brands. More specifically, this paper aims to examine how different social media communication styles for a brand, such as firm generated content (FGC) and user generated content (UGC), influence consumers’ purchase intentions for different brands when valenced either positively or negatively. Firm-generated content is a communication style which is essentially a form of advertising that is completely controlled by a brand and follows a marketing strategy (Schvinski & Dabrowski, 2016). User-generated content is an original communication style created by consumers that are unrelated to any specific brand and is disseminated via the internet (Daugherty, Eastin, & Bright, 2008). The participants of this study were 61 undergraduate liberal arts college students from southern California. Participants in the study were exposed to various brand descriptions and social media posts and tasked with indicating their purchase intentions for these brands. The results of this study imply that different communication styles as well as different brand valences significantly influence consumers’ purchase intentions. Positively valenced brands positively influenced purchase intentions while negatively valenced brands negatively impacted purchase intentions. FGC was shown to have a more positive effect on purchase intentions than UGC, however, UGC was shown to have a strong negative influence on purchase intention when UGC posts were valenced negatively.

Recent research has suggested that music may enhance or reduce cognitive interference, depending on whether it is tonally consonant or dissonant. Tonal consonance is often described as being pleasant and agreeable, while tonal dissonance is often described as being unpleasant and harsh. However, the exact cognitive mechanisms underlying these effects remain unclear. We hypothesize that tonal dissonance may increase cognitive interference through its effects on attentional cueing. We predict that (a) consonant musical chords are attentionally demanding, but (b) dissonant musical chords are more attentionally demanding than consonant musical chords. Using a Posner cueing task, a standard measure of attention capture, we measured the differential effects of consonant chords, dissonant chords, and no music on attentional cueing. Musical chords were presented binaurally at the same time as a visual cue which correctly predicted the spatial location of a subsequent target in 80% of trials. As in previous studies, valid cues led to faster response times (RTs) compared to invalid cues; however, contrary to our predictions, both consonant and dissonant music chords produced faster RTs compared to the no music condition. Although inconsistent with our hypotheses, these results support previous research on cross-modal cueing, which suggests that non-predictive auditory cues enhance the effectiveness of visual cues. Our study further demonstrates that this effect is not influenced by auditory qualities such as tonal consonance and dissonance, suggesting that previously reported cognitive interference effects for tonal dissonance may depend on high-level changes in mood and arousal.