abstract: While various collision warning studies in driving have been conducted, only a handful of studies have investigated the effectiveness of warnings with a distracted driver. Across four experiments, the present study aimed to understand the apparent gap in the literature of distracted drivers and warning effectiveness, specifically by studying various warnings presented to drivers while they were operating a smart phone. Experiment One attempted to understand which smart phone tasks, (text vs image) or (self-paced vs other-paced) are the most distracting to a driver. Experiment Two compared the effectiveness of different smartphone based applications (app’s) for mitigating driver distraction. Experiment Three investigated the effects of informative auditory and tactile warnings which were designed to convey directional information to a distracted driver (moving towards or away). Lastly, Experiment Four extended the research into the area of autonomous driving by investigating the effectiveness of different auditory take-over request signals. Novel to both Experiment Three and Four was that the warnings were delivered from the source of the distraction (i.e., by either the sound triggered at the smart phone location or through a vibration given on the wrist of the hand holding the smart phone). This warning placement was an attempt to break the driver’s attentional focus on their smart phone and understand how to best re-orient the driver in order to improve the driver’s situational awareness (SA). The overall goal was to explore these novel methods of improved SA so drivers may more quickly and appropriately respond to a critical event. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Applied Psychology 2017

abstract: Performance on working memory (WM) and fluid intelligence tasks (gF) is often highly correlated. However, recent research by Shipstead, Harrison, & Engle (2016) has suggested that dissociable cognitive processes underlie performance on WM and gF tasks, such that WM task performance is contingent upon maintenance of relevant information while gF task performance is contingent upon disengaging from irrelevant information so that updating can occur. The aim of the current study was to test the proposal that the dopamine gating system, a neurological mechanism underlying information encoding and updating, is a plausible mechanism underlying the abilities identified by Shipstead and colleagues that are separately unique to WM and gF. Sixty-three participants completed a task that measured ability to maintain and update information, and is neurologically known to reflect functionality of the dopamine gating system during updating performance. The results indicate that individual differences in updating performance are predicted by gF, but not by WM. This suggests that the ability to disengage from irrelevant information is facilitated by distinct processes in the dopamine gating system, and is a distinguishing component of gF. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Psychology 2017

abstract: Recent research has shown that reward-related stimuli capture attention in an automatic and involuntary manner, or reward-salience (Le Pelley, Pearson, Griffiths, & Beesley, 2015). Although patterns of oculomotor behavior have been previously examined in recent experiments, questions surrounding a potential neural signal of reward remain. Consequently, this study used pupillometry to investigate how reward-related stimuli affect pupil size and attention. Across three experiments, response time, accuracy, and pupil were measured as participants searched for targets among distractors. Participants were informed that singleton distractors indicated the magnitude of a potential gain/loss available in a trial. Two visual search conditions were included to manipulate ongoing cognitive demands and isolate reward-related pupillary responses. Although the optimal strategy was to perform quickly and accurately, participants were slower and less accurate in high magnitude trials. The data suggest that attention is automatically captured by potential loss, even when it is counterintuitive to current task goals. Regarding a pupillary response, patterns of pupil size were inconsistent with our predictions across the visual search conditions. We hypothesized that if pupil dilation reflected a reward-related reaction, pupil size would vary as a function of both the presence of a reward and its magnitude. More so, we predicted that this pattern would be more apparent in the easier search condition (i.e., cooperation visual search), because the signal of available reward was still present, but the ongoing attentional demands were significantly reduced in comparison to the more difficult search condition (i.e., conflict visual search). In contrast to our predictions, pupil size was more closely related to ongoing cognitive demands, as opposed to affective factors, in cooperation visual search. Surprisingly, pupil size in response to signals of available reward was better explained by affective, motivational and emotional influences than ongoing cognitive demands in conflict visual search. The current research suggests that similar to recent findings involving LC-NE activity (Aston-Jones & Cohen, 2005; Bouret & Richmond, 2009), the measure of pupillometry may be used to assess more specific areas of cognition, such as motivation and perception of reward. However, additional research is needed to better understand this unexpected pattern of pupil size. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Psychology 2017

<p> Heads Up Display (HUD) technologies are being developed to assist drivers and reduce safety hazards. The current study used the Lane Change Task (LCT) and a Peripheral Detection Task (PDT) divided into high and low workload tracks to assess effects of employing a HUD to alert drivers to moving objects in their periphery that are possible hazards. The intent of the current study was to determine whether visual warnings displayed in either color, flashing, or color and flashing formats, would improve detection of moving stimuli without adversely impacting driving ability. Results indicated that the PDT had no significant effect on LCT performance. However, significant main effects of warning format and workload on reaction times, false alarm rates, and sensitivity were obtained. Performance on the PDT task was best when the warnings were non-flashing and yellow, especially in the low workload condition. Explanations of performance on both tasks are discussed.</p><p>

<p> Zooming is a type of user interaction offered by many programs and devices. It is used by millions of people, particularly with interactive web maps, but very few experiments have investigated why certain implementations are more effective than others. Research with direct manipulation devices (e.g., touchscreens) has found that the most natural user interaction is to swipe their finger in the direction they wish content to move. However, the most intuitive zooming direction is ambiguous for indirect manipulation devices (e.g., mouse, touchpad, and keyboard). Additionally, it is even less obvious which directional movement would result in a zooming gesture since most indirect manipulation devices only permit X and Y movements and zooming is a Z movement. For this reason, the current study investigated which Y axis directional movement is most compatible with zooming (a movement along the Z dimension) on indirect manipulation devices, and if this mapping is influenced by response method, depth cues, or instructions. Our results indicated that the R-E compatible zooming direction on indirect manipulation devices is what we define as the Forward in | Backward out mapping, which means the participant is moving their finger forward to zoom in and moving it backward to zoom out. This was reflected in higher accuracy for both touchpads and buttons and faster reaction times with touchpads. This suggests that the action of zooming on a 2D display is conceptualized as moving forward in space.</p><p>

<p> The testing effect, the notion that retrieval practice compared to restudying information leads to greater and longer retention, is one of the most robust findings in cognitive science. However, not all learners experience a benefit from retrieval practice. Many manipulations that influence the benefits of the testing effect have been explored, however, there is still much to learn about potential individual differences in the benefits of retrieval practice over restudy. As the testing effect grows in popularity and increasing numbers of classrooms begin implementing retrieval practice, it is essential to understanding how students&rsquo; individual differences and cognitive abilities contribute to the effect. For my dissertation, I explore how students&rsquo; cognitive abilities, specifically, episodic memory, general fluid intelligence, and strategy use, relate to the benefit of retrieval practice. In Study 1, I developed a new measure to simultaneously capture two aspects of strategy use: variation in what strategies learners use and variation in how learners use strategies. In Study 2, I examine how these two types of strategy use, along with episodic memory and general fluid intelligence can be used to predict the magnitude of the testing effect. Converging evidence from multiple analyses suggests variation in how learners use strategies was the only individual difference to influence the benefit learners receive from retrieval practice. More specifically, learners who are less adaptive and flexible in their strategy use show a greater benefit than more skilled strategy users. These findings have implications both for improving existing theories of the mechanisms of the testing effect and for determining how to best incorporate retrieval practice into classroom settings.</p><p>

No description available.

Each day, we interact with and make judgments about objects we see in the visual field. These interactions depend on the perceptual segmentation of figure from ground, and the subsequent processing of the segmented representations. In order to survive in our increasingly complex world, it is not enough to know what is object and what is background; we must be able to rapidly infer information about sets of objects, such as their identity, in what direction are they moving, and how many are there. Parallel individuation is the rapid selection of multiple targets for precise and rapid processing. One of the hallmarks of parallel individuation behavior is the ability to re- port the number of items in small sets with extreme speed and accuracy; this behavior is called ‘subitizing’. Previous research has suggested that subitizing, and other tasks de- pendent on parallel individuation, rely on targets that are spatially separate from each other: objects rather than object parts. In this thesis, we explored what visual features, like connectivity, interfere with or are necessary for parallel individuation to occur. We first demonstrated that both connected and unconnected targets can be subitized. In order to ensure the same neural mechanism was responsible for the behavior ob- served in both stimulus conditions, we used functional magnetic resonance imaging to compare the neural responses to connected and unconnected stimuli. We targeted two regions in the parietal lobe, the inferior and superior intraparietal sulci, which have been previously associated with individuation and identification, respectively. Activity in both regions was modulated by the numerosity of targets in the connected and un- connected conditions. While multi-voxel pattern analyses revealed that the two regions additionally held representations of number, only the inferior IPS could discriminate connected from unconnected stimuli. We concluded from these results that individuation in the inferior IPS does not depend on spatially separate targets, but rather can flexibly select a level from the object hierarchy of a scene within which to define figure and ground. We then investigated the role of other visual features in parallel individuation, working from a condition of failure to pinpoint visual characteristics that are necessary for subitizing to occur. Resolving line ownership, providing unique centers of mass, and removing bounding enclosure information all did not prove sufficient for subitizing to occur in concentrically arranged squares. Changing the arrangement of the squares in space however did demonstrate that subitizing occurs over overlap- ping targets, with no effect of amount of overlap. Manipulating the presentation time of overlapping targets showed that parallel individuation can operate over both unresolved and completed amodal representations of a scene. We proposed that successful parallel individuation is dependent upon the constraints of three stages of processing: segmentation, individuation, and task specific demands. We suggest that the individuation stage is dependent upon each target occupying a unique location in space, occurring outside the border of all other targets. Finally we discussed the generalization of this model to other tasks involving parallel individuation. / Psychology

The purpose of this study was to gain a better understanding of the relationship between selected independent variables (gender and skill) and mental skills of athletes (goal-setting, self-confidence, commitment, imagery, mental practice, focusing, refocusing, competition planning, activation, relaxation, stress and fear control). The Ottawa Mental Skills Assessment Tool (OMSAT-3*) was administered to a sample of 249 (121 males and 128 females) athletes aged 14 to 19 who participated in sport at either a developing or provincial level in a variety of sports. A gender by skill (2 x 2) MANOVA resulted in a main effect (p &lt; .004) for skill on the goal-setting, commitment, competition planning, focus, and refocus scales, as well as for foundation, cognitive, and psychosomatic skills components: The results imply there were no gender differences in athletes' level and use of mental skills.

Event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded during sleep onset and various stages of sleep. A late component of the ERP, P300, is elicited when subjects detect a rare "target" stimulus. It is usually not elicited when subjects fail to detect the stimulus. The presence of P300 has therefore been used to index the extent to which the sleeper is aware of their external environment. During the transition to sleep, subjects were asked to detect a rare 2000 Hz target occurring among a train of 1000 Hz standards. A parietal maximum P300 was apparent in wakefulness, and remained large to detected targets in stage 1 sleep. It was however attenuated at frontal sites in stage 1. There were few detections in stage 2 and P300 was not evident. ERPs were then recorded within sleep. Very loud stimuli were employed since loud deviants will elicit an obligatory P300 response in waking-ignore conditions. In Experiment 2, 90 dB SPL tone pips were delivered on 5% of trials and 70 dB SPL tones on remaining trials. A large parieto-central positive wave was recorded in REM sleep. In non-REM sleep, a later and more occipital positivity was observed. It remained unclear whether the REM P300 was due to the rareness or the loudness of the deviant. In Experiment 3, various intensities (0, 60, 80, 100 dB SPL) were therefore delivered at equal probability (p = .25). A parietal maximum P300 was again recorded in REM following the 100 dB tone, but was not apparent following the lower intensities. A frontal P300 was not apparent following the loud stimulus. In Experiment 4, pitch- and intensity-deviants were investigated during sleep and wakefulness (attend and ignore conditions). In three separate groups, the rare stimulus was delivered on either 20%, 10% or 5% of trials. The pitch-deviant did not elicit P300 in any condition. In the waking-ignore condition, the intensity-deviant elicited a parietal maximum P300 that extended into the frontal region. A large REM-specific P300 was apparent at parietal sites following the intensity-deviant when stimuli were delivered on 5% of trials, but was not apparent at frontal sites. These studies illustrate that P300 can be recorded during sleep onset and during REM sleep. Only stimuli which are sufficiently intrusive and rare will elicit the parietal P300 in REM. While subjects may be able to detect stimulus deviance in stage 1 and REM, the frontal contribution to consciousness may be absent.