Interference between similar events is known to be a major mechanism of forgetting. As such, it is important for us to understand how to reduce interference effects. While early research suggested that differentiation of the two sources of information was vital for preventing interference, more recent research has found that being reminded of similar material and making associations can be most beneficial. In the present thesis I put these two mechanisms in opposition, utilizing a two list A-B, A-D paradigm. Experiment 1 revealed little difference in memory for interfering word pairs between participants in a “reminding” condition asked to make associations vs. a “differentiation” condition asked to differentiate and forget old pairs while studying new pairs. Experiment 2a revealed an interaction, such that those told to make associations showed less interference than those told to forget the first list, while both conditions performed similarly on control pairs. However, Experiment 2b failed to replicate Experiment 2a. In Experiment 3 I sought to increase the degree of differentiation between lists by varying encoding. Using different encoding between lists resulted in equivalent interference in both the reminding and differentiation conditions. Experiment 4 varied encoding instructions to contrast the differentiation present in Experiment 3 against circumstances encouraging associations. One group used the same encoding method for both lists, while another was given different study methods between lists. Results reveal a unique discovery about the important interplay of encoding and study time in determining the likelihood of reminding. / A Thesis submitted to the Department of Psychology in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science. / Summer Semester 2016. / July 7, 2016. / Differentiation, Encoding, Instructions, Interference, Reminding / Includes bibliographical references. / Colleen Kelley, Professor Directing Thesis; Michael Kaschak, Committee Member; Arielle Borovsky, Committee Member.

Drawing from the decision-making literature, the framing and cross-modal discounting paradigms were used to investigate the effect of age on the subjective valuation of technology. Using the framing paradigm to covertly measure age differences in relative subjective valuation, it was hypothesized that older adults would undervalue technology relative to younger adults and when compared to non-technology-related rewards. Through the use of the cross-modal discounting paradigm, it was also hypothesized that older adults would display a larger perceived attribute difference between technology and non-technology-related rewards when compared to younger adults. Three experiments were conducted utilizing both online and in-lab samples. Analysis of the framing items revealed few age differences in risky choice preferences across the scenario modalities. Gift cards for technology or non-technology-related items were not found to be subjectively valued differently between age groups, or differently from unallocated money within age groups. Analysis of the cross-modal discounting items revealed a subset of individuals, evenly distributed across age groups, which perceived a large attribute difference between the gift cards, showing a preference for the non-technology-related reward. These outwardly contradictory results and implications for older adults and technology adoption are discussed. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Psychology in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Spring Semester 2016. / April 28, 2016. / Aging, Decision-making, Technology Acceptance / Includes bibliographical references. / Neil Charness, Professor Directing Dissertation; R. Mark Isaac, University Representative; Walter Boot, Committee Member; Colleen Kelley, Committee Member; Natalie Sachs-Ericsson, Committee Member.

Alpha oscillations (8-12 Hz) have been implicated in sensory processing and the inhibition/filtering of irrelevant sensory input. Meanwhile, aberrations in sensory filtering have been associated with a number of conditions, including anxiety and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The latter can be characterized by pathologically diminished levels of alpha power and posterior→frontal alpha connectivity, but the role of alpha oscillations in other anxiety disorders remains to be elucidated. In this experiment we set out to test the effect of both anxiety and alpha activity on sensory processing in the auditory modality, as well as investigate the potential relationship between these two variables. We manipulated anxiety via a 5 minute anxiety induction and attempted to manipulate (increase) alpha power and posterior→frontal alpha connectivity via 20 minutes of transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS). The anxiety induction led to increases in anxiety, and resulted in a general increase in rated intensity and a corresponding decrease in rated pleasantness of sounds. This effect further interacted with the intensity and valence of the auditory stimuli. No changes in alpha power or posterior→frontal alpha connectivity were observed as a result of the anxiety induction. The tACS treatment failed to result in significant increases in alpha power and posterior→frontal alpha connectivity, and did not lead to significant changes in mood. However, posterior→frontal alpha connectivity significantly decreased in the sham condition, while no such decrease was observed in the tACS group. In addition, it was found that rated pleasantness of quiet sounds decreased in the sham condition but not in the tACS condition following treatment, potentially hinting at a buffering effect of tACS. In conclusion, we were able to demonstrate a link between anxiety and sensory processing in the auditory modality, while the relationship between alpha activity and anxiety (if one exists) remains uncertain. / A Thesis submitted to the Department of Psychology in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science. / 2019 / August 21, 2019. / Includes bibliographical references. / Wen Li, Professor Directing Thesis; Walter Boot, Committee Member; Aaron Wilber, Committee Member.

Emotional clarity (EC) refers to the ability to identify, understand, and distinguish one’s emotions (Gohm & Clore, 2000). The literature suggests that EC is highly related to emotion regulation (ER), such that individuals with higher EC are more likely to use adaptive ER strategies and individuals with lower EC are more likely to use maladaptive ER strategies (Vine & Aldao, 2014). EC has been measured with both self-report measures and physiological tasks. Due to the limitations of both self-report measures and physiological tasks, I aimed to develop a behavioral measure of EC using the concordance between change in individuals’ physiological responding and change in their subjective emotional states before and during a stressor task. In part one of the study, I created a behavioral measure and compared it to individuals’ self-reported emotional clarity. In part two, I examined the concurrent validity of the behavioral EC measure by assessing its relationships with maladaptive ER, adaptive ER, and non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI, a maladaptive ER strategy). Participants were 127 (90% female, Mage = 19.51, SDage = 1.31) young adults. Participants completed questionnaires of self-reported emotional clarity and ER strategies. Then, participants completed a modified Trier Social Stress Test in the laboratory (TSST; Waugh, Panage, Mendes, & Gotlib, 2010). Heartbeat was measured throughout and self-rated negative affect was measured before and after stress. Results indicated that behavioral EC was not associated with self-reported EC (r = .14, p = .178). Furthermore, structural equation modeling results indicated that behavioral EC did not predict maladaptive ER (β = .18, p = .733), adaptive ER (β = .61, p = .497), or NSSI (β = .40, p = .618). Examinations of the relations between study variables suggested that self-reported EC may have been a more accurate measure of EC in the current sample. Limitations of the current study may have impacted the ability for the behavioral measure to properly capture the construct of EC. Future research is needed to more fully understand whether a behavioral measure of EC is feasible.

abstract: Maintaining upright balance and postural control is a task that most individuals perform everyday with ease and without much thought. Although it may be a relatively easy task to perform, research has shown that changes in cognitive (or “attentional”) processes are reflected in the movements of sway. The purpose of this dissertation is to understand the relationship between attention and posture when attention is directly or indirectly shifted away from posture. Using a dual-task paradigm, attention was shifted directly by instructing participants to prioritize the balance task (minimize sway in a unipedal stance) or prioritize the cognitive task (minimize errors in an auditory n-back task) and indirectly by changing the difficulty level of the cognitive task (0-back vs. 2-back task). Postural sway was assessed using sample entropy (SampEn), standard deviation, (SD) and sway path (SP) of trunk movements to measure the regularity, variability, and overall distance of sway travelled, respectively. Dual-task behavior was examined when participants were in a controlled (i.e., non-fatigued) state (Experiment 1), in a state of physical fatigue (Experiment 2), and in a state of mental fatigue (Experiment 3). Across all three experiments, indirectly shifting attention away from posture in the more difficult 2-back task induced less regularity (higher SampEn) and variability (smaller SD) in postural sway. Directly shifting attention away from posture, by prioritizing the cognitive task, induced less regularity (higher SampEn) and a longer path length (higher SP) in Experiment 1, however this effect was not significant for the fatigued participants in Experiments 2 and 3. Neither physical fatigue (Experiment 2) or mental fatigue (Experiment 3) negatively affected postural sway or cognitive performance. Overall, the findings from this dissertation contribute to the relationship between movement regularity and attention in posture, and that the postural behavior that emerges is sensitive to methods in which attention is manipulated (direct, indirect) and fatigue (physical, mental). / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Psychology 2019

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