In appetitive conditioning, a neutral stimulus (CS) is conditioned to elicit a positive emotional response by pairing it with a positive/appetitive unconditioned stimulus (US). This method is useful for studying emotional disorders and emotion in general. Studying appetitive conditioning in humans has been hampered by the lack of adequate positive unconditioned stimuli. This study investigated multimodal social stimuli as potential unconditioned stimuli in an appetitive conditioning paradigm. Neutral faces (CS+’giggle’ and CS+’woohoo’) were paired with two multimodal unconditioned stimuli consisting of the same smiling face and two different sound stimuli (US‘giggle’ and US‘woohoo’). The dependent variable was participant skin conductance response (SCR) alongside participant emotional ratings of the stimuli, that together indexes the conditioned response. CS+’giggle’ was hypothesized to be rated as happier, and less fearful than CS+’woohoo’. Successful conditioning was evidenced by higher happiness ratings for both stimuli after acquisition compared to habituation. However, no effect of acquisition was found on SCR.  US’woohoo’ was also rated as more fearful and arousing and less happy and pleasant than the US’giggle’. In sum, this thesis presents a paradigm that can be used in future studies on appetitive conditioning.

The Stroop effect is the delay in reaction times due to interference. Since the original experiments of 1935, it has been used primarily in linguistic context. Language is a complex skill unique to humans, which involves a large part of the cerebral cortex and many subcortical regions. It is perceived primarily in auditory form (spoken) and secondarily in visual form (written), but it is also always perceived in representational form (natural sounds, images, smells, etc). Auditory signals are processed much faster than visual signals, and the language processing centres are closer to the primary auditory cortex than the primary visual cortex, but due to the integration of stimuli and the role of the executive functions, we are able to perceive both simultaneously and coherently. However, auditory signals are still processed faster, and this study focused on establishing how auditory and visual, linguistic and representational stimuli interact with each other and affect reaction times in four Stroop tasks with four archetypal mammals (dog, cat, mouse and pig): a written word against an image, a spoken word against an image, a written word against a natural sound and a spoken word against a natural sound. Four hypotheses were tested: in all tasks reaction times would be faster when the stimuli were congruent (Stroop Hypothesis); reaction times would be faster when both stimuli are auditory than when they are visual (Audiovisual Hypothesis); reaction times would be similar in the tasks where one stimulus is auditory and the other visual (Similarity Hypothesis); finally, reaction times would be slower when stimuli come from two sources than when they come from one source (Attention Hypothesis). Twelve native speakers of Swedish between the ages of 22 and 40 participated. The experiment took place in the EEG lab of the Linguistics Department of Stockholm University. The same researcher (the author) and equipment was used for all participants. The results confirmed the Stroop Hypothesis, did not confirm the Audiovisual and Similarity Hypothesis, and the results of the Attention Hypothesis were mixed. The somewhat controversial results were mostly attributed to a false initial assumption, namely that having two different auditory stimuli (one on each ear) was considered one source of stimuli, and possibly the poor quality of some natural sounds. With this additional consideration, the results seemed to be in accord with previous research. Future research could focus on more efficient ways to test the reaction times of Stroop tasks involving auditory and visual stimuli, as well as different populations, especially neurodiverse and bilingual populations.

Master of Science / Department of Psychology / Lester C. Loschky / How are episodes of picture stories remembered, and what role does the order of their components (exposition, complication, and resolution) play in that memory? We presented picture sequence episodes of the “Red Balloon” with the order of their components either normal or scrambled. As predicted by story grammar theories, scrambling episode components reduced self-rated comprehension and recall. However, scrambling also produced faster recognition memory responses for hits. This suggests that episode component scrambling interfered with the transformation of perceptual to conceptual information in LTM, producing an advantage for familiarity over recollection. Additionally, recall memory decreased monotonically from exposition to resolution, whereas recognition memory showed the opposite result, and this was the same whether components were normally ordered or scrambled. This suggests that memory for picture story episode components is based on their information content rather than their temporal order, and that information from picture stories moves from perceptual to conceptual memory representations.

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of visual stimuli on music listening skills in pre-service elementary teachers. Visual Stimuli in this study refers to the presentation of arts elements in selected visually projected images of paintings. Music listening skills are defined as those skills needed to identify and interpret musical excerpts. A Pretest-Posttest Control-group Design was used in this study. Subjects were pre-service elementary general educators enrolled in a large southern university (N=93). Students from intact classes were randomly placed into either the experimental group or the control group. The treatment consisted of six music listening lessons over a two-week period with each group receiving the identical teaching protocol with the exception of the use of paintings with the experimental group. Listening instruction emphasized the identification of melodic contour, instrumentation, texture, rhythm and expressive elements of the compositions. The Teacher Music Listening Skills Test (TMLST) was constructed by the investigator and administered before and after the treatment. The TMLST was designed to assess music listening skills in adult non-musicians. Results indicate that the group receiving visual stimuli in the form of paintings scored significantly higher on listening skills (pandlt;.01) than the control group which received no visual stimuli in the form of visually projected images of paintings. There was an instruction effect on both preference and familiarity of the musical pieces for both the control group and the experimental group.

This thesis reports the preparation of novel multi-responsive and multiply stimulable triblock copolymers. The resultant polymers were used to coat cotton fabrics and glass to render them amphiphobic. Further, a method was developed for the preparation of poly(ethylene glycol)-block-poly(hydroxyethyl methacrylate) (PEG-b-PHEMA) via anionic polymerization. The multi-responsive copolymer refers to poly(ethylene glycol)-orthonitrobenzyl-poly[2-(perfluorooctyl)ethyl methacrylate)-block-poly(2-cinnamoloxyethyl methacrylate) (PEG-ONB-PFOEMA-b-PCEMA, or P1). P1 was synthesized via atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) of FOEMA and a precursory monomer of CEMA using a PEG macroinitiator. The copolymer was multi-responsive or dual light-responsive because the ONB junction cleaves and PCEMA block becomes crosslinked upon UV photolysis. The multiply stimulable copolymers are a series of poly(ethylene glycol)-disulfide-poly[2-(perfluorooctyl)ethyl methacrylate)-block-poly(2-cinnamoloxyethyl methacrylate) (PEG-S2-PFOEMA-b-PCEMA) copolymers. These polymers were synthesized by the end-coupling Py-S2-PFOEMA-b-PHEMA and PEG-SH, and subsequent cinnamation of the PHEMA block. These polymers are multiply stimulable because the S2 junction and PCEMA block respond to different stimulations, such as reducing agents and light, respectively. These synthetic strategies will advance the field of stimuli-responsive polymers by providing novel functional polymers for the generation of durable self-cleaning surfaces. The above polymers form micelles in water or water/organic solvent mixtures because of the water-soluble PEG blocks. Polymer-coated cotton was obtained by immersing cotton in micellar copolymer solutions before subsequent drying and annealing treatment. Upon photolysis, the PEG block was cleaved and the PCEMA anchoring layer became crosslinked. Such a crosslinked and stable layer was rendered amphiphobic because of the exposed PFOEMA block. A similar coating can be obtained from P2. Two types of stimulations including photolysis and reduction treatment need to be applied to yield amphiphobic textiles. This coating strategy is unique and environmentally friendly because the water- and oil-repellent coatings were prepared from an aqueous solution for the first time. In a further study, a novel and long-sought method was developed for the anionic polymerization of PEG-b-PHEMA. A PEG-DPE macroinitiator was synthesized and subsequently converted into an active initiator by reaction with sec-butyl lithium. Consequently, the active initiator underwent polymerization with HEMA-TMS to yield PEG-b-P(HEMA-TMS). Upon post-polymerization modification, PEG-b-PHEMA was obtained with a low polydispersity of 1.08. / Thesis (Ph.D, Chemistry) -- Queen's University, 2013-04-29 12:25:54.593

Context: In cooperation with ICA, we chose to investigate how much the auditory and visual stimuli in combination affects consumer behavior in grocery store. There are few studies in the area, which gives good practical and theoretical implications. Research question: How much influenced consumers' purchasing, movement and inspection behavior during exposure to auditory and visual stimuli in the fruit and vegetable department of a grocery store? Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to describe and analyze how much the auditory and visual stimuli affect consumer behavior in the grocery store. We do this through a quantitative experiment of our partner’s fruit and vegetable section, where we observe customer behavior in stores. The paper will result in a number of recommendations for the use of auditory and visual stimuli for our partner ICA. Method: We conducted a quantitative study that began in a deductive approach. We conducted an experiment in which we manipulated the auditory and visual stimuli. Observation and manipulation checks formed the basis of our empirical data collection. Conclusion: We got two of the four hypotheses accepted where inspection and purchasing hypotheses had a significance level of 95% or over. ICA can therefore use auditory and visual stimuli to influence customers to more inspections and more purchases in stores. / Bakgrund: I samarbete med ICA valde vi att undersöka hur mycket hörsel- och visuell stimuli i kombination påverkar konsumentbeteendet i livsmedelsbutik. Det finns få undersökningar inom området, vilket ger goda praktiska och teoretiska implikationer. Frågeställning: Hur mycket påverkas konsumenters köp-, rörelse- och inspektionsbeteende vid exponering av hörsel- och visuell stimuli vid frukt- och gröntavdelningen i en livsmedelsbutik? Syfte: Syftet med uppsatsen är att beskriva och analysera hur mycket hörsel och visuell stimuli påverkar konsumentbeteendet i livsmedelsbutik. Detta gör vi genom ett kvantitativt experiment hos vår uppdragsgivares frukt- och gröntavdelning där vi observerar kunders beteende i butik. Uppsatsen kommer att resultera i ett antal rekommendationer för användning av hörsel och visuell stimuli för vår uppdragsgivare ICA. Metod: Vi har genomfört en kvantitativ studie som började i en deduktiv ansats. Vi har genomfört ett experiment där vi manipulerade hörsel och visuella stimuli. Observationer samt manipulationskontroller låg till grunden för vår empiriinsamling. Slutsats: Vi fick två av fyra hypoteser accepterade där inspektion och köp hade en signifikansnivå över 95 %. ICA kan alltså använda hörsel- och visuell stimuli för att påverka kunder till fler inspektioner och fler köp i butik.

An experiment was conducted to examine the functionality of using auditory stimuli in isolation as fading stimuli. A review of the literature revealed very few reports regarding the usage of the auditory modality for fading purposes. The study employed auditory prompts as fading stimuli in the transfer of stimulus control across stimulus modalities, specifically, the transfer of stimulus control from auditory to visual stimulus properties. A single subject was employed for the experiment. The results were that the intensity of the auditory stimulus was an ineffective dimension to use for fading operations in the transfer of stimulus control across stimulus modalities, Further investigation is needed regarding the conditions that limit the transfer of stimulus control when auditory prompts are employed as fading stimuli.

The purpose of this study was to find if memory load significantly affects the performance of the subjects in the before condition of a before versus after technique experiment. In order to accomplish this the alternatives were presented either before or after the stimulus, with the alternatives and stimuli being either of high-complexity or low-complexity.

Students may engage in behavior during instruction that impacts the acquisition of skills. Intervening on student behavior using group contingencies may be more efficacious than other intervention methods. Directly programming for generalization of treatment effects may increase the durability of behavior change and further increase the efficacy of group contingencies. The current study examined the effect of a randomized dependent group contingency and programming common stimuli on levels of academic engagement and problem behavior for second-grade participants receiving small-group reading and writing instruction. The results showed that a randomized dependent group contingency increased the academic engagement of primary participants and several of the other participants during small-group instruction. The findings also showed that high levels of academic engagement were maintained when common stimuli were present and the dependent group contingency was withdrawn.

I denna studie undersöks sambandet mellan visuella och taktila stimuli i Virtual Reality med avstamp i frågeställningarna: Hur stor roll spelar sambandet mellan visuella stimuli och taktila stimuli i en Virtual Reality-installation? Hur förändras deltagarens inlevelsekänsla när detta samband ändras? Hur förändras deltagarens rumsuppfattning när detta samband ändras? För att besvara frågeställningarna skapades två olika versioner av en interaktiv VR-installation utefter metoden forskning genom design. En av versionerna hade korrekt samband mellan visuella stimuli och taktila stimuli, det vill säga att deltagaren fysiskt kunde röra vid det denne såg med hjälp av fysiska objekt som var placerade i samma rum som installationen upplevdes i. Den andra versionen hade felaktigt samband mellan visuella stimuli och taktila stimuli, vilket innebar att de fysiska objekten hade flyttats en aning i Virtual Reality-installationen så att de ej speglade objekten i verkligheten. Det vill säga att informationen deltagaren avläste vid beröring ej stämde överens med informationen deltagaren avläste med synen. Därefter fick fyra deltagare testa dessa installationer och svara på frågor i en öppen intervjuform. Resultatet kopplades tydligt till Csíkszentmihályis flow-teori; när sambandet mellan dessa stimuli ej var korrekt så förändrades deltagarnas rumsuppfattning vilket bidrog till att de kände en lägre inlevelsekänsla. Möjligheten att kunna vidröra de fysiska objekten i sig ansågs dock som mer inlevelserikt än ifall möjligheten ej funnits där. Det ses även som styrkan med denna studie; att resultatet tydligt speglade de valda teorierna. Svagheten med studien var att resultatet enbart grundas på data från intervjuer med fyra deltagare, då flera ej hanns med inom tidsramen för studien.