Theses and Dissertations
This collection includes both ASU Theses and Dissertations, submitted by graduate students, and the Barrett, Honors College theses submitted by undergraduate students.
Displaying 81 - 84 of 84
Description
Previous evidence implicating fighting gameplay with markers for cardiovascular changes in response to stress appraisals emphasizes the plausibility of additional biopsychosocial factors varying between players and dictating gameplay changes (Porter & Goolkasian, 2019). The current study builds upon previous research using the Biopsychosocial Model of Challenge and Threat (Blascovich and Tomaka, 1996) alongside the Mental Load Rating Scale (Hughes, 2023) to link perceptions of increased stress during gameplay with increases in gameplay errors. Participants were allotted a set time to acclimate to fighting game mechanics, then began combo trials. The game used in research (Street Fighter 6) requires precise movements in rapid succession completion the completion of a “combo”. Competitive fighting game players were compared to players lacking fighting game experience in post-participation response measuring stress salience or hindrance perception, as well as total input error comparison. Current findings suggest Competitive fighting game players report factors such as spectator viewing and time limits as hindrances capable of being overcome as opposed to Noncompetitor reports of factors and stressors during game acclimation. Findings between Competitor and Noncompetitor groups allude to cultural significance when navigating gameplay. Future research should continue measuring sociocultural perception of stress when navigating specific genres of video game play and avenues for stress reappraisal techniques.
ContributorsDavis, Nicholas (Author) / Holloway, Steven (Thesis director) / Flores, Valerie (Committee member) / Davis, Mary (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of Psychology (Contributor)
Created2023-12
Description
Approximately 20% of youth experience mental health problems (Vasileva et al., 2021), and dimensions of early childhood temperament, specifically negative affectivity and effortful control, predict later mental health (Rothbart, 2007). Examining temperament using person-centered methods, particularly in stressful contexts, may improve our understanding of vulnerability to adolescent emotional problems. The current study examined whether specific patterns, or types, of infant temperament longitudinally predicted adolescent anxiety and depression symptoms and whether family relationship stress moderated this association. We hypothesized that infants with a Negative Dysregulated temperament would experience higher anxiety and depression symptoms in later childhood compared to those with a Typical Expressive temperament, and that family relationship stress would exacerbate this link. In an ongoing-longitudinal study of families with twins (N=563, 51% female, 29.8% Hispanic/Latinx, 58.4% White; Lemery-Chalfant et al., 2019), primary caregivers (PCs) reported on infant temperament at 12 months (IBQ; Gartstein & Rothbart, 2003, α=.74-.90). In a prior study (Murillo et al., 2023), latent profile analysis yielded three infant temperament types: Negative Dysregulated, Positive Well-Regulated, and Typical Expressive. PCs reported on partner strain (PSS; Schuster, Kessler, & Asseltine, 1990, α=.87) and family conflict (FCS; Porter & O’Leary, 1980, α=.80) at age 8 and a composite of these two measures represented Family Relationship Stress (r = .689). Confirmatory factor analysis was used to form Depression and Anxiety outcome composites based on PC (4 reports), secondary caregiver (2 reports), teacher (2 reports), and self-report (3 reports) measures of depression and anxiety symptoms collected from ages 8-11 (HBQ, Armstrong & Goldstein, 2003; BPI, Measelle et al., 1998, all α’s > .80). We randomly selected one twin from each pair and conducted regression analyses, and then used the second twin for an internal replication. Family relationship stress had a significant main effect on both anxiety and depressive symptoms. The Negative Dysregulated temperament type did not predict anxiety and depression at ages 8-11, however, it interacted with family relationship stress to predict anxiety and depression in 1 of 2 samples. When family relationship stress was low, the Negative Dysregulated type was significantly associated with higher anxiety and depression outcomes compared to the Typical Expressive type, and high family relationship stress was significantly associated with lower depression outcomes. Elucidating these longitudinal relations is important for informing early intervention and reducing the burden of adolescent psychopathology.
ContributorsSingh, Ajuni (Author) / Lemery-Chalfant, Kathryn (Thesis director) / Corbin, William (Committee member) / Davis, Mary (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of Psychology (Contributor) / Sanford School of Social and Family Dynamics (Contributor)
Created2023-12
Description
Research on self-regulatory variables like mindfulness and effortful control proposes strong links with physical and mental health outcomes across the lifespan, from childhood and adolescence to adulthood and old age. One pathway by which self-regulation may confer health benefits is through individual differences in reports of and emotional responses to daily negative and positive events. Mindfulness is broadly defined as non-reactivity to inner experiences, while effortful control is broadly defined as attentional and behavioral regulation. Mindfulness and effortful control have both been conceptualized to exert their beneficial effects on development through their influence on exposure/engagement and emotional reactivity/responsiveness to both negative and positive events, yet few empirical studies have tested this claim using daily-diary designs, a research methodology that permits for examining this process. With a sample of community-dwelling adults (n=191), this thesis examined whether dispositional mindfulness (i.e., non-reactivity of inner experience) and effortful control (i.e., attention and behavioral regulation) modulate reports of and affective reactivity/responsiveness to daily negative and positive events across 30 days. Results showed that mindfulness and effortful control were each associated with reduced exposure to daily stressors but not positive events. They also showed that mindfulness and effortful control, respectively, predicted smaller decreases in negative affect and smaller increases in positive affect on days that positive events occurred. Overall, these findings offer insight into how these self-regulatory factors operate in the context of middle-aged adults’ everyday life.
ContributorsCastro, Saul (Author) / Infurna, Frank (Thesis advisor) / Doane, Leah (Committee member) / Davis, Mary (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2018
Description
Cochlear implants (CIs) restore hearing to nearly one million individuals with severe-to-profound hearing loss. However, with limited spectral and temporal resolution, CI users may rely heavily on top-down processing using cognitive resources for speech recognition in noise, and change the weighting of different acoustic cues for pitch-related listening tasks such as Mandarin tone recognition. While auditory training is known to improve CI users’ performance in these tasks as measured by percent correct scores, the effects of training on cue weighting, listening effort, and untrained tasks need to be better understood, in order to maximize the training benefits. This dissertation addressed these questions by training normal-hearing (NH) listeners listening to CI simulation. Study 1 examined whether Mandarin tone recognition training with enhanced amplitude envelope cues may improve tone recognition scores and increase the weighting of amplitude envelope cues over fundamental frequency (F0) contours. Compared to no training or natural-amplitude-envelope training, enhanced-amplitude-envelope training increased the benefits of amplitude envelope enhancement for tone recognition but did not increase the weighting of amplitude or F0 cues. Listeners attending more to amplitude envelope cues in the pre-test improved more in tone recognition after enhanced-amplitude-envelope training. Study 2 extended Study 1 to compare the generalization effects of tone recognition training alone, vowel recognition training alone, and combined tone and vowel recognition training. The results showed that tone recognition training did not improve vowel recognition or vice versa, although tones and vowels are always produced together in Mandarin. Only combined tone and vowel recognition training improved sentence recognition, showing that both suprasegmental (i.e., tones) and segmental cues (i.e., vowels) were essential for sentence recognition in Mandarin. Study 3 investigated the impact of phoneme recognition training on listening effort of sentence recognition in noise, as measured by a dual-task paradigm, pupillometry, and subjective ratings. It was found that phoneme recognition training improved sentence recognition in noise. The dual-task paradigm and pupillometry indicated that from pre-test to post-test, listening effort reduced in the control group without training, but remained unchanged in the training group. This suggests that training may have motivated listeners to stay focused on the challenging task of sentence recognition in noise. Overall, non-clinical measures such as cue weighting and listening effort can enrich our understanding of the training-induced perceptual and cognitive effects, and allow us to better predict and assess the training outcomes.
ContributorsKim, Seeon (Author) / Luo, Xin (Thesis advisor) / Azuma, Tamiko (Committee member) / Zhou, Yi (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2024