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.
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- Creators: Benitez, Viridiana
Description
The ability to regulate emotions, attention, and behavior develops early in life and impacts future academic success, social competency, behavioral problems, and psychopathology. An impairment in regulation is known as dysregulation. Past research shows that children of mothers with postpartum depression are more likely to show impairment in regulatory abilities. There is an established link in the literature between family support and maternal depression, which in turn can impact child behavior. However, further research is needed to explore the impact of family support on early childhood dysregulation in the context of maternal depression. Using a sample of 322 Mexican-American, mother-child dyads, two models were examined. Model one hypothesized family support would buffer the effects of maternal depression on child dysregulation at 24 months. Model 2 hypothesized that family support is related to child dysregulation through its effect on maternal depression. Results showed that increased family support was related to more child dysregulation when there were high levels of maternal depression. There was no evidence to support the hypothesis that maternal depression mediated the relationship between family support and child dysregulation.
ContributorsRodrigues, Samantha Jean (Author) / Luecken, Linda (Thesis director) / Benitez, Viridiana (Committee member) / Davis, Mary (Committee member) / Department of Psychology (Contributor) / Sanford School of Social and Family Dynamics (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2017-12
Description
The goal of this study was to examine whether there is any effect of phonotactic probability during the early phases of novel word recognition. In order to determine this, I performed two experiments. In Experiment 1, 33 adult monolingual English speakers learned 24 novel word-object pairings, half of which were high English phonotactic probability words and the other half were low English phonotactic probability words. I additionally included three conditions that varied the amount of exposures to each novel word-object pairing (i.e. One Exposure Condition, Two Exposures Conditions, and Five Exposures Condition). Experiment 2 was designed to clarify results found in Experiment 1, with improved randomization and fewer conditions (i.e. One Exposure Condition and Five Exposures Condition). The findings from both experiments were statistically significant in accuracy for Training condition, but not statistically significant for phonotactic probability nor for an interaction between phonotactic probability and Training condition. Although participants demonstrated learning across conditions there is no indication of a relationship between high and low phonotactic probability and novel word recognition. Collectively, these findings suggest that future studies will be necessary to determine if there is indeed an effect of phonotactic probability on early novel word recognition.
ContributorsQuinones, Sara Cristina (Co-author) / Quiñones, Sara (Co-author) / Benitez, Viridiana (Thesis director) / Tecedor Cabrero, Marta (Committee member) / Davis, Mary (Committee member) / Department of Psychology (Contributor) / Dean, W.P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05
Description
Cross-situational word learning (CSWL) is a method of learning new words where an individual
is exposed to the word’s meaning in an ambiguous fashion throughout different contexts. Many
studies have been conducted using CSWL tasks on both children and adults. Most of these
studies look at single-label pairings, which is when one object is paired with one word. More
recently, research has also started to look at double-label pairings. Double-label pairings consist
of one object being paired with two words. No study to date has compared adult and children’s
performance in a double-label design. This study’s aim was to better understand how adults and
children compare in these tasks. The current study conducted two experiments to compare adult
and children’s performance in a CSWL task in either a single-label and double-label design.
Results showed that adults were successful in both conditions but performed better in the
single-label condition than the double-label condition. Children on the other hand were
unsuccessful in both conditions and did not demonstrate learning. Several reasons for these
findings are discussed. These results highlight the need for further research that directly
compares age groups in CSWL tasks and for further research into the area of multiple-label
pairings.
is exposed to the word’s meaning in an ambiguous fashion throughout different contexts. Many
studies have been conducted using CSWL tasks on both children and adults. Most of these
studies look at single-label pairings, which is when one object is paired with one word. More
recently, research has also started to look at double-label pairings. Double-label pairings consist
of one object being paired with two words. No study to date has compared adult and children’s
performance in a double-label design. This study’s aim was to better understand how adults and
children compare in these tasks. The current study conducted two experiments to compare adult
and children’s performance in a CSWL task in either a single-label and double-label design.
Results showed that adults were successful in both conditions but performed better in the
single-label condition than the double-label condition. Children on the other hand were
unsuccessful in both conditions and did not demonstrate learning. Several reasons for these
findings are discussed. These results highlight the need for further research that directly
compares age groups in CSWL tasks and for further research into the area of multiple-label
pairings.
ContributorsCorbin, Elaina Danielle (Author) / Benitez, Viridiana (Thesis director) / Goldinger, Stephen (Committee member) / Department of Psychology (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05
Description
Statistical word learning (SWL) has been proposed and tested as a powerful mechanism for word learning under referential ambiguity. Learners are adept at resolving word-referent ambiguity by calculating the co-occurrences between words and referents across ambiguous scenes. Despite the generalizability of such capacity, it is less clear which underlying factors may play a role in SWL, such as learners’ language experience and individual differences of working memory. The current study therefore asked two questions: 1) How do learners of different language experience (monolinguals and bilinguals) approach SWL of different mapping types–when each referent has one name (1:1 mapping) or two names (2:1 mapping)? and 2) How do working memory capacities (spatial and phonological) play a role in SWL by mapping type? In this pre-registered study (OSF: https://osf.io/mte8s/), 69 English monolinguals and 88 bilinguals completed two SWL tasks (1:1 and 2:1 mapping), a symmetry span task indexing spatial working memory, and a listening span task indexing phonological working memory. Results showed no differences between monolinguals and bilinguals in SWL of both mapping types. However, spatial and phonological working memory positively predicted SWL regardless of language experience, but only in 1:1 mapping. The findings show a dissociation of working memory’s role in SWL of different mapping types. The study proposes a novel insight into a theoretical debate underlying statistical learning mechanisms: learners may adopt more explicit processes (i.e. hypothesis-testing) during 1:1 mapping but implicit processes (i.e. associative learning) during 2:1 mapping. Future studies can locate memory-related brain areas during SWL to test out the proposal.
ContributorsLi, Ye (Author) / Benitez, Viridiana (Thesis advisor) / Goldinger, Stephen (Committee member) / Brewer, Gene (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2022