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Research on priming has shown that exposure to the concept of fast food can have an effect on human behavior by inducing haste and impatience (Zhong & E. DeVoe, 2010). This research suggests that thinking about fast food makes individuals impatient and strengthens their desire to complete tasks such as

Research on priming has shown that exposure to the concept of fast food can have an effect on human behavior by inducing haste and impatience (Zhong & E. DeVoe, 2010). This research suggests that thinking about fast food makes individuals impatient and strengthens their desire to complete tasks such as reading and decision making as quickly and efficiently as possible. Two experiments were conducted in which the effects of fast food priming were examined using a driving simulator. The experiments examined whether fast food primes can induce impatient driving. In experiment 1, 30 adult drivers drove a course in a driving simulator after being exposed to images by rating aesthetics of four different logos. Experiment 1 did not yield faster driving speeds nor an impatient and faster break at the yellow light in the fast food logo prime condition. In experiment 2, 30 adult drivers drove the same course from experiment 1. Participants did not rate logos on their aesthetics prior to the drive, instead billboards were included in the simulation that had either fast food or diner logos. Experiment 2 did not yielded faster driving speeds, however there was a significant effect of faster breaking and a higher number of participants running the yellow light.
ContributorsTaggart, Mistey. L (Author) / Branaghan, Russell (Thesis advisor) / Cooke, Nancy J. (Committee member) / Song, Hyunjin (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2014
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Description
This study was designed to investigate whether workplace positivity of full-time workers was related to health ratings. Positivity was conceptualized by a high rating of perceived work-performance, and work-engagement as defined by the Utrecht Work-Engagement Scale, including vigor, dedication, and absorption (Schaufeli, & Bakker, 2004). Health was measured utilizing the

This study was designed to investigate whether workplace positivity of full-time workers was related to health ratings. Positivity was conceptualized by a high rating of perceived work-performance, and work-engagement as defined by the Utrecht Work-Engagement Scale, including vigor, dedication, and absorption (Schaufeli, & Bakker, 2004). Health was measured utilizing the RAND SF-36 health survey including the eight subscales: overall, general health, physical and social functioning, emotional well-being, role limitations due to physical health or emotional problems, energy or fatigue, and bodily pain. All measures were collected simultaneously. It was predicted that perceived work-performance and all measures of work-engagement are positively associated with the aforementioned health ratings. Multiple regression analyses revealed that higher (positive) perception of work-performance and vigor were positively related to health ratings. Absorption was negatively related to health ratings. Dedication was only negatively related to physical functioning. These findings suggest that not all measures of positivity in the workplace are related to better health. Implications and future directions are discussed.
ContributorsFlores, Melissa Ann (Author) / Vargas, Perla A (Thesis advisor) / Burleson, Mary H (Committee member) / Hall, Deborah (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2014
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Description
When discussing human factors and performance, researchers recognize stress as a factor, but overlook mood as contributing factor. To explore the relationship between mood, stress and cognitive performance, a field study was conducted involving fire fighters engaged in a fire response simulation. Firefighter participants completed a stress questionnaire, an emotional

When discussing human factors and performance, researchers recognize stress as a factor, but overlook mood as contributing factor. To explore the relationship between mood, stress and cognitive performance, a field study was conducted involving fire fighters engaged in a fire response simulation. Firefighter participants completed a stress questionnaire, an emotional state questionnaire, and a cognitive task. Stress and cognitive task performance scores were examined before and after the firefighting simulation for individual cognitive performance depreciation caused by stress or mood. They study revealed that existing stress was a reliable predictor of the pre-simulation cognitive task score, that, as mood becomes more positive, perceived stress scores decrease, and that negative mood and pre-simulation stress are also positively and significantly correlated.
ContributorsGomez-Herbert, Maria Elena (Author) / Cooke, Nancy J. (Thesis advisor) / Becker, Vaughn (Committee member) / Branaghan, Russell (Committee member) / Hyunjin, Song (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2014
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Description
Preoperative team briefings have been suggested to be important for improving team performance in the operating room. Many high risk environments have accepted team briefings; however healthcare has been slower to follow. While applying briefings in the operating room has shown positive benefits including improved communication and perceptions of teamwork,

Preoperative team briefings have been suggested to be important for improving team performance in the operating room. Many high risk environments have accepted team briefings; however healthcare has been slower to follow. While applying briefings in the operating room has shown positive benefits including improved communication and perceptions of teamwork, most research has only focused on feasibility of implementation and not on understanding how the quality of briefings can impact subsequent surgical procedures. Thus, there are no formal protocols or methodologies that have been developed.

The goal of this study was to relate specific characteristics of team briefings back to objective measures of team performance. The study employed cognitive interviews, prospective observations, and principle component regression to characterize and model the relationship between team briefing characteristics and non-routine events (NREs) in gynecological surgery. Interviews were conducted with 13 team members representing each role on the surgical team and data were collected for 24 pre-operative team briefings and 45 subsequent surgical cases. The findings revealed that variations within the team briefing are associated with differences in team-related outcomes, namely NREs, during the subsequent surgical procedures. Synthesis of the data highlighted three important trends which include the need to promote team communication during the briefing, the importance of attendance by all surgical team members, and the value of holding a briefing prior to each surgical procedure. These findings have implications for development of formal briefing protocols.

Pre-operative team briefings are beneficial for team performance in the operating room. Future research will be needed to continue understanding this relationship between how briefings are conducted and team performance to establish more consistent approaches and as well as for the continuing assessment of team briefings and other similar team-related events in the operating room.
ContributorsHildebrand, Emily A (Author) / Branaghan, Russell J (Thesis advisor) / Cooke, Nancy J. (Committee member) / Hallbeck, M. Susan (Committee member) / Bekki, Jennifer M (Committee member) / Blocker, Renaldo C (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2014
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Description
Although there are many forms of organization on the Web, one of the most prominent ways to organize web content and websites are tags. Tags are keywords or terms that are assigned to a specific piece of content in order to help users understand the common relationships between pieces of

Although there are many forms of organization on the Web, one of the most prominent ways to organize web content and websites are tags. Tags are keywords or terms that are assigned to a specific piece of content in order to help users understand the common relationships between pieces of content. Tags can either be assigned by an algorithm, the author, or the community. These tags can also be organized into tag clouds, which are visual representations of the structure and organization contained implicitly within these tags. Importantly, little is known on how we use these different tagging structures to understand the content and structure of a given site. This project examines 2 different characteristics of tagging structures: font size and spatial orientation. In order to examine how these different characteristics might interact with individual differences in attentional control, a measure of working memory capacity (WMC) was included. The results showed that spatial relationships affect how well users understand the structure of a website. WMC was not shown to have any significant effect; neither was varying the font size. These results should better inform how tags and tag clouds are used on the Web, and also provide an estimation of what properties to include when designing and implementing a tag cloud on a website.
ContributorsBanas, Steven (Author) / Sanchez, Christopher A (Thesis advisor) / Branaghan, Russell (Committee member) / Cooke, Nancy J. (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2011
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Description
Research on priming has shown that a stimulus can cause people to behave according to the stereotype held about the stimulus. Two experiments were conducted in which the effects of elderly priming were tested by use of a driving simulator. In both experiments, participants drove through a simulated world guided

Research on priming has shown that a stimulus can cause people to behave according to the stereotype held about the stimulus. Two experiments were conducted in which the effects of elderly priming were tested by use of a driving simulator. In both experiments, participants drove through a simulated world guided by either an elderly or a younger female voice. The voices told the participants where to make each of six turns. Both experiments yielded slower driving speeds in the elderly voice condition. The effect was universal regardless of implicit and explicit attitudes towards elderly people.
ContributorsFoster, L Bryant (Author) / Branaghan, Russell (Thesis advisor) / Becker, David (Committee member) / Cooke, Nancy J. (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2012
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Description
By extracting communication sequences from audio data collected during two separate five-person mission-planning tasks, interaction patterns in team communication were analyzed using a recurrence-based, nonlinear dynamics approach. These methods, previously successful in detecting pattern change in a three-person team task, were evaluated for their applicability to larger team settings, and

By extracting communication sequences from audio data collected during two separate five-person mission-planning tasks, interaction patterns in team communication were analyzed using a recurrence-based, nonlinear dynamics approach. These methods, previously successful in detecting pattern change in a three-person team task, were evaluated for their applicability to larger team settings, and their ability to detect pattern change when team members switched roles or locations partway through the study (Study 1) or change in patterns over time (Study 2). Both traditional interaction variables (Talking Time, Co-Talking Time, and Sequence Length of Interactions) and dynamic interaction variables (Recurrence Rate, Determinism, and Pattern Information) were explored as indicators and predictors of changes in team structure and performance. Results from these analyses provided support that both traditional and dynamic interaction variables reflect some changes in team structure and performance. However, changes in communication patterns were not detected. Because simultaneous conversations are possible in larger teams, but not detectable through our communication sequence methods, team pattern changes may not be visible in communication sequences for larger teams. This suggests that these methods may not be applicable for larger teams, or in situations where simultaneous conversations may occur. Further research is needed to continue to explore the applicability of recurrence-based nonlinear dynamics in the analysis of team communication.
ContributorsFouse, Shannon (Author) / Cooke, Nancy J. (Thesis advisor) / Becker, David (Thesis advisor) / Gorman, Jamie (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2012
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Description
The present study examined daily survey data collected from married couples over the course roughly 14 days. I investigated the relationships of the morning quality ratings of three distinct spousal interactions conversation (physical affection, and sexual activity) reported in mornings on later-day positive and negative affect, as well as next-day

The present study examined daily survey data collected from married couples over the course roughly 14 days. I investigated the relationships of the morning quality ratings of three distinct spousal interactions conversation (physical affection, and sexual activity) reported in mornings on later-day positive and negative affect, as well as next-day intensity of negative somatic symptoms (e.g. headaches, dizziness, aches and pains). Hierarchical linear modeling was used to estimate path models for both husbands and wives. Direct and indirect effects were observed. Results showed that quality of conversation and physical affection increased later-day positive mood for both husbands and wives; however, positive quality activity increased later-day positive affect for wives only. Quality of sexual activity decreased later-day negative affect for wives only. Less later-day negative affect decreased next-day intensity of symptoms for both husbands and wives. Lastly, quality of sexual activity decreased later-day negative affect, which decreased next-day somatic symptoms for wives. This was the only significant indirect effect. Implications are that high marital quality is important for maintaining psychological health for both spouses, and physical health, particularly for wives.
ContributorsVincelette, Tara (Author) / Burleson, Mary H (Thesis advisor) / Roberts, Nicole A. (Committee member) / Schweitzer, Nicholas J (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2012
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Description
Psychogenic non-epileptic seizures (PNES), is a conversion disorder thought to be linked to unresolved emotional distress. While some studies suggest that PNES patients do not attribute their somatic symptoms to severe psychological experiences (Stone, Binzer, & Sharpe, 2004; LaFrance & Barry, 2005), it is unclear what PNES patients do think

Psychogenic non-epileptic seizures (PNES), is a conversion disorder thought to be linked to unresolved emotional distress. While some studies suggest that PNES patients do not attribute their somatic symptoms to severe psychological experiences (Stone, Binzer, & Sharpe, 2004; LaFrance & Barry, 2005), it is unclear what PNES patients do think causes their seizures, and the psychological consequences of those attributions. The aim of the present study was to investigate PNES patients' attributions for their seizures, and to determine how these attributions relate to stress and emotion regulation. It was hypothesized that participants who attribute their seizures to something (i.e., have an explanation for their seizures) will have lower perceived stress and less difficulty with emotion regulation than those who are unsure of the cause of their seizures. Twenty-four PNES participants completed a questionnaire assessing seizure diagnosis, characteristics of seizure impact, perceived stress, psychological symptoms, emotion regulation, attributions for seizures, and coping resources. Contrary to the hypothesis, having an explanation for seizures, rather than being “unsure” of seizure cause, was related to greater perceived stress. While it would seem that attributing unpredictable seizure events to a cause would lower perceived stress and emotion regulation difficulty, this study indicates that an attribution to an unknown cause may be more beneficial for the individual.
ContributorsBarker, Mallory (Author) / Roberts, Nicole A. (Thesis advisor) / Miller, Paul A. (Committee member) / Burleson, Mary H (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2012
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Description
The International Standards Organization (ISO) documentation utilizes Fitts’ law to determine the usability of traditional input devices like mouse and touchscreens for one- or two-dimensional operations. To test the hypothesis that Fitts’ Law can be applied to hand/air gesture based computing inputs, Fitts’ multi-directional target acquisition task is applied to

The International Standards Organization (ISO) documentation utilizes Fitts’ law to determine the usability of traditional input devices like mouse and touchscreens for one- or two-dimensional operations. To test the hypothesis that Fitts’ Law can be applied to hand/air gesture based computing inputs, Fitts’ multi-directional target acquisition task is applied to three gesture based input devices that utilize different technologies and two baseline devices, mouse and touchscreen. Three target distances and three target sizes were tested six times in a randomized order with a randomized order of the five input technologies. A total of 81 participants’ data were collected for the within subjects design study. Participants were instructed to perform the task as quickly and accurately as possible according to traditional Fitts’ testing procedures. Movement time, error rate, and throughput for each input technology were calculated.

Additionally, no standards exist for equating user experience with Fitts’ measures such as movement time, throughput, and error count. To test the hypothesis that a user’s experience can be predicted using Fitts’ measures of movement time, throughput and error count, an ease of use rating using a 5-point scale for each input type was collected from each participant. The calculated Mean Opinion Scores (MOS) were regressed on Fitts’ measures of movement time, throughput, and error count to understand the extent to which they can predict a user’s subjective rating.
ContributorsBurno, Rachael A (Author) / Wu, Bing (Thesis advisor) / Cooke, Nancy J. (Committee member) / Branaghan, Russell (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2015