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Description
Incidental learning of sequential information occurs in visual, auditory and tactile domains. It occurs throughout our lifetime and even in nonhuman species. It is likely to be one of the most important foundations for the development of normal learning. To date, there is no agreement as to how incidental learning occurs. The goal of the present set of experiments is to determine if visual sequential information is learned in terms of abstract rules or stimulus-specific details. Two experiments test the extent to which interaction with the stimuli can influence the information that is encoded by the learner. The results of both experiments support the claim that stimulus and domain specific details directly shape what is learned, through a process of tuning the neuromuscular systems involved in the interaction between the learner and the materials.
ContributorsMarsh, Elizabeth R (Author) / Glenberg, Arthur M. (Thesis advisor) / Amazeen, Eric (Committee member) / Brewer, Gene (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
Description
Most people are experts in some area of information; however, they may not be knowledgeable about other closely related areas. How knowledge is generalized to hierarchically related categories was explored. Past work has found little to no generalization to categories closely related to learned categories. These results do not fit well with other work focusing on attention during and after category learning. The current work attempted to merge these two areas of by creating a category structure with the best chance to detect generalization. Participants learned order level bird categories and family level wading bird categories. Then participants completed multiple measures to test generalization to old wading bird categories, new wading bird categories, owl and raptor categories, and lizard categories. As expected, the generalization measures converged on a single overall pattern of generalization. No generalization was found, except for already learned categories. This pattern fits well with past work on generalization within a hierarchy, but do not fit well with theories of dimensional attention. Reasons why these findings do not match are discussed, as well as directions for future research.
ContributorsLancaster, Matthew E (Author) / Homa, Donald (Thesis advisor) / Glenberg, Arthur (Committee member) / Chi, Michelene (Committee member) / Brewer, Gene (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
Description
It has been suggested that directed forgetting (DF) in the item-method paradigm results from selective rehearsal of R items and passive decay of F items. However, recent evidence suggested that the passive decay explanation is insufficient. The current experiments examined two theories of DF that assume an active forgetting process: (1) attentional inhibition and (2) tagging and selective search (TSS). Across three experiments, the central tenets of these theories were evaluated. Experiment 1 included encoding manipulations in an attempt to distinguish between these competing theories, but the results were inconclusive. Experiments 2 and 3 examined the theories separately. The results from Experiment 2 supported a representation suppression account of attentional inhibition, while the evidence from Experiment 3 suggested that TSS was not a viable mechanism for DF. Overall, the results provide additional evidence that forgetting is due to an active process, and suggest this process may act to suppress the representations of F items.
ContributorsHansen, Whitney Anne (Author) / Goldinger, Stephen D. (Thesis advisor) / Azuma, Tamiko (Committee member) / Brewer, Gene (Committee member) / Homa, Donald (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2011
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
Description
Although social cognitive deficits are considered a hallmark trait of schizophrenia, research on schizotypy and social cognition is inconsistent. The present study examines the associations among schizotypy, aberrant salience, and social cognition. Schizotypy and aberrant salience were assessed continuously using the Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire Brief Revised (SPQ-BR) and the Aberrant Salience Inventory (ASI). Social cognition was examined using The Awareness of Social Inference Test (TASIT), an audio-visual paradigm that taps into multiple domains of social cognition. Data from 849 undergraduate students was analyzed. Results indicated that schizotypy overall was not associated with social cognitive deficits. However, when schizotypy was analyzed dimensionally, positive schizotypy was associated with social cognitive impairments. Further, aberrant salience was revealed to be consistently associated with social cognitive impairments, except when positive schizotypy was included in the model. This suggests the possibility that positive schizotypy could mediate the association between aberrant salience and social cognition. Overall, this study highlights the importance of focusing on positive schizotypy and aberrant salience in future investigations of social cognitive difficulties in psychosis.
ContributorsArnett, Ciera (Author) / Karoly, Paul (Thesis advisor) / Corbin, William (Thesis advisor) / Brewer, Gene (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2021
Description
Behavioral, electrophysiological, and neuroimaging evidence has demonstrated that multiple object tracking (MOT) tasks draw upon visual perception, attention, and working memory cognitive processes. Functional neuroimaging studies identified the middle temporal visual area (MT+/V5) as one of several brain regions associated with MOT in humans. MT+/V5 is thought to be responsible for processing motion from visual information, regulating smooth pursuit eye movements, and encoding memory for motion. However, it is unclear how MT+/V5 interacts with attention and working memory performance processes during MOT. To investigate this question, the right MT+/V5 region was identified in 14 neurotypical subjects using structural magnetic resonance imaging (sMRI). The right MT+/V5 was stimulated using intermittent theta-burst stimulation (iTBS), continuous theta-burst stimulation (cTBS), and sham transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) using a within-subjects design. Average MOT performance was measured before and 5-min, 30-min, and 60-min after each stimulation protocol. There was no significant difference in average MOT performance across time, regardless of the stimulation condition.
ContributorsAlucard, Myles (Author) / Duran, Nicholas (Thesis advisor, Committee member) / Brewer, Gene (Thesis advisor, Committee member) / Burleson, Mary (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2023
Description
Stereotype humor is a highly prevalent but particularly divisive phenomenon, with the potential for both negative and positive social implications. While highly subjective, interpretations of stereotype humor's subtext (support/challenge of stereotype) have major implications for reactions to this type of humor. This experimental study (N = 104) represents a novel investigation of the effect of two facets of stereotype humor, explicitness of stereotyping and stereotype distortion, on judgments of stereotype endorsement (support) versus subversion (challenge) in memes about four different groups (Asian, Hispanic, Irish, White) and associated group stereotypes. In this completely within-subjects design, participants viewed several memes about the target groups which varied systematically by the two factors of interest and provided judgments of stereotype endorsement versus subversion, ratings of funniness, and ratings of offensiveness. Multilevel models were used to determine the effect of explicitness, distortion, and their interaction, as well as target group, on judgements of stereotype humor while accounting for nesting of responses within participants. Results showed that stereotype distortion (e.g., exaggeration) and explicit stereotyping (e.g., overtly linking group to stereotype) both significantly predicted greater ratings of subversion. Unexpectedly, stereotype distortion also predicted greater levels of offense. Interestingly, marginalized group membership (i.e., Asian, Hispanic) significantly predicted lower ratings of subversion, lower funny ratings, and higher offense ratings. Findings highlight the significant role of explicitness and distortion when considering how individuals interpret the subtext of stereotype humor. Furthermore, findings underscore the major influence of group status on judgments and social implications of this type of humor. Overall, this study contributes to a better understanding of the mechanisms by which individuals interpret stereotype humor, providing valuable insights for promoting better intergroup relations and communication.
ContributorsLangley, Erika Beatrice (Author) / Shiota, Michelle (Thesis advisor) / Neuberg, Steven (Committee member) / Maddox, Keith (Committee member) / Brewer, Gene (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2024
Description
Theories of interval timing have largely focused on accounting for the aggregate properties of behavior engendered by periodic reinforcement, such as sigmoidal psychophysical functions and their scalar property. Many theories of timing also stipulate that timing and motivation are inseparable processes. Such a claim is challenged by fluctuations in and out of states of schedule control, making it unclear whether motivation directly affects states related to timing. The present paper seeks to advance our understanding of timing performance by analyzing and comparing the distribution of latencies and inter-response times (IRTs) of rats in two fixed-interval (FI) schedules of food reinforcement (FI 30-s and FI 90-s), and in two levels of food deprivation. Computational modeling revealed that each component was well described by mixture probability distributions embodying two-state Markov chains. Analysis of these models revealed that only a subset of latencies are sensitive to the periodicity of reinforcement, and pre-feeding only reduces the size of this subset. The distribution of IRTs suggests that behavior in FI schedules is organized in bouts that lengthen and ramp up in frequency with proximity to reinforcement. Pre-feeding slowed down the lengthening of bouts and increased the time between bouts. When concatenated, these models adequately reproduced sigmoidal FI response functions. These findings suggest that behavior in FI fluctuates in and out of schedule control; an account of such fluctuation suggests that timing and motivation are dissociable components of FI performance. These mixture-distribution models also provide novel insights on the motivational, associative, and timing processes expressed in FI performance, which need to be accounted for by causal theories of interval timing.
ContributorsDaniels, Carter W (Author) / Sanabria, Federico (Thesis advisor) / Brewer, Gene (Committee member) / Wynne, Clive (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2015
Description
The human body is a complex system comprised of many parts that can coordinate in a variety of ways to produce controlled action. This creates a challenge for researchers and clinicians in the treatment of variability in motor control. The current study aims at testing the utility of a nonlinear analysis measure – the Largest Lyapunov exponent (1) – in a whole body movement. Experiment 1 examined this measure, in comparison to traditional linear measure (standard deviation), by having participants perform a sit-to-stand (STS) task on platforms that were either stable or unstable. Results supported the notion that the Lyapunov measure characterized controlled/stable movement across the body more accurately than the traditional standard deviation (SD) measure. Experiment 2 tested this analysis further by presenting participants with an auditory perturbation during performance of the same STS task. Results showed that both the Lyapunov and SD measures failed to detect the perturbation. However, the auditory perturbation may not have been an appropriate perturbation. Limitations of Experiment 2 are discussed, as well as directions for future study.
ContributorsGibbons, Cameron T (Author) / Amazeen, Polemnia G (Thesis advisor) / Amazeen, Eric (Committee member) / Brewer, Gene (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2016
Description
Self-control has been shown to predict both health risk and health protective outcomes. Although top-down or “good” self-control is typically examined as a unidimensional construct, research on “poor” self-control suggests that multiple dimensions may be necessary to capture aspects of self-control. The current study sought to create a new brief survey measure of top-down self-control that differentiates between self-control capacity, internal motivation, and external motivation. Items were adapted from the Brief Self-Control Scale (BSCS; Tangney, Baumeister, & Boone, 2004) and were administered through two online surveys to 347 undergraduate students enrolled in introductory psychology courses at Arizona State University. The Self-Control Motivation and Capacity Survey (SCMCS) showed strong evidence of validity and reliability. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses supported a 3-factor structure of the scale consistent with the underlying theoretical model. The final 15-item measure demonstrated excellent model fit, chi-square = 89.722 p=.077, CFI = .989, RMSEA = .032, SRMR = .045. Despite several limitations including the cross-sectional nature of most analyses, self-control capacity, internal motivation, and external motivation uniquely related to various self-reported behavioral outcomes, and accounted for additional variance beyond that accounted for by the BSCS. Future studies are needed to establish the stability of multiple dimensions of self-control, and to develop state-like and domain-specific measures of self-control. While more research in this area is needed, the current study demonstrates the importance of studying multiple aspects of top-down self-control, and may ultimately facilitate the tailoring of interventions to the needs of individuals based on unique profiles of self-control capacity and motivation.
ContributorsPapova, Anna (Author) / Corbin, William R. (Thesis advisor) / Karoly, Paul (Committee member) / Brewer, Gene (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2016