Matching Items (6)
Filtering by

Clear all filters

133534-Thumbnail Image.png

Pay to Play: Metacognitive Judgements, & Motivation in Multiply-Constrained Problem Solving

Description
Problem solving is a crucial skill needed to accomplish everyday tasks and overcome potential obstacles. One way to measure individual differences in problem solving ability is through performance differences on multiply-constrained problem solving tasks. Multiple cognitive processes are involved in multiply-constrained problem solving. An individual uses prospective metacognitive monitoring judgments…

Problem solving is a crucial skill needed to accomplish everyday tasks and overcome potential obstacles. One way to measure individual differences in problem solving ability is through performance differences on multiply-constrained problem solving tasks. Multiple cognitive processes are involved in multiply-constrained problem solving. An individual uses prospective metacognitive monitoring judgments to gauge future allocation of resources before engaging in the necessary semantic search. Problem solvers also vary in their semantic search strategies, and use either an active analytical strategy or a passive insight strategy to arrive at asolution. Prospective metacognitive monitoring judgments and solution strategies are two aspects of the problem solving process that occur at specific points in the process while motivation influences problem solving throughout the process. The goal of this study is to examine prospective metacognitive judgments, problem solving accuracy, solution strategy, and motivation in multiply-constrained problem solving. Motivation was manipulated using a performance based monetary incentive. Participants self reported prospective Feeling-of-Knowing judgments after brief exposure to the problem, and solution strategy ratings after each problem. No significant differences were found to support the effect of motivation on problem solving accuracy, prospective metacognitive judgments, relative accuracy, or solution strategies. Significant differences were found between groups when comparing the number of problems skipped, indicating that participants were sensitive to the incentive structure. The findings suggest that motivation may not be an overarching mediator in multiply-constrained problem solving or problem solving may require a specific type of incentive structure to increase accuracy. However, little is known in the research literature about the type of incentive structure needed to consistently increase individual motivation.
ContributorsCohen, Aaron Sayre (Author) / Brewer, Gene (Thesis director) / Ellis, Derek (Committee member) / Department of Psychology (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05

Brain Processes in Self-Regulation: An Electroencephalography (EEG) Study

Description
Temporal discounting refers to our tendency to discount the value of future rewards. At the extreme, temporal discounting can give rise to detrimental myopic decision-making. Most studies examining the neural basis of temporal discounting in people have been performed using functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI). However, fMRI has relatively poor…

Temporal discounting refers to our tendency to discount the value of future rewards. At the extreme, temporal discounting can give rise to detrimental myopic decision-making. Most studies examining the neural basis of temporal discounting in people have been performed using functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI). However, fMRI has relatively poor temporal resolution compared with the speed at which people make choices, so understanding choice dynamics using fMRI is difficult. We address the issue utilizing electroencephalography (EEG) to study cortical processes related to temporal discounting. The fMRI literature has found that a network of fronto-parietal brain regions plays an important role during the decision-making process. We aim to explore activity in these regions during the decision process and determine how cortical activity relates to choice parameters. Based on prior fMRI studies, we hypothesized that dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC) may act as a regulator of dorsal lateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC) and there will be an increase in dlPFC activity for more difficult decisions. We also hypothesized that neural activity may be directly related to the temporal discount rate we estimate behaviorally. We utilized regression analysis to determine the relationship. The results found supported our hypotheses. This study may open the door to a better understanding of the dynamic of brain regions while performing a temporal discounting task.
ContributorsTanwisuth, Koranis (Author) / McClure, Samuel (Thesis director) / Brewer, Gene (Committee member) / School of Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies (Contributor) / School of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences (Contributor) / Department of Psychology (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2017-05
134869-Thumbnail Image.png

Scientific Detail and Juror Decision-Making in Capital Scenarios

Description
By providing vignettes with manipulated scientific evidence, this research examined if including more or less scientific detail affected decision-making in regards to the death penalty. Participants were randomly assigned one of the two manipulations (less science and more science) after reading a short scenario introducing the mock capital trial and…

By providing vignettes with manipulated scientific evidence, this research examined if including more or less scientific detail affected decision-making in regards to the death penalty. Participants were randomly assigned one of the two manipulations (less science and more science) after reading a short scenario introducing the mock capital trial and their role as jury members. Survey respondents were told that a jury had previously found the defendant guilty and they would now deliberate the appropriate punishment. Before being exposed to the manipulation, respondents answered questions pertaining to their prior belief in the death penalty, as well as their level of support of procedural justice and science. These questions provided a baseline to compare to their sentencing decision. Participants were then asked what sentence they would impose \u2014 life in prison or death \u2014 and how the fMRI evidence presented by an expert witness for the defense affected their decision. Both quantitative and qualitative measures were used to identify how the level of scientific detail affected their decision. Our intended predictor variable (level of scientific detail) did not affect juror decision-making. In fact, the qualitative results revealed a variety of interpretations of the scientific evidence used both in favor of death and in favor of life. When looking at what did predict juror decision-making, gender, prior belief in the death penalty, and political ideology all were significant predictors. As in previous literature, the fMRI evidence in our study had mixed results with regards to implementation of the death penalty. This held true in both of our manipulations, showing that despite the level of detail in evidence intended for mitigation, jurors with preconceived notions may still disregard the evidence, and some jurors may even view it is aggravating and thus increase the likelihood of a death sentence for a defendant with such brain abnormalities.
ContributorsBerry, Megan Cheyenne (Author) / Fradella, Hank (Thesis director) / Pardini, Dustin (Committee member) / Department of Psychology (Contributor) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-12

REFLEX: Relative Executive Function Level Examination

Description

The goal of this thesis project was to develop a digital, quantitative assessment of executive functioning skills and problem solving abilities. This assessment was intended to serve as a relative measure of executive functions and problem solving abilities rather than a diagnosis; the main purpose was to identify areas for…

The goal of this thesis project was to develop a digital, quantitative assessment of executive functioning skills and problem solving abilities. This assessment was intended to serve as a relative measure of executive functions and problem solving abilities rather than a diagnosis; the main purpose was to identify areas for improvement and provide individuals with an understanding of their current ability levels. To achieve this goal, we developed a web-based assessment through Unity that used gamelike modifications of Flanker, Antisaccade, Embedded Images, Raven’s Matrices, and Color / Order Memory tasks. Participants were invited to access the assessment at www.ExecutiveFunctionLevel.com to complete the assessment and their results were analyzed. The findings of this project indicate that these tasks accurately represent executive functioning skills, the Flanker Effect is present in the collected data, and there is a notable correlation between each of the REFLEX challenges. In conclusion, we successfully developed a short, gamelike, online assessment of executive functioning and problem solving abilities. Future developments of REFLEX could look into immediate scoring, developing a mobile application, and externally validating the results.
ContributorsAnderson, Gabriel (Co-author) / Anderson, Mikayla (Co-author) / Brewer, Gene (Thesis director) / Kobayashi, Yoshihiro (Committee member) / Johnson, Mina (Committee member) / Computer Science and Engineering Program (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2021-05

REFLEX: Relative Executive Function Level Examination

Description

The goal of this thesis project was to develop a digital, quantitative assessment of executive functioning skills and problem solving abilities. This assessment was intended to serve as a relative measure of executive functions and problem solving abilities rather than a diagnosis; the main purpose was to identify areas for…

The goal of this thesis project was to develop a digital, quantitative assessment of executive functioning skills and problem solving abilities. This assessment was intended to serve as a relative measure of executive functions and problem solving abilities rather than a diagnosis; the main purpose was to identify areas for improvement and provide individuals with an understanding of their current ability levels. To achieve this goal, we developed a web-based assessment through Unity that used gamelike modifications of Flanker, Antisaccade, Embedded Images, Raven’s Matrices, and Color / Order Memory tasks. Participants were invited to access the assessment at www.ExecutiveFunctionLevel.com to complete the assessment and their results were analyzed. The findings of this project indicate that these tasks accurately represent executive functioning skills, the Flanker Effect is present in the collected data, and there is a notable correlation between each of the REFLEX challenges. In conclusion, we successfully developed a short, gamelike, online assessment of executive functioning and problem solving abilities. Future developments of REFLEX could look into immediate scoring, developing a mobile application, and externally validating the results.
ContributorsAnderson, Mikayla (Co-author) / Anderson, Gabriel (Co-author) / Brewer, Gene (Thesis director) / Kobayashi, Yoshihiro (Committee member) / Johnson, Mina (Committee member) / Department of Finance (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2021-05

Effect of Acute Discomfort on Convergent and Divergent Creative Cognition

Description

Pain has been found in previous research to have a noticeable effect on people’s ability to perform creative tasks. While limited studies in this field exist, most of this work has focused on convergent thinking through the use of compound remote associates tasks (CRAT). In order to investigate how acute…

Pain has been found in previous research to have a noticeable effect on people’s ability to perform creative tasks. While limited studies in this field exist, most of this work has focused on convergent thinking through the use of compound remote associates tasks (CRAT). In order to investigate how acute pain might affect divergent creative cognition involving a wider answer space, the current study was conducted using an alternate uses task (AUT) during an algometer-based pain intervention. It was found that acute pain did not have a significant effect on accuracy in the CRAT nor on problem solving abilities in the AUT but notably, participants in the pain condition were more likely to say that they solved problems in the CRAT through insight rather than by an analytical approach. This work demonstrates the need for more research in this field to better understand the relationship between creative cognition and pain.
ContributorsSchmitz, Nicholas (Author) / Brewer, Gene (Thesis director) / Torres, Alexis (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor) / Department of Psychology (Contributor)
Created2023-05