Matching Items (10)
Filtering by

Clear all filters

152844-Thumbnail Image.png
Description
For this master's thesis, a unique set of cognitive prompts, designed to be delivered through a teachable robotic agent, were developed for students using Tangible Activities for Geometry (TAG), a tangible learning environment developed at Arizona State University. The purpose of these prompts is to enhance the affordances of the

For this master's thesis, a unique set of cognitive prompts, designed to be delivered through a teachable robotic agent, were developed for students using Tangible Activities for Geometry (TAG), a tangible learning environment developed at Arizona State University. The purpose of these prompts is to enhance the affordances of the tangible learning environment and help researchers to better understand how we can design tangible learning environments to best support student learning. Specifically, the prompts explicitly encourage users to make use of their physical environment by asking students to perform a number of gestures and behaviors while prompting students about domain-specific knowledge. To test the effectiveness of these prompts that combine elements of cognition and physical movements, the performance and behavior of students who encounter these prompts while using TAG will be compared against the performance and behavior of students who encounter a more traditional set of cognitive prompts that would typically be used within a virtual learning environment. Following this study, data was analyzed using a novel modeling and analysis tool that combines enhanced log annotation using video and user model generation functionalities to highlight trends amongst students.
ContributorsThomas, Elissa (Author) / Burleson, Winslow (Thesis advisor) / Muldner, Katarzyna (Committee member) / Walker, Erin (Committee member) / Glenberg, Arthur (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2014
153548-Thumbnail Image.png
Description
Attachment relationships serve a variety of important functions for infants and adults. Despite the importance of attachment relationships in adults, the mechanisms that underlie the formation or maintenance of these kinds of relationships outside of romantic relationships remains chronically understudied. The current research investigated whether the mechanism of synchrony, which

Attachment relationships serve a variety of important functions for infants and adults. Despite the importance of attachment relationships in adults, the mechanisms that underlie the formation or maintenance of these kinds of relationships outside of romantic relationships remains chronically understudied. The current research investigated whether the mechanism of synchrony, which is associated with attachment formation in the parent-infant literature, may still be tied to attachment in adults. To measure this association, these studies showed participants videos to prime synchrony, and then measured activation of attachment concepts in a word completion task. The results of Experiment 1 showed that attachment style moderated the effects of the video prime such that those who were securely attached showed activation of attachment concepts while watching the Synchrony video. Those with a preoccupied attachment style showed activation of attachment concepts when they viewed the Asynchrony video. Those with a dismissive attachment style showed an unhypothesized activation of social distance concepts when viewing the Synchrony video. Experiment 2 suggested an overall effect of the Synchrony video on activation of attachment concepts. However, there was no effect of attachment style on these results. Limits of these studies and future directions are discussed.
ContributorsYee, Claire Ida (Author) / Shiota, Michelle L (Thesis advisor) / Neuberg, Steven L. (Committee member) / Kenrick, Douglas T. (Committee member) / Glenberg, Arthur (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2015
153549-Thumbnail Image.png
Description
An emerging literature on the relation between memory and importance has shown that people are able to selectively remember information that is more, relative to less important. Researchers in this field have operationalized importance by assigning value to the different information that participants are asked to study and remember. In

An emerging literature on the relation between memory and importance has shown that people are able to selectively remember information that is more, relative to less important. Researchers in this field have operationalized importance by assigning value to the different information that participants are asked to study and remember. In the present investigation I developed two experiments, using a slightly altered value-directed-remembering (VDR) paradigm, to investigate whether and how value modifies the dynamics of memory organization and search. Moreover, I asked participants to perform a surprise final free recall task in order to examine the effects of value in the recall dynamics of final free recall. In Experiment 1, I compared the recall dynamics of delayed and final free recall between a control and a value condition, in the latter of which numbers appeared next to words, in random order, denoting the value of remembering each word during recall. In Experiment 2, I manipulated the order of presentation of the values by adding an ascending and a descending condition where values were presented in either an ascending or a descending order, respectively. Overall, my results indicated that value affected several measures of delayed and final free recall, without, in most cases, taking away the serial position effects on those same measures.
ContributorsStefanidi, Aikaterini (Author) / Brewer, Gene A. (Thesis advisor) / Glenberg, Arthur (Committee member) / Goldinger, Stephen (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2015
153222-Thumbnail Image.png
Description
Writing is an intricate cognitive and social process that involves the production of texts for the purpose of conveying meaning to others. The importance of lower level cognitive skills and language knowledge during this text production process has been well documented in the literature. However, the role of higher level

Writing is an intricate cognitive and social process that involves the production of texts for the purpose of conveying meaning to others. The importance of lower level cognitive skills and language knowledge during this text production process has been well documented in the literature. However, the role of higher level skills (e.g., metacognition, strategy use, etc.) has been less strongly emphasized. This thesis proposal examines higher level cognitive skills in the context of persuasive essay writing. Specifically, two published manuscripts are presented, which both examine the role of higher level skills in the context of writing. The first manuscript investigates the role of metacognition in the writing process by examining the accuracy and characteristics of students' self-assessments of their essays. The second manuscript takes an individual differences approach and examines whether the higher level cognitive skills commonly associated with reading comprehension are also related to performance on writing tasks. Taken together, these manuscripts point towards a strong role of higher level skills in the writing process and provide a strong foundation on which to develop future research and educational interventions.
ContributorsAllen, Laura K (Author) / McNamara, Danielle S. (Thesis advisor) / Connor, Carol (Committee member) / Glenberg, Arthur (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2014
150150-Thumbnail Image.png
Description
Learning and transfer were investigated for a categorical structure in which relevant stimulus information could be mapped without loss from one modality to another. The category space was composed of three non-overlapping, linearly-separable categories. Each stimulus was composed of a sequence of on-off events that varied in duration and number

Learning and transfer were investigated for a categorical structure in which relevant stimulus information could be mapped without loss from one modality to another. The category space was composed of three non-overlapping, linearly-separable categories. Each stimulus was composed of a sequence of on-off events that varied in duration and number of sub-events (complexity). Categories were learned visually, haptically, or auditorily, and transferred to the same or an alternate modality. The transfer set contained old, new, and prototype stimuli, and subjects made both classification and recognition judgments. The results showed an early learning advantage in the visual modality, with transfer performance varying among the conditions in both classification and recognition. In general, classification accuracy was highest for the category prototype, with false recognition of the category prototype higher in the cross-modality conditions. The results are discussed in terms of current theories in modality transfer, and shed preliminary light on categorical transfer of temporal stimuli.
ContributorsFerguson, Ryan (Author) / Homa, Donald (Thesis advisor) / Goldinger, Stephen (Committee member) / Glenberg, Arthur (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2011
150044-Thumbnail Image.png
Description
The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of partial exemplar experience on category formation and use. Participants had either complete or limited access to the three dimensions that defined categories by dimensions within different modalities. The concept of "crucial dimension" was introduced and the role it plays

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of partial exemplar experience on category formation and use. Participants had either complete or limited access to the three dimensions that defined categories by dimensions within different modalities. The concept of "crucial dimension" was introduced and the role it plays in category definition was explained. It was hypothesized that the effects of partial experience are not explained by a shifting of attention between dimensions (Taylor & Ross, 2009) but rather by an increased reliance on prototypical values used to fill in missing information during incomplete experiences. Results indicated that participants (1) do not fill in missing information with prototypical values, (2) integrate information less efficiently between different modalities than within a single modality, and (3) have difficulty learning only when partial experience prevents access to diagnostic information.
ContributorsCrawford, Thomas (Author) / Homa, Donald (Thesis advisor) / Mcbeath, Micheal (Committee member) / Glenberg, Arthur (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2011
153874-Thumbnail Image.png
Description
Emergent processes can roughly be defined as processes that self-arise from interactions without a centralized control. People have many robust misconceptions in explaining emergent process concepts such as natural selection and diffusion. This is because they lack a proper categorical representation of emergent processes and often misclassify these processes into

Emergent processes can roughly be defined as processes that self-arise from interactions without a centralized control. People have many robust misconceptions in explaining emergent process concepts such as natural selection and diffusion. This is because they lack a proper categorical representation of emergent processes and often misclassify these processes into the sequential processes category that they are more familiar with. The two kinds of processes can be distinguished by their second-order features that describe how one interaction relates to another interaction. This study investigated if teaching emergent second-order features can help people more correctly categorize new processes, it also compared different instructional methods in teaching emergent second-order features. The prediction was that learning emergent features should help more than learning sequential features because what most people lack is the representation of emergent processes. Results confirmed this by showing participants who generated emergent features and got correct features as feedback were better at distinguishing two kinds of processes compared to participants who rewrote second-order sequential features. Another finding was that participants who generated emergent features followed by reading correct features as feedback did better in distinguishing the processes than participants who only attempted to generate the emergent features without feedback. Finally, switching the order of instruction by teaching emergent features and then asking participants to explain the difference between emergent and sequential features resulted in equivalent learning gain as the experimental group that received feedback. These results proved teaching emergent second-order features helps people categorize processes and demonstrated the most efficient way to teach them.
ContributorsXu, Dongchen (Author) / Chi, Michelene (Thesis advisor) / Homa, Donald (Committee member) / Glenberg, Arthur (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2015
155500-Thumbnail Image.png
Description
Reading comprehension is a critical aspect of life in America, but many English language learners struggle with this skill. Enhanced Moved by Reading to Accelerate Comprehension in English (EMBRACE) is a tablet-based interactive learning environment is designed to improve reading comprehension. During use of EMBRACE, all interactions with the system

Reading comprehension is a critical aspect of life in America, but many English language learners struggle with this skill. Enhanced Moved by Reading to Accelerate Comprehension in English (EMBRACE) is a tablet-based interactive learning environment is designed to improve reading comprehension. During use of EMBRACE, all interactions with the system are logged, including correct and incorrect behaviors and help requests. These interactions could potentially be used to predict the child’s reading comprehension, providing an online measure of understanding. In addition, time-related features have been used for predicting learning by educational data mining models in mathematics and science, and may be relevant in this context. This project investigated the predictive value of data mining models based on user actions for reading comprehension, with and without timing information. Contradictory results of the investigation were obtained. The KNN and SVM models indicated that elapsed time is an important feature, but the linear regression models indicated that elapsed time is not an important feature. Finally, a new statistical test was performed on the KNN algorithm which indicated that the feature selection process may have caused overfitting, where features were chosen due coincidental alignment with the participants’ performance. These results provide important insights which will aid in the development of a reading comprehension predictor that improves the EMBRACE system’s ability to better serve ELLs.
ContributorsDexheimer, Matthew Scott (Author) / Walker, Erin (Thesis advisor) / Glenberg, Arthur (Committee member) / VanLehn, Kurt (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2017
155225-Thumbnail Image.png
Description
Many English Language Learner (ELL) children struggle with knowledge of vocabulary and syntax. Enhanced Moved by Reading to Accelerate Comprehension in English (EMBRACE) is an interactive storybook application that teaches children to read by moving pictures on the screen to act out the sentences in the text. However, EMBRACE presents

Many English Language Learner (ELL) children struggle with knowledge of vocabulary and syntax. Enhanced Moved by Reading to Accelerate Comprehension in English (EMBRACE) is an interactive storybook application that teaches children to read by moving pictures on the screen to act out the sentences in the text. However, EMBRACE presents the same level of text to all users, and it is limited in its ability to provide error feedback, as it can only determine whether a user action is right or wrong. EMBRACE could help readers learn more effectively if it personalized its instruction with texts that fit their current reading level and feedback that addresses ways to correct their mistakes. Improvements were made to the system by applying design principles of intelligent tutoring systems (ITSs). The new system added features to track the student’s reading comprehension skills, including vocabulary, syntax, and usability, based on various user actions, as well as features to adapt text complexity and provide more specific error feedback using the skills. A pilot study was conducted with 7 non-ELL students to evaluate the functionality and effectiveness of these features. The results revealed both strengths and weaknesses of the ITS. While skill updates appeared most accurate when users made particular kinds of vocabulary and syntax errors, it was not able to correctly identify other kinds of syntax errors or provide feedback when skill values became too high. Additionally, vocabulary error feedback and adapting the complexity of syntax were helpful, but syntax error feedback and adapting the complexity of vocabulary were not as helpful. Overall, children enjoy using EMBRACE, and building an intelligent tutoring system into the application presents a promising approach to make reading a both fun and effective experience.
ContributorsWong, Audrey (Author) / Walker, Erin (Thesis advisor) / Nelson, Brian (Committee member) / Glenberg, Arthur (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2017
161905-Thumbnail Image.png
Description
The current study explores the extent to which different processing strategies affect comprehension accuracy and integration of information across multiple texts. Reading comprehension of single texts is a difficult task, in which the challenges are compounded by the need to integrate information across texts. Processing strategies, such as self-explanation and

The current study explores the extent to which different processing strategies affect comprehension accuracy and integration of information across multiple texts. Reading comprehension of single texts is a difficult task, in which the challenges are compounded by the need to integrate information across texts. Processing strategies, such as self-explanation and source-evaluation, help reduce the challenges that readers face when attempting to comprehend texts. Self-explanation has been a successful strategy for coherence-building processes in single text comprehension, but the benefits for supporting inter-textual comprehension have not yet been explored. Source-evaluation supports identification of different sources, which helps resolve inconsistencies between texts; yet it remains unclear whether sourcing alone supports comprehension within as well as between texts. Think-aloud is a strategy intended to encourage further processing of the text without providing any explicit comprehension strategy. The differences between these two strategies prompts questions regarding the adequacy of either strategy for supporting inferencing and integration within and across texts. In this study, participants (n=80) were randomly assigned to one of three strategy conditions: self-explanation, source-evaluation, or think-aloud. Students read four texts after which they completed three types of open-ended comprehension questions (i.e., textbase, intra-textual inference, and inter-textual inference), a source memory task, and individual difference measures. Prior knowledge and reading skill were strongly correlated (r = .65) and showed moderate correlations (r = .31 to .60) with participants’ comprehension accuracy, total number of integrations within their responses, and their memory for sources. Participants were more likely to respond accurately and demonstrate integrations across texts for the text-based questions in comparison to the more challenging inference questions. There was a marginal effect of condition on comprehension question accuracy, wherein participants who self-explained responded more accurately than those who engaged in the think-aloud task. In addition, those in the self-explanation or source-evaluation conditions recalled more sources than those in the think-aloud condition. There were no significant differences in performance between the self-explanation and the source-evaluation conditions. Overall, the results of this study indicate that encouraging students to self-explain and/or evaluate sources while they read multiple documents enhances comprehension and memory for sources.
ContributorsPerret, Cecile Aline (Author) / McNamara, Danielle S (Thesis advisor) / Brewer, Gene (Committee member) / Glenberg, Arthur (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2021