Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Cognitive and computational psychology not elsewhere classified'

Although emotional labour has been studied extensively among work populations such as doctors, detectives and adventure tourism guides, there has been no known research on the psychology of actors and acting within an emotional labour framework. This investigation had two purposes. The first was to extend what is currently known about two emotional labour strategies: surface acting, the regulation of observable expressions of emotions, and deep acting, the regulation of felt emotions, to include actual actors. The dependent variables used in this study were job and life satisfaction. The second purpose was to examine whether having a sense of community moderated the relationship between surface acting, deep acting and the dependent variables. Responses from 89 professional, amateur and community theatre actors were analysed. Pearson’s correlation coefficients showed a significant relationship between surface acting and the dependent variables. Hierarchical regression results showed a significant moderation effect for sense of community on the relationship between deep acting and life satisfaction. Implications, limitations, and directions for future research are discussed.

This study investigates linguistic, perceptual, and pedagogical change (LPPC) in a short-term, study abroad English immersion program. It proposes the LPPC Interactive Model of second language acquisition based on Gardner's 1985 socioeducational model and Woods' 1996 beliefs, attitudes, and knowledge (BAK) structure. The framework is applied in a cross-cultural context, highlighting participants in the 1993 Camosun Osaka Aoyama English Language Institute involving Japanese English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) students from Aoyama Junior College in Osaka, Japan, and non-Japanese ESL teachers at Camosun College and Canada's University of Victoria in British Columbia. The study examined the definition of teacher achievement; distinctions between language activation and language acquisition in the short-term, study abroad context; development of the constructs student BAK+, teacher BAK+, and class BAK+ to describe interactions in "class fit"; and the influence of temporal parameters on linguistic, perceptual, and pedagogical change. Data from teacher and student surveys and interviews suggest that change occurs in each of the linguistic, perceptual, and pedagogical dimensions and support constructs proposed for the model.

The overall aim of this thesis was to investigate the interactions between firefighters’ sleep, ambient temperature, hydration status, and cognitive performance during simulated single and multi-day wildfire suppressions. These exact aims are addressed through four studies: 1.To assess the effect of ambient heat during day-(33-35°C) and night-time (23-25°C) exposures on firefighters’ sleep quantity and quality during a simulated multi-day wildfire suppression compared to thermoneutral temperatures (18-20°C; Study 1 -Chapter 4). 2.To quantify the effect of sleep restriction in either ambient heat with day- (33-35°C) and night-time (23-25°C) exposures or thermoneutral conditions (18-20°C) on firefighters’ sleep architecture during a simulated multi-day wildfire suppression compared to a control condition with normal sleep in temperate conditions (18-20°C; Study 2 –Chapter 5). 3.To examine the association between firefighters’ hydration status and cognitive performance during a simulated prolonged wildfire suppression shift in the heat (33-35°C) compared to thermoneutral temperatures (18-20°C; Study 3 –Chapter 6). 4.To examine the effect on cognitive performance of sleep restriction in either ambient heat with day-(33-35°C) and night-time (18-20°C) temperature changes or temperate conditions (18-20°C) during a simulated multi-day wildfire suppression compared to a control condition with full sleep opportunities in thermoneutral temperatures (18-20°C; Study 4 –Chapter 7).

The ability to solve problems creatively has been crucial for the adaptation and survival of humans throughout history. In many real–life situations, cognitive processes are not isolated. Humans are social, they communicate and form groups to solve daily problems and make decisions. Therefore, the final output of cognitive processes can come from multi–brains in groups rather than an individual one. This multi–brain output can be largely different from the output that an individual person produces in isolation. As a result, it is essential to include team–level processes in cognitive models to make a more accurate description of real– world cognitive processes in general and problem solving in particular. This research aims to answer the general question of how working in a team affects creative problem solving. For doing that, first, we propose a computational model for multi-agent creative problem solving. Then, we show how the model can be used to study the factors that are involved in creativity in teams and potentially will suggest answers to questions such as, ‘how team size is related to creativity’.

Cognitive control is accomplished by a set of higher-order cognitive processes that are recruited to aid in the completion of various tasks. A popular proposed mechanism is the Dual Mechanisms of Control (Braver, Gray, & Burgess, 2007), proposing proactive and reactive mechanisms. While neuroscience studies provide evidence that these are two distinct processes, it remains unclear whether the processes are competing, or whether they can be used together. That is, are the two processes able to both be enacted to some degree? Further, whether these mechanisms can be titrated to produce a gradient-like use of control on a trial-level basis is unknown. These are the two primary pursuits of this dissertation. Experiment 1 shows the titrated pattern of control use, indicating (a) sensitivity to task demands, and (b) dynamic use of proactive and reactive control at the trial level, in a new task. Further, a novel contribution is the observation of ability to titrate the use of control. Additional experiments relate performance on this task to working memory (Experiment 2), replicate the findings in an online format (Experiment 3), and differentiate performance from distance effects commonly seen in relative judgment tasks (Experiment 4). This work has implications for the understanding of how cognitive control functions and how dynamically the use of these mechanisms can be adjusted.

Given the current production and service requirements for many organisations, 24/7 operations have become increasingly commonplace. This has resulted in a greater use of non-standard working arrangements, including shift work, and increasingly, on-call work. Despite being operationally essential for many industries, there has been limited research on the human impact of on-call work. There is evidence to suggest that workers experience increased anxiety surrounding their on-call periods, which has been linked with poorer sleep outcomes. It is well known that poor sleep can result in significant cognitive and work performance decrements. As such, it is vital to understand any changes to anxiety and subsequent sleep, as decrements may have far reaching implications for worker and organisational health and safety. This is particularly pertinent as on-call work is often performed in response to emergency situations or in workplaces with high levels of safety risk (i.e., emergency services, healthcare, power network services). Despite the potentially severe consequences of impaired cognitive performance when on-call, no research has determined which components of on-call work may lead to increased worker anxiety and poorer sleep. Additionally, little previous research has investigated the effects of on-call periods decoupled from the sleep restriction that accompanies the calls and call-outs themselves. As such, this thesis investigates how certain components of on-call work affect anxiety, sleep, and cognitive performance in a laboratory context, without the confounding effect of shortened or interrupted sleep periods. This thesis consists of three studies, each designed to address one component of on-call work thought to cause anxiety. Seventy-two healthy, male participants were recruited to participate in a four-night laboratory study in the Appleton Institute’s time-isolated sleep laboratory (n = 24 per study). The same methodology was employed in each study, aside from the on-call conditions they comprised. The four nights of each study were; an adaptation night, a control night (not on-call), and two counterbalanced on-call nights designed to address specific on-call components. These components were; Study 1: The likelihood of receiving a call (on-call conditions = definitely and maybe; Chapter 3), Study 2: How stressful the tasks to be performed on-call are (on-call conditions = high stress and low stress; Chapter 4), and Study 3: The perceived chance of missing the alarm (on-call conditions = high chance and low chance; Chapter 5). Participants were given instructions regarding their on-call status prior to bed each night. Outcome measures included pre-bed state anxiety, sleep (as measured by both polysomnography and quantitative electroencephalographic assessment), and next day cognitive performance. The effect of trait anxiety on state anxiety, sleep, and cognitive performance was measured across all three studies. The relationship between trait anxiety and each of these outcome variables was examined in the context of each on-call component, to determine if higher levels of trait anxiety result in poorer tolerance of on-call work (Chapter 6). Results indicated that conditions with uncertainty around the on-call alarm resulted in poorer sleep and cognitive performance. These differences were seen when participants were instructed that they may be called (Chapter 3), and when there was a high chance of missing the alarm (Chapter 5). Further, next day cognitive performance improved when participants performed a high stress task on-call, compared with a low stress task, potentially as a result of increased physiological and psychological arousal (Chapter 4). However, the magnitude of these changes was limited. When the effect of trait anxiety was examined in the context of these three studies, it appeared that individuals with lower trait anxiety were no more tolerant of on-call working arrangements than those with higher trait anxiety (Chapter 6). From this thesis we can conclude that there are some components of on-call work that affect anxiety, sleep, and cognitive performance outcomes more than others. Specifically, the uncertainty around calls seems to produce the most noticeable decrements, though these decrements were not large in magnitude. The findings of this thesis suggest potentially simple, cost-effective strategies for minimising the uncertainty surrounding on-call periods (e.g., a backup call system, or the identification and management of call likelihood). Additionally, findings suggest that there may be some protective effects of performing high stress tasks on cognitive performance on-call. However, it is important to note that this protective effect was apparent under laboratory conditions with just one high stress on-call night, and must be interpreted with caution. These findings are presented with a view to making on-call periods safer and more productive for workers and organisations.

The goal of my dissertation is to take a step toward shifting the narrative in engineering from “surviving” to “thriving” so that more engineering students can reach their full potential in college and beyond. Many engineering students experience barriers such as the hardships of engineering culture, which are exacerbated for women and underrepresented racial/ethnic minorities(such as Black, Latinx, and Indigenous students). These barriers are well documented in research and well discussed in interventions to support engineering student success, under the assumption that helping students cope with these cultural and systemic barriers will, by itself, lead to their success. My research on engineering thriving challenges this assumption by asserting that the skills engineering students need to succeed academically, socially, and personally differ from the skills they need to “survive” cultural and systemic barriers.

Explanatory style optimism and Self -Esteem theorists both claim to be able positively to influence the child's psychological well-being. This study was conducted to compare the effects of Optimism training and Self -Esteem training with children. Participants were 157 children (83 boys and 74 girls) attending Grade 6. Participants in Class groups were assigned to one of three conditions for

training in Optimism (n = 51), Self -Esteem (n ----49) and a Control group (n = 57). Children completed self -report questionnaires on explanatory style (CASQ), depression (CES-DC), global self-esteem (RSE), and domain self-esteem (PH). Peer ratings on each participant were conducted via a sociogram, school achievement was assessed using the Milton Spelling Age test, and participants completed three hypothetical questions based on Flavell's theory of metacognition. This battery of tests was completed on three occasions: before training, immediately after the training and six months following the training. Comparison of the two theoretical models showed that the Optimism model fitted the data better than the Self -Esteem model. Optimism training was more effective than Self -Esteem training in increasing optimism, and decreasing depression with a follow-on effect to social skills and aspects of domain self-esteem. Implications for education are that Optimism training may have a greater influence on the child's psychological welfare than existing Self -Esteem programs.

This study explored longitudinal change in executive function (EF) and episodic memory (EM) related to multimorbidity, number of chronic conditions, change in chronic conditions overtime in a nationally representative sample of young, middle-aged,and older adults. Participants were from the second (2004-2006) and third (2013-2015) waves of the Survey of Midlife Development in the United States (MIDUS; N=2,532). Participants completed telephone interviews and questionnaires providing information on demographics and chronic conditions. The Brief Test of Adult Cognition by Telephone (BTACT) assessedcognitive function. The BTACT includes measures of EM (ex. word list recall) and EF (ex. digits backward, category fluency, etc.).Overall, only change in chronic conditions was associated with EF decline in the whole sample. In young adults multimorbidity and number of chronic conditions was significantly associated with both EF and EM decline, whereas only change in number of chronic conditions was significantly associated with EF decline in middle aged adults.Future research is needed to assess a broader range of chronic conditions to determine their overall burden on EF and EM over time.

"The use of CATI methods for conducting population health surveys is an enduring and popular practice. Although it is one of the most reliable ways to collect data, there is a range of sampling and non sampling errors which can potentially affect the abiliity of CATI surveys to provide accurate results. This thesis examined the impact of a particular type of non-sampling error - question order effects - in CATI surveys. Two studies were conducted one which examined order effects in data collected using a standard health survey instrument designed to measure and classify physical activity behaviour, and one which examined order effects in data collected using two question blocks designed to evaluate health related knowledge and attitudes"--Abstract.

Remembering to complete some future intention (i.e., prospective remembering) is a frequent requirement of everyday activities. Prospective memory failures (e.g., forgetting to take one’s medication) can have devastating consequences. Cognitive psychologists have sought to understand how individuals can successfully fulfill their prospective memory intentions. Unfortunately, it has been difficult to find evidence for specific cognitive mechanisms that could feasibly account for prospective memory behaviors. In part, this is because many theories of prospective memory stipulate that prospective remembering is accomplished through discrete/covert mental processes. In the current set of experiments, eye-tracking technology was used to test these various mechanistic explanations. Using an eye-tracking computer to measure pupillary responses to prospective memory task characteristics allowed for the observation of changes in discrete mental activity during the course of a prospective memory task scenario. Across two experiments, I observed elevated pupil dilation when participants were given additional prospective memory demands. Furthermore, when participants correctly recognized the presentation of a prospective memory target, it appeared that their pupil dilation increased dramatically, and elevated dilation persisted for several trials. This pattern of pupil dilation is consistent with an account of prospective remembering that suggests individuals sometimes engage in actively monitoring for an opportunity to
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complete their prospective memory intention, and that at other times, individuals will reduce or discontinue monitoring activity until some cue brings the prospective memory intention back into mind. Consistent with such an account, individual differences in working memory were positively associated with pupil size only when the prospective memory task afforded monitoring. This was in line with recent research implicating the working memory system in facilitating active monitoring during certain prospective memory contexts. Finally, the current set of experiments demonstrated the utility of pupillometric methods for measuring active monitoring in a prospective memory scenario.

Emerging technologies such as real-time travel information systems and automated vehicles (AVs) have profound impacts on driver decision-making behavior. While they generally have positive impacts by enabling drivers to make more informed decisions or by reducing their driving effort, there are several concerns related to inadequate consideration of cognitive and psychological aspects in their design. In this context, this dissertation analyzes different aspects of driver cognition and psychology that arise from drivers’ interactions with these technologies using physiological data collected in two sets of driving simulator experiments.

This research analyzes the latent cognitive and psychological effects of real-time travel information using electroencephalogram (EEG) data measured in the first set of driving simulator experiments. Using insights from the previous analysis, a hybrid route choice modeling framework is proposed that incorporates the impacts of the latent information-induced cognitive and psychological effects along with other explanatory variables that can be measured directly (i.e., route characteristics, information characteristics, driver attributes, and situational factors) on drivers’ route choice decisions. EEG data is analyzed to extract two latent cognitive variables that capture the driver’s cognitive effort during and immediately after the information provision, and cognitive inattention before implementing the route choice decision.

Several safety concerns emerge for the transition of control from the automated driving system to a human driver after the vehicle issues a takeover warning under conditional vehicle automation (SAE Level 3). In this context, this study investigates the impacts of driver’s pre-warning cognitive state on takeover performance (i.e., driving performance while resuming manual control) using EEG data measured in the second set of driving simulator experiments. However, there is no comprehensive metric available in the literature that could be used to benchmark the role of driver’s pre-warning cognitive state on takeover performance, as most existing studies ignore the interdependencies between the associated driving performance indicators by analyzing them independently. This study proposes a novel comprehensive takeover performance metric, Takeover Performance Index (TOPI), that combines multiple driving performance indicators representing different aspects of takeover performance.

Acknowledging the practical limitations of EEG data to have real-world applications, this dissertation evaluates the driver’s situational awareness (SA) and mental stress using eye-tracking and heart rate measures, respectively, that can be obtained from in-vehicle driver monitoring systems in real-time. The differences in SA and mental stress over time, their correlations, and their impacts on the TOPI are analyzed to evaluate the efficacy of using eye-tracking and heart rate measures for estimating the overall takeover performance in conditionally AVs.

The study findings can assist information service providers and auto manufacturers to incorporate driver cognition and psychology in designing safer real-time information and their delivery systems. They can also aid traffic operators to incorporate cognitive aspects while devising strategies for designing and disseminating real-time travel information to influence drivers’ route choices. Further, the study findings provide valuable insights to design operating and licensing strategies, and regulations for conditionally automated vehicles. They can also assist auto manufacturers in designing integrated in-vehicle driver monitoring and warning systems that enhance road safety and user experience.

Several researchers have claimed that passively viewing manipulable objects results in automatic motor activation of affordances regardless of intention to act upon an object. Support for the automatic activation account stems primarily from findings using stimulus-response compatibility paradigms in which responses are fastest when there is correspondence between one’s response hand and an object’s handle. Counter to this view is the spatial coding account, which suggests that past findings are a result of abstract spatial codes stemming from salient object properties and their left-right correspondence with responses. Although there is now considerable support for this account, there has been little attention paid to determining whether evidence in favor of the automatic activation account will be evident after accounting for the spatial issues demonstrated by the spatial coding account.

The present study involved five experiments conducted to bridge this gap in two steps. First, I aimed to demonstrate the importance of considering spatial issues and left-right correspondence when studying object-based motor activation by numerous objects championed by past researchers who attempted to similarly address the aforementioned issue (Experiments 1 and 2). Second, I sought to determine whether evidence favoring the automatic activation account could be obtained when the possibility for left-right correspondence was absent in a novel set of stimuli created specifically for this purpose (Experiments 3, 4, and 5).

Experiment 1 examined a stimulus set that some researchers have suggested can more definitively tease apart evidence for automatic activation from the influence of spatial factors studies. Experiment 2 was more narrowly focused and investigated a single object presented in different horizontal orientations. These experiments effectively demonstrated the importance of giving more consideration to the nature of the stimuli used in object-based compatibility studies and how they are presented. The results of Experiment 1 suggest that a stimulus set that has been claimed to sidestep spatial confounds does not, in fact, do so. Moreover, Experiment 2 demonstrated that performance could be influenced by simple rotation of the object to which a response was required.

Having established the importance of controlling the stimuli used to investigate automatic activation of afforded responses, I turned to determining whether a novel stimulus set would yield findings favoring the automatic activation account even after accounting for left-right correspondence (Experiments 3, 4, and 5). Three sets of novel object stimuli were developed that do not allow for left-right correspondence and could iteratively assess support for the automatic activation account based on criteria for activation that have been put forth in the literature. The three sets of stimuli contained no information about shape nor functionality (i.e., silhouette iteration) or information about shape and functionality (i.e., functional iteration), or they were an intermediate between the two other types (i.e., intermediate iteration).

Critically, the three latter experiments progressively approached the conditions that researchers have suggested are ideal for automatic activation of afforded responses to occur. Experiment 3 tasked participants with completing a color discrimination task in which they viewed only one of the three object iterations and responded with button presses. Experiment 4 used the same experimental configuration, but instead, required participants to respond with a grasping response. Finally, Experiment 5 required participants to complete a reach-and-grasp response in an object discrimination task using both the silhouette and functional iterations.

Across Experiments 3, 4, and 5, no support for the automatic activation account of afforded responses was found. Although the automatic activation account would predict that individuals should be fastest at responding to the functional stimuli than to the other two object iterations, no such evidence was observed. Given that the possibility for left-right correspondence was removed from the novel stimulus set studied here, these results provide indirect support for the spatial coding account of prior results and further indicate that past findings favoring the automatic activation account have largely been a result of left-right correspondence.

The complex functioning of the human body produces the biological, historical and environmental contingencies of lived existence. These experiences of embodiment are chiasmic, dialectical and dialogical, and underpin the narrative dilemmas we create through the storied nature of our attempts to make sense of them. In testifying my own embodiment this autobiographical form of sensual scholarship emphasizes the subjective basis for my body’s psychology. By developing the complicating action segments of my life story told through interview data into a chronologically-ordered and textually- layered account of personally significant memories, I craft a story of my panicking body. My upbringing was influenced by discourses that reinforced parental and family affiliation at the expense of my feeling body. Unravelling my need to exercise as a contingency of this affiliation provides retrospective meaning to the distress my panicking caused. Situating my feelings, thoughts, emotions and actions within the broader constraints of my family’s history, community, religion and culture reveals the contingent nature of my embodiment. Describing the shifting contingencies of a life lived since my upbringing in the small, rural town of Inglewood, New Zealand, provides the opportunity to recognize and to re-align the dialectics of identity that help to make up my body’s psychology. Juxtaposing this narrative meaning-making are my revelations of experiential integration achieved through the flow of exercise. Understood as an extension of my body’s fundamental sensuality, this evolutionally-refined capacity for engagement underpins my lived experiencing. Together these sentient and reflexive forms of testimony confirm the inherence of my sensuality and the circumstance of self-hood, and invite you, the reader, to explore the workings of your own body. By revealing the sensual and symbolic strands of my embodiment this story of human contingency reveals something of the fleshy consciousness that we all share, not by speaking for anyone else, but by calling attention to the taken-for-granted nature of its unfolding. By arguing for a psychology more relevant to lived experiencing, my thesis questions the body of Western science and, in particular, psychology’s version of it. Articulating the felt nature of my experiencing situates my mind back in my body and, in doing so, fleshes out its psychology. While the insights shared here are personal, the relevance of the felt-body is found in the ways it becomes discoursed and narrated.

A warning signal that precedes an imperative stimulus by a certain length of time (the foreperiod) can accelerate responses (foreperiod effect). Plotting reaction time (RT) as a function of foreperiod results in a “U”-shape curve when the foreperiod is fixed in a trial block but manipulated across blocks. When the foreperiod is varied within a block, the foreperiod-RT function is usually negative, with the foreperiod effect modulated by both the current foreperiod and the foreperiod in the prior trial (sequential foreperiod effect). This sequential effect was found to be robust at the shorter foreperiod while diminished at the longer foreperiod. Capizzi et al. (2015) used a non-aging foreperiod distribution and found an increasing foreperiod-RT function (consistent with that in a fixed-foreperiod paradigm) and a sequential effect equal for different foreperiods. They thus proposed a repetition priming account for the sequential foreperiod effect. I conducted three experiments, aiming to test this repetition priming account and to rebuild the connection between the fixed- and variable-foreperiod paradigms. Experiment 1 attempted to replicate Capizzi et al. in a choice-reaction task scenario and found an increasing foreperiod-RT function but a larger sequential effect at the shorter foreperiod. Experiment 2 examined the priming account in a short-foreperiod context and found a decreasing foreperiod-RT function with a larger sequential effect at the shorter foreperiod. Experiment 3 detected a larger sequential effect in general by increasing the difference in duration between the foreperiods that were used in Experiment 2. The current study provided converging evidence that with a non-aging foreperiod distribution the foreperiod-RT function in a variable-foreperiod paradigm shares the same direction as that in a fixed-foreperiod paradigm. However, instead of following Capizzi et al.’s account, the size of the sequential foreperiod effect in general was found to be modulated by the difference in duration between the foreperiods while the relative sizes were determined by the proportions of different foreperiods.

A large body of literature suggests that cognitive abilities are important determinants for training and job performance, including flight performance. The associations between measures of ability tests and job performance have been the focus of many empirical studies, resulting in an overall conclusion that general mental ability, g, is the main source of prediction, while other narrower abilities have limited power for predicting job performance. Despite the attention given to cognitive ability-flight performance relationships, their associations have not been fully understood at the broad construct level, and most extant literature focused on the relations at the observed scores level. Thus, the present dissertation study was designed to contribute to the progression of this understanding by examining the relations between cognitive abilities and flight training performance, using data from four U.S. Air Force (USAF) pilot samples. For comparison, one navigator and one air battle manager sample were also analyzed. The data were obtained from correlation matrices of prior investigations and analyzed via structural equation modeling (SEM) procedures.

Four studies are reported in the thesis: (1) preliminary study, (2) primary validation study, (3) cross-validation study, and (4) cross-occupation validation study. The preliminary study assessed the test battery used in the subsequent predictive studies. The primary validation study introduced a bifactor predictive SEM model for testing the influence of cognitive abilities in predicting pilot performance. The cross-validation study assessed the consistency of the predictive model suggested in the primary validation study, using three additional pilots’ samples. The cross-occupation validation study compared the predictive model using data from three aviation-related occupations (flying, navigation, air battle management). Ability factors were extracted from scores of pilot applicants on the Air Force Officer Qualifying Test (AFOQT), the USAF officers’ primary selection test battery, whereas the flight performance scores were obtained from pilot records during the flight training program.

In addition to the g factor, verbal ability, quantitative ability, spatial ability, perceptual speed ability, and aviation-related acquired knowledge are the six latent cognitive ability factors investigated in the reported studies. Pilot performance measures were modeled either as observed or latent variables covering ratings of academic and hands-on flying performance in different phases of the training program. The studies of this thesis established that (1) general ability contributes substantially to the prediction models; however, it is not the only important predictor, (2) aviation-related acquired knowledge is the most robust predictor of pilot performance among the abilities examined, with a role even exceeding that of g, (3) perceptual speed predicted pilot performance uniquely in several occasions, while verbal, spatial, and quantitative abilities demonstrated trivial incremental validity for hands-on pilot performance beyond that provided by the g measure, and (4) the relative importance of cognitive abilities tends to vary across aviation occupations.

Due to the great transitions and turmoil uniquely attributed to the period of adolescence, youth experience a greater risk for substance use and the multitude of concerns that coincide with the early onset of substance use. Many biological and environmental factors have been investigated as predictors of adolescent substance use. Executive function and disruptive behaviors are two important individual characteristics linked to adolescent substance use. Both smoking during pregnancy and sibling relationships are separate contexts that can mitigate or exacerbate the associations of executive function and adolescent substance use. The present study focuses on development of substance use through executive function deficits and disruptive behavior, while considering smoking during pregnancy and sibling relationships as unique moderators of these pathways. This work addresses a novel, interrelated set of questions with a series of three studies. The central hypothesis driving this program of research is that smoking during pregnancy and sibling relationships are under-studied contexts that can mitigate or exacerbate the associations of executive function, disruptive behavior, and adolescent substance use. This dissertation examines whether: (1) executive function mediates the smoking during pregnancy-disruptive behavior association and smoking during pregnancy exacerbates the executive function-disruptive behavior association, (2) smoking during pregnancy exacerbates the association between executive function and disruptive behavior during adolescence using a sibling comparison design, and (3) sibling relationship quality moderates developmental trajectories of executive function on the transition from disruptive problems to adolescent substance use using a high-risk, longitudinal sample. Findings challenge the link between exposure to smoking during pregnancy and both executive function and disruptive behavior. Further, these findings reinforce the need to utilize genetically-informed designs when examining potential effects of smoking during pregnancy. Additionally, this dissertation found support for the link between executive function and disruptive behavior, but not executive function and substance use.

Distinctions between set- and element-level compatibility have been made regarding stimulus-response compatibility (SRC) effects. Prior research has revealed a relationship between these two types of compatibility such that an increase in set-level effects results in an analogous increase in element-level effects. There are different ways that location information can be conveyed visually: location-words (“left” and “right”), directionalarrows (pointing left and right), and physical-locations (stimuli appearing in the left or right areas of the visual field). Set-level compatibility is higher for location-words paired with vocal “left”-“right” responses than for the other two stimulus modalities, and vice versa for pairings with left-right keypress responses, and the element-level compatibility effects differ in size accordingly.

My dissertation research focused on examining set- and element-level compatibility effects within the saccadic eye-movement system. These effects were considered within the dimensional overlap framework proposed by Kornblum, Hasbroucq, and Osman (1990), according to which the element-level mapping effects are an increasing function of set-level compatibility. All experiments were conducted using introductory psychology students.

In Experiment 1, participants responded using a left-right unimanual joystick movement or eye movement to a location-word or physical-location stimulus. In addition to an analysis of variance (ANOVA) of mean reaction time (RT) and response accuracy for the respective conditions, compatibility effects across the RT distribution were investigated by dividing trials into quantiles. Experiment 1 produced a set-level compatibility effect for the congruent mapping: Eye-movement responses (rather than joystick movements) were found to be relatively more compatible with physical-location stimuli than with location-word stimuli. In addition, the high set-level compatibility conditions exhibited a larger element-level mapping effect than the low set-level compatibility conditions. RT distribution analysis showed that both eye- and joystickmovements yielded a steadily increasing element-level mapping effect across bins, except for physical-location stimuli mapped to joystick responses, for which the function was flat.

In Experiment 2, the location-word stimuli used in Experiment 1 were replaced by directional-arrow stimuli. Eye movements (and not joystick movements) showed larger set- and element-level SRC effects when paired with physical-location stimuli than with directional-arrows. As in Experiment 1, the physical-location stimuli paired with eyemovement responses demonstrated an increase in the element-level mapping effect across the RT distribution. However, for the three other three set-level pairings, the elementlevel mapping effects were relatively constant across the RT distribution. This pattern further indicates a preferential benefit for eye movements paired with physical-location stimuli.

Experiment 3 directly compared the location-word stimuli used in Experiment 1 and the directional-arrow stimuli used in Experiment 2. The element-level mapping effect was larger for location-words than for directional-arrows, but both types of stimuli produced similar interaction patterns regarding the set-level manipulation. That is, the differences between each response modality and stimulus type produced similar patterns of element-level mapping effect differences. The location-word stimuli produced consistently large effects and served as a driving factor across the set-level comparisons. The location-words showed a large increase in element-level mapping effect across the RT distribution compared to only a small increase for the directional-arrows, which in both cases did not differ between eye- and joystick-movement responses.

Together the three experiments provide support for the hypothesis that eyemovement responses to physical-location stimuli are a unique, highly optimal set-level pairing relative to location-words or directional-arrows denoting spatially relevant location. In the context of a continuum outlining the relative position of different response and stimulus pairings, the results imply that eye-movement responses are similar in compatibility to joystick movements, except for the specific pairing with physical-location stimuli.

The results offer some support for Kornblum et al.’s (1990) account that suggests a tightly coupled relationship between set- and element-level compatibility effects. Not only do the results provide understanding about the existence of compatibility effects within the saccadic system, they allow for some considerations about how attention is allocated preferentially to certain stimuli rather than others. They also enable predictions about similar underlying mechanisms that might be involved in saccadic and manual response modalities. Taken together, it seems that the eye-movement system adheres to conventional notions about motoric behavior; however, it also has its own unique properties that make it highly tuned to exogenously guided stimuli.

A Test Battery (TB) is a measurement method that is designed to assess a variety of ability constructs. The extent to which TB predicts future pilot performance has important implications for both flying organizations and applicants. The primary emphasis in the existing literature has been on scores of individual ability tests, in contrast to the scores of multiple ability tests that are typically indexed by composites derived from TBs. The selection literature lacks a focus on composite scores, and seldom links to the broad cognitive abilities that predominate TBs. The objective of this study was to investigate how the different broad ability constructs of TBs influence their predictive validities for pilot performance. Six ability groups were identified as the most common ability saturations of pilot selection TBs. On the basis of 89 studies and 118 independent samples, a series of meta-analyses were conducted to determine the criterion-related validity of the six categories of TBs for several criterions of pilot performance.

The investigation revealed there was an overall small and positive relationship between TBs and flight performance. The six categories of cognitive ability TBs appeared to be valid predictors of pilot performance, and at least five of them generalize validity across studies and settings. More specifically, three sets of predictor groups were identified according to the magnitude of validity estimates. The highest validity group included Work Sample TBs (r=.34), the second highest validity group included TBs of Acquired Knowledge, General Ability, and Motor Abilities (r=.19, .18, and .17, respectively), and the lowest validity group included TBs of Perceptual Processing and Controlled Attention (r=.14 and .10, respectively).

The results also indicated that there was substantial variability in the effect of cognitive abilities on flight performance, with evidence of moderators operating in most cases. Five potential moderator variables were examined that may moderate the TBs-performance relationship in flying. The analysis for the moderator variable of the number of tests in the battery (small battery/large battery), regularity of TB use in pilot selection (commonly used/uncommonly used), and criterion level of measurement (continuous/ordinal/dichotomous/ contingency table) revealed significant moderating effects on the correlations between flight performance and several types of test batteries. Other moderators related to year of publication (1987-1999/2000-2009/2010-2017) and flying organization (USAF/US Navy/Another military/Civilian) did not significantly influence the correlations between TBs and flight performance. The implications of the findings for practice are discussed, and recommendations for future research directions are provided.

Scams and fraud have become a significant problem for the American population within the past few years. While victims range from young to older adults, it is the seniors who are the major targets. In 2018 the Federal Trade Commission reported that senior citizens aged 60 years and above formed 35% of all the scam victims it recorded. According to the U.S Senate Committee on aging, scams like the grandparent scam, IRS impersonation scam, romance scam; have become popular. Even at this level of notoriety, most victims are usually unaware of it entirely or how its perpetrators commit these crimes. Being aware of the situation is a critical step towards curbing this problem. This thesis project uses User-Centered Design (UCD) to understand, conceptualize, and prototype a solution to promote social interaction while improving the cognitive abilities of seniors and creating awareness about fraud. The design requirements and direction were formed through multivariate research methods like literature review, user interviews, and focus group sessions. The proposed solution is Puppy valley, an app-mediated trivia board game that has a physical wheel and mobile application and uses narratives inspired by real fraud cases to create activities for users to play with. After the research and design, the game was evaluated by five experts, and refinements within the scope of the study were made based on the insights from the evaluation.

Despite executive function deficits now been examined in relation to the propensity to commit crimes in the general offending population, to date there has been little investigation of this within an intellectually disabled offending sample. The aim of the present study was to undertake a content analysis of the offending patterns and general behavior of Disabilities SA clients with a view to ascertaining whether such an assessment is justified for this offending group. The present study involved content analysis of five participants, currently clients of Disabilities SA. A coding schema was used to assess for evidence of four executive functions: Learning from previous experience; Engaging in logical reasoning; Impulse control; and Understanding the reactions of others. Findings suggest that offenders with intellectual disability have difficulties in all four areas. These findings are discussed in terms of the need for more comprehensive assessment and treatment implications.