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Title: Motion- and stationarity-based figure/ground segregation: The effects of temporal asymmetry.
Creator: Eastman, Kathleen E., Florida Atlantic University, Charles E. Schmidt College of Science, Department of Psychology
Abstract/Description: This study investigated figure/ground segregation based on both common movement ("common fate" for the Gestaltists) and perceived stationarity (nonmovement), i.e., a figure presented in two different locations and embedded in noise either appeared moving or stationary when it was perceptually segregated. The effect of differences in the duration of a figure (a three-dot line) in each location was studied in Experiment 1. A figure was presented for the same duration (duty cycle = 0.50) or for...
Show moreThis study investigated figure/ground segregation based on both common movement ("common fate" for the Gestaltists) and perceived stationarity (nonmovement), i.e., a figure presented in two different locations and embedded in noise either appeared moving or stationary when it was perceptually segregated. The effect of differences in the duration of a figure (a three-dot line) in each location was studied in Experiment 1. A figure was presented for the same duration (duty cycle = 0.50) or for different durations (duty cycles of 0.25 and 0.75) in each location (the Temporal Symmetry and Asymmetry conditions, respectively). The figure always appeared to move when it was segregated from background noise (motion-based figure/ground segregation) for Temporal Symmetry. In contrast, figure/ground segregation could be based on the perception of stationarity as well as motion for Temporal Asymmetry. Thresholds (50%) were measured as the number of added noise dots that resulted in perceiving motion of the figure and for perceiving the figure itself. Additional results demonstrated that the figure was perceived in the location having the.75 duty cycle. It is proposed that higher energy in the 0-Hz frequency component in this location results in stationarity-based figure/ground segregation, whereas higher energy in time-varying frequency components underlies motion-based figure/ground segregation. In Experiment 2, hysteresis was observed in the Temporal Asymmetry condition in the transitions between perceived motion and stationarity and between perceived stationarity and noise. In the Temporal Symmetry condition, hysteresis was observed in the transition between perceived motion and noise. The presence of hysteresis indicates that perceived stationarity in the Temporal Asymmetry condition is not due to insufficient activation of motion detectors, but is a stable perceptual state based on mechanisms that are sensitive to 0-Hz energy and compete with motion-detecting mechanisms sensitive to energy in time-varying frequency components. Judgments of motion direction in Experiment 3 provided tentative evidence that both duration of the briefer frame and duty cycle influence perceived motion.
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Date Issued: 1995
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/fcla/dt/12408
Subject Headings: Psychology, Experimental
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: SEX DIFFERENCES IN AROUSAL REDUCTION DURING AN INTERPERSONAL VERBAL CONFLICT.
Creator: COLOMBO, JACK., Florida Atlantic University, O'Donovan, Denis, Charles E. Schmidt College of Science, Department of Psychology
Abstract/Description: The purpose of this study was to investigate differences in arousal reduction between males and females as a function of the sex of target and type of verbal counterresponse, during an interpersonal conflict. The independent variables were the sex of subject, sex of target and type of counterresponse. The dependent variable was the arousal reduction score. Twenty undergraduate males and twenty undergraduate females were used. Sex differences in arousal reduction for subjects counterresponding...
Show moreThe purpose of this study was to investigate differences in arousal reduction between males and females as a function of the sex of target and type of verbal counterresponse, during an interpersonal conflict. The independent variables were the sex of subject, sex of target and type of counterresponse. The dependent variable was the arousal reduction score. Twenty undergraduate males and twenty undergraduate females were used. Sex differences in arousal reduction for subjects counterresponding to verbal aggression were found for sex of subject, sex of target and type of counterresponse. Male subjects showed significant arousal reduction only for the disagree counterresponse and females showed arousal reduction only for the agreed counterresponse. Significant arousal reduction occurred only when the subject disagreed with a male target and agreed with a female target.
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Date Issued: 1975
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/fcla/dt/13719
Subject Headings: Psychology, Experimental
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: Behavioral and electroencephalographic analysis of visuomotor coordination.
Creator: Taylor, Debra, Florida Atlantic University, Charles E. Schmidt College of Science, Center for Complex Systems and Brain Sciences
Abstract/Description: Sensorimotor coordination is used in everyday behavior. This includes discrete reactive behaviors, such as maneuvers made to avoid a predator that was heard in the distance, or continuous rhythmic behaviors, such as riding a bicycle. Researchers have studied the behavioral aspects of sensorimotor coordination for over a century and various models have been proposed to account for these findings in terms of the nervous system. The purpose of this thesis was to use behavioral measures and...
Show moreSensorimotor coordination is used in everyday behavior. This includes discrete reactive behaviors, such as maneuvers made to avoid a predator that was heard in the distance, or continuous rhythmic behaviors, such as riding a bicycle. Researchers have studied the behavioral aspects of sensorimotor coordination for over a century and various models have been proposed to account for these findings in terms of the nervous system. The purpose of this thesis was to use behavioral measures and electroencephalographic (EEG) recordings in humans to address several of the remaining issues regarding the spatiotemporal dynamics of cortical activity involved in continuous sensorimotor coordination. First, are the spatiotemporal patterns of cortical activity different for discrete and continuous coordination behaviors? To investigate discrete coordination, a simple reaction time (RT) task was used: upon each random presentation of the visual stimulus (2.5--3.5 sec ISI), subjects responded with a unimanual index finger flexion. Continuous coordination was studied via a synchronization-continuation paradigm, which used the same visual stimulus (1 sec ISI) and the same unimanual index finger flexion as in the reaction time task. By keeping the stimulus and motor properties constant for the two types of coordination it was hypothesized that differences in cortical activity would relate to an internal timekeeping system responsible for pacing the rhythmic movements made during continuous coordination. Several models postulate that oscillatory activity is used by the brain for maintaining task timing information (see Miall, 1989, and Church and Broadbent, 1991, for example). Frequency analysis revealed phase-locking of the alpha rhythm in the occipital lobe. This rhythm appears to play a role as a neural timekeeper mechanism: it was found that the degree of alpha phase-locking was predictable from the expected dependence on neural timekeeping, i.e. continuation was greater than synchronization, which is in turn was greater than reaction. These results also support the concept of modality specificity in neural timekeeping mechanisms (reviewed in Matell and Meck, 2004). Furthermore, the behavioral and EEG results support the theory that continuous sensorimotor coordination is largely influenced by timekeeping mechanisms, with sensory stimulation being employed occasionally to keep timing relatively accurate (Hary and Moore, 1987).
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Date Issued: 2005
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/fcla/dt/12143
Subject Headings: Psychology, Experimental, Psychology, Cognitive
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: The effect of prior knowledge and metamemory on the acquisition of a reading comprehension strategy.
Creator: Gaultney, Jane F., Florida Atlantic University, Charles E. Schmidt College of Science, Department of Psychology
Abstract/Description: This experiment examined the impact of knowledge base and declarative metamemory knowledge on the acquisition of a reading comprehension strategy. Fourth- and fifth-grade boys who were poor readers were tested for their baseball knowledge and declarative metamemory knowledge. Those boys who were designated as baseball experts were included in the experiment. The boys were pretested for strategy use and comprehension, received two days of training in the use of the strategy, and then were...
Show moreThis experiment examined the impact of knowledge base and declarative metamemory knowledge on the acquisition of a reading comprehension strategy. Fourth- and fifth-grade boys who were poor readers were tested for their baseball knowledge and declarative metamemory knowledge. Those boys who were designated as baseball experts were included in the experiment. The boys were pretested for strategy use and comprehension, received two days of training in the use of the strategy, and then were later tested twice: once within 3 days of training, then again 2-3 weeks later. The boys were divided into four groups. The T-BB (training, baseball stories) group received training in the use of the strategy using baseball stories. The T-NB (training, nonbaseball) group received equivalent training but used nonbaseball sports stories. Two control groups received equal time with the experimenter and equal reading practice with either baseball or nonbaseball stories, but were not taught the strategy. Because there were no differences in the level of strategy use or comprehension of the two control groups they were later combined into one control group. The target strategy was the asking of "why" questions in response to facts in the text. The asking of "why" questions has been hypothesized to activate relevant schema which are then used to facilitate the memorization of new material. Poor readers often do not utilize their existing knowledge to process new information. Children who received training with baseball stories (T-BB) demonstrated greater strategy acquisition than both other groups when tested both 2-3 days later (near posttest), and also when tested 2-3 weeks later (distant posttest). Group membership (T-BB, T-NB, or Control) did not impact free or cued recall. Declarative metacognitive knowledge impacted strategy acquisition and recall. Higher-metacognitive children asked more "why" questions than did lower-metacognitive children, demonstrated greater free recall, and were more likely to benefit from the strategy training in terms of cued recall. An unexpected finding was that children in the T-BB group asked more "why" questions in response to nonbaseball rather than baseball stories. This was discussed in terms of an appropriate increase of monitoring by the children who were trained within their area of expertise. Overall, children recalled more of the baseball than the nonbaseball stories. While both training groups had significant correlations between strategy use and free recall at the distant posttest, indicating a recall benefit associated with strategy use, only T-BB children had significant correlations at the near posttest.
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Date Issued: 1992
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/fcla/dt/12304
Subject Headings: Psychology, Developmental, Psychology, Experimental
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: The dynamic construction of moral judgment.
Creator: Rockloff, Matthew Justus, Florida Atlantic University, Charles E. Schmidt College of Science, Department of Psychology
Abstract/Description: The time dynamics of moral judgments were investigated in two studies. In the first, participants recorded verbal recollections of an event in which they had been treated unjustly by another. Listening to their own recordings, participants used a relatively new instrument (the mouse paradigm) to express their moment to moment feelings, attributing "responsibility," "justification" and "intent" to their antagonist. In a second experiment, a different group of participants recorded their...
Show moreThe time dynamics of moral judgments were investigated in two studies. In the first, participants recorded verbal recollections of an event in which they had been treated unjustly by another. Listening to their own recordings, participants used a relatively new instrument (the mouse paradigm) to express their moment to moment feelings, attributing "responsibility," "justification" and "intent" to their antagonist. In a second experiment, a different group of participants recorded their feelings about a scripted academic honor code violation. While listening to their recordings, participants used the computer mouse to indicate their moment to moment feelings about the "actor," "transgression," and "punishment" described in the story. Results from both studies suggest that at any one moment, participants made judgments that uniformly characterized the transgressor in either positive or negative terms. Expressions of moral judgments, however, often changed dramatically from moment to moment between positive or negative modal values. Moreover, the flow of moral judgment resembled the temporal patterns observed in many formal and natural dynamical systems. Despite these changes, moral judgments became more stable over time; demonstrated coherence among the separately measured dimensions; and showed sensitivity to an importance manipulation. By replicating these classic findings in the attitude literature, this research helps validate the utility of the mouse paradigm in measuring moral judgments. The results further suggest that moral judgments are multi modal over time---casting doubt on the usefulness of the (averaged) judgments that are computed with traditional questionnaire instruments.
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Date Issued: 1999, 1999
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/fcla/dt/12611
Subject Headings: Psychology, Social, Psychology, Experimental
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: Interaction between surface-based and edge-based motion mechanisms in the perception of apparent motion.
Creator: Nichols, David F., Florida Atlantic University, Charles E. Schmidt College of Science, Department of Psychology
Abstract/Description: The motion of an object may be perceived based on a change in location of either its surface or edges. By isolating the luminance changes produced by a moving object from the physical displacement of its surface and edges, it was found that a static object appears to move when the luminance changes are restricted to a narrow area adjacent to it. Therefore, changes in the luminance contrast of edges are sufficient for the perception of object motion. However, the existence of different motion...
Show moreThe motion of an object may be perceived based on a change in location of either its surface or edges. By isolating the luminance changes produced by a moving object from the physical displacement of its surface and edges, it was found that a static object appears to move when the luminance changes are restricted to a narrow area adjacent to it. Therefore, changes in the luminance contrast of edges are sufficient for the perception of object motion. However, the existence of different motion signals based on luminance changes of edges and surfaces was confirmed by the occurrence of different motion percepts for the same stimulus configuration. As the width of the region which changed in luminance was increased, edge-based motion percepts were replaced by a surface-based motion percept. This study was primarily concerned with the interaction between the mechanisms that signal edge-based motion and surface-based motion. It was found that surface-based motion mechanisms inhibit edge-based motion mechanisms, even when the different motion patterns were in the same direction. Modulating the effects of this inhibition was facilitation between edge-based motion mechanisms when two sliding-edge motions were possible in the same direction. Less facilitation, and possibly inhibition, occurred when the sliding-edge motions were in the opposite compared with the same direction. Finally, there was even greater inhibition from surface-based motion mechanisms ado edge-based motion mechanisms when the different motion patterns were specified in the opposite compared with the same direction. It is concluded that much of the observed inhibition results from high-level perceptual processes that distinguish between whether particular luminance changes are caused by the disappearance and reappearance of one object or by the local movement of multiple objects. Assuming that jumping-object motion is perceived naturally when there is an interruption in the visual processing of a moving object, such as with blinking, the nature of the inhibition would serve to, reduce the inappropriate perception of motion for ether objects adjacent to the previously and newly occupied locations of the moving object.
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Date Issued: 2006
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/fcla/dt/12235
Subject Headings: Psychology, Experimental, Psychology, Cognitive
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: A transient mechanism for the perception of apparent motion.
Creator: Gilroy, Lee Alan, Florida Atlantic University, Charles E. Schmidt College of Science, Department of Psychology
Abstract/Description: This study investigated the viability of a transient mechanism for the detection of counter-changing luminance, argued by Hock, et al. (2002) to be the informational basis for the perception of apparent motion. A series of experiments verified assumptions of the proposed mechanism and provided additional support for counter-changing luminance as the basis for apparent motion perception. It was found that: (1) The likelihood of perceiving apparent motion is best predicted by the product of...
Show moreThis study investigated the viability of a transient mechanism for the detection of counter-changing luminance, argued by Hock, et al. (2002) to be the informational basis for the perception of apparent motion. A series of experiments verified assumptions of the proposed mechanism and provided additional support for counter-changing luminance as the basis for apparent motion perception. It was found that: (1) The likelihood of perceiving apparent motion is best predicted by the product of local changes in luminance. This provided the basis for the multiplicative combination of subunit responses in the proposed mechanism (i.e. there is no motion signaled without coincident activation of both subunits). (2) When a brief interval of time separates a sequence of luminance onsets and offsets, or a sequence of luminance offsets, at a single element location, subunits exhibit summation of excitatory/inhibitory and excitatory/excitatory responses, respectively. This was consistent with the output of each subunit being determined by its biphasic temporal impulse response. (3) Apparent motion is specified only when there is a luminance offset at one location accompanied by a luminance onset at another location, and the likelihood of perceiving motion decreases with increases in the interval of time (ISI) separating the luminance offset from the luminance onset. Evidence that motion is not perceived beyond a limited range of ISI values indicated that the subunits respond transiently to luminance change. Accordingly, the effects of (ISI) are attributed to a reduction in the temporal coincidence of transient responses. This was supported by evidence that motion can be perceived when a luminance onset (indicating the end of the motion path) occurs before a luminance offset (indicating the start of the motion path). Computational simulations based on the product of transient responses to luminance offsets and onsets provide good qualitative matches to the experimental findings.
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Date Issued: 2002
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/fcla/dt/12004
Subject Headings: Psychology, Experimental, Psychology, Cognitive
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: Asymmetric dynamics of human limb coordination.
Creator: Jeka, John Joseph, Florida Atlantic University, Charles E. Schmidt College of Science, Department of Psychology
Abstract/Description: The dynamics of pattern formation and change are studied in a complex, multicomponent system, specifically the arms and legs of human subjects. Previous studies (Kelso & Jeka, in press) have demonstrated novel features in the coordinative dynamics of an arm-leg pair, including: (1) differential stability of coordinative modes produced by limbs moving in the same (S-mode) versus different (D-mode) directions; (2) a slow drift in relative phase preceding transitions from the D- to the S-mode; ...
Show moreThe dynamics of pattern formation and change are studied in a complex, multicomponent system, specifically the arms and legs of human subjects. Previous studies (Kelso & Jeka, in press) have demonstrated novel features in the coordinative dynamics of an arm-leg pair, including: (1) differential stability of coordinative modes produced by limbs moving in the same (S-mode) versus different (D-mode) directions; (2) a slow drift in relative phase preceding transitions from the D- to the S-mode; (3) preferred transition routes between patterns; and (4) spontaneous emergence of non 1:1 frequency- and phase-locked patterns, in addition to periods of relative coordination. These phenomena have been encompassed theoretically in a model of coupled oscillators which includes a symmetry-breaking term to represent the difference in the uncoupled frequencies of the arm and leg (Kelso et al., 1990). To test predictions of the (Kelso et al., 1990) model, the first of two studies was aimed at whether manipulation of the inherent biophysical differences between the arm and leg, through inertial loading, would be reflected in their coordinative dynamics. The results showed that loading the leg led to the highest percentage of: (1) D- to S-mode transitions in the down direction (i.e., with decreasing values of relative phase); and (2) transitions to phase wandering. Loading the arm led to: (1) an approximately equal number of transitions in either the up or down direction; and (2) very few transitions to phase wandering. The conclusion was that adding weight to the arm or leg was influential in minimizing or enhancing the coordinative asymmetry, respectively. A second study used the same loading conditions as Experiment 1 within a perturbation paradigm to study possible differences in relaxation time and perturbation-induced transitions, as additional measures of the asymmetry of the coordinative dynamics. Relaxation time and perturbation-induced transition pathways showed no effects of inertial loading. Pretransition relative phase showed a steady decrease when the leg was loaded and very little drift in the arm load condition. Pretransition relaxation time increased systematically with required frequency and relative phase variability, but only with perturbations in the up direction (i.e., increasing values of relative phase). These effects were consistent with model predictions and showed that asymmetric dynamics characterized the coordinative patterns of anatomically different components.
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Date Issued: 1992
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/fcla/dt/12303
Subject Headings: Psychology, Experimental, Biophysics, General
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: Ambiguity and information in musical-tone structures.
Creator: Giangrande, Janice, Florida Atlantic University, Charles E. Schmidt College of Science, Department of Psychology
Abstract/Description: Previous studies of the relative pitch of intervals composed of Shepard tones (Shepard, 1964) revealed a sinusoidal structure of the directional distortion. Deutsch and coworkers found a similar sinusoidal structure when tritones alone were presented to listeners (Deutsch, 1987). In the first study, the tritone paradox was studied among listeners in Florida. The typical sinusoidal response function appeared for averaged data as well as for tones generated in two different octave ranges,...
Show morePrevious studies of the relative pitch of intervals composed of Shepard tones (Shepard, 1964) revealed a sinusoidal structure of the directional distortion. Deutsch and coworkers found a similar sinusoidal structure when tritones alone were presented to listeners (Deutsch, 1987). In the first study, the tritone paradox was studied among listeners in Florida. The typical sinusoidal response function appeared for averaged data as well as for tones generated in two different octave ranges, consistent with earlier work (Deutsch, 1991; 1994). The degree of context sensitivity of tritones composed of Shepard tones and Deutsch tones is discussed in terms of what we call a whole tone context. This idea is explored in the second study. The second study measures the relative distribution and rate of new musical information growth in melodic flows in pre-20th and 20th century diatonic styles, and compares these with 20th century melodies in whole tone and pantonal compositional settings. Three measures of complexity were used in these analyses: (1) metric or probabilistic entropy, hM, is derived from the melodic sequence as a Markov process yielding a logarithmic quantifier of the dispension of statistical weight in its asymptotic distribution; (2) topological entropy, hT, quantifies the logarithmic rate of growth of new pitch pattern subsequences along the melodic line; (3) hT - hM = 0 in a uniformly random system so that deviation from zero indicates nonuniformity in the melodic line, i.e., [(hT - hM) < 0]1 < [(hT - hM) < 0]2 says the former makes more motions on fewer melodic elements. Analyses of 34 compositions indicated that the metric entropy, hM, alone is not distinguishing, consistent with the findings of Boon and Decroly (1990). However, the topological entropy, hT, quantified differences within a composer's work, and the ratio hT - hM distinguished among composers. The findings suggest that complexity measured by the difference (ratio) in entropy computations is lower in 20th century styles in which the tritone is part of the interval vocabulary (e.g., Bartok and Schoenberg) than in 19th or 20th century styles (e.g., Mozart and Prokofiev) in which functional harmony dominates the tonal picture and the tritone is considered an altered fourth or fifth. The metric and topological entropies considered together suggest a technique for quantifiable characterization of differences between the works of composers studied, including those of the 20th century.
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Date Issued: 1996
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/fcla/dt/12451
Subject Headings: Music, Psychology, Experimental
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: Functional stabilization of unstable systems.
Creator: Foo, Patrick Stephen, Florida Atlantic University, Kelso, J. A. Scott
Abstract/Description: Humans are often faced with tasks that require stabilizing inherently unstable situations. We performed four experiments to explore the nature of functional stabilization. In Experiment 1 participants balanced a pole until a time criterion was reached. The geometry, mass, and characteristic "fall time" of the pole were manipulated. Distributions of timing between pole and hand velocities showed strong action-perception coupling. When actions demonstrated a potential for failure, the period of...
Show moreHumans are often faced with tasks that require stabilizing inherently unstable situations. We performed four experiments to explore the nature of functional stabilization. In Experiment 1 participants balanced a pole until a time criterion was reached. The geometry, mass, and characteristic "fall time" of the pole were manipulated. Distributions of timing between pole and hand velocities showed strong action-perception coupling. When actions demonstrated a potential for failure, the period of hand oscillation correlated significantly with the "time to balance" (t bal=theta/theta.), where q is pole angle re: the vertical balance point, but not other quantities such as theta and theta. alone. This suggested that participants were attending to available t bal information during critical situations. In a model analysis and simulation, we demonstrated how discrete t bal information may be used to adjust the parameters of a controller to perform this task. In Experiment 2 participants balanced a virtual inverted pendulum under manipulations designed: (1) to decouple the mechanics of the system from its visual image; (2) to alter the mapping of perception and action; and (3) to perturb successful balancing. A replication of the correlation analysis of Experiment 1 revealed that across all conditions, significant relationships existed between visually specified t -variables and hand oscillation during critical motions of the pole. These results suggested that participants use the same t bal information to successfully stabilize both virtual and physical unstable systems, despite quite dramatic visual and mechanical transformations. In Experiments 3 and 4 we investigated how parts of the body, or individuals in a social dyad cooperate to perform a functional stabilization task. Participants balanced a pole either intermanually (using 2 separate hands) or interpersonally (2 persons each using their preferred right hand) until a time criterion was reached. Although the magnitudes of the forces exerted by each hand were different, an analysis of the timing of the forces revealed that intermanual (interpersonal) participants developed a consistent antiphase (inphase) coordination pattern. These different coordination patterns allowed for the recruitment of previously unavailable efferent and afferent connections to produce the net forces that served to stabilize the pole via theta. (see Experiment 1).
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Date Issued: 2000
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/fcla/dt/12656
Subject Headings: Psychology, Experimental, Human mechanics
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: Contextual influences on real-time processing of linguistic stimuli: Traditional and dynamical approaches.
Creator: Raczaszek, Joanna, Florida Atlantic University, Charles E. Schmidt College of Science, Center for Complex Systems and Brain Sciences
Abstract/Description: This work examines contextual influences on processing of linguistic stimuli. The traditional (symbolic) models of context influences are reviewed and their shortcomings pointed out. The dynamical approach, recently emerging in the area of behavioral sciences, is suggested as a viable alternative. Two studies follow. In the first one we use the case of perception of ambiguous sentences to show that perception of linguistic stimuli is the outcome of an underlying dynamical process. Thus it may...
Show moreThis work examines contextual influences on processing of linguistic stimuli. The traditional (symbolic) models of context influences are reviewed and their shortcomings pointed out. The dynamical approach, recently emerging in the area of behavioral sciences, is suggested as a viable alternative. Two studies follow. In the first one we use the case of perception of ambiguous sentences to show that perception of linguistic stimuli is the outcome of an underlying dynamical process. Thus it may be better described in dynamical terms, employing notions such as multistability and differential coherence of patterns, than in the traditional, symbolic framework. The second study is an on-line investigation of contextual adaptation. We studied general category names embedded in neutral or biasing sentential contexts. The results obtained indicate that the initial lexical access is context independent. The relative availability of particular members of category suggests that the initial state is best captured by a multistable representation, which may be essential for the flexibility of linguistic processing. Contextual adaptation seems to occur later in the unfolding sentence. A more detailed investigation into the timing and nature of contextual adaptation suggests that this adaptation takes the form of rapid reorganization of conceptual information rather than just facilitation of relevant category members. The results of the studies presented have implications both for dynamical and psycholinguistic approaches. The main implication for the dynamical approach is the importance of using on-line methods in studies of perception. Dynamical studies that use off-line methods perhaps miss an important stage of processing: a transition from locally invariant to contextually congruent organization of information. For psycholinguistics the characterization of language processing as pattern formation has at least three major advantages: (1) capturing the timing of the processes allows for including distinctions between fast/slow, linear/nonlinear processing, (2) conceptualization of the initially available lexical information as a constraint on possible meanings rather than meaning itself allows for accounting for apparently contradictory psycholinguistic data, (3) adding the dimension of stability of the patterns generated during language processing makes possible new predictions regarding speed and variability of performance on various psycholinguistic tasks.
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Date Issued: 1995
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/fcla/dt/12434
Subject Headings: Language, Linguistics, Psychology, Experimental
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: Developmental differences in the source monitoring of efficient and inefficient inhibitors.
Creator: Kennedy, Elizabeth Carol, Florida Atlantic University, Charles E. Schmidt College of Science, Department of Psychology
Abstract/Description: Source monitoring capabilities in children four, five, and six years of age classified along high and low inhibition abilities were investigated in three different conditions of source monitoring: reality monitoring, internal source monitoring, and external source monitoring. Specifically, children's misattribution errors in internal and reality source monitoring conditions with regard to their inhibition status was investigated. During one testing session, children were randomly assigned to...
Show moreSource monitoring capabilities in children four, five, and six years of age classified along high and low inhibition abilities were investigated in three different conditions of source monitoring: reality monitoring, internal source monitoring, and external source monitoring. Specifically, children's misattribution errors in internal and reality source monitoring conditions with regard to their inhibition status was investigated. During one testing session, children were randomly assigned to the three source monitoring conditions and invited to participate in puzzle completion tasks. In the reality source monitoring condition, children and experimenters took turns placing the puzzle pieces on a puzzle board. In the internal source monitoring condition, children were requested to actually place half of the puzzle pieces of their choice and to pretend to place the other half on the board. In the external source monitoring condition, children were requested to watch two different experimenters taking turns placing puzzle pieces on the board. After a short retention interval, children were surprised with a puzzle piece recall test. Children's inhibition abilities were assessed with three different inhibition tasks during a subsequent testing session and consisted of a tapping test, Simon Says test, and response compatibility test. Median splits determined children's inhibition abilities as either high (efficient) or low (inefficient). Sets of analysis of variance tests compared participants' general recall performance abilities among the three conditions of source monitoring and evaluated participants' reality and internal performance abilities with regard to inhibition status. The first set of analyses indicated that children made the most recall errors in the external source monitoring condition and the fewest in the reality source monitoring condition. The second set of analyses revealed that 4-year-old boys, compared to 5- and 6-year-old boys, committed more errors toward the misattribution bias in the internal condition, while 4-year-old girls, compared to 5- and 6-year-old girls, committed more errors against the bias. The third set of analyses supported the hypothesis that inefficient inhibitors on the tapping task committed more errors toward the misattribution bias in the internal source monitoring condition than those in the reality condition.
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Date Issued: 1998, 1998
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/fcla/dt/12556
Subject Headings: Psychology, Developmental, Psychology, Experimental, Psychology, Cognitive
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: The effects of dispositional perspective taking, cognitive busyness, and situational information on retaliative aggression: An attributional interpretation.
Creator: Jones, Charles Eric, Florida Atlantic University, Charles E. Schmidt College of Science, Department of Psychology
Abstract/Description: Previous research has concluded that individuals high in perspective taking respond less aggressively to provocation than do those low in perspective taking. Whether the perspective-taking effect is automatic or not and many other process-related questions remain largely unanswered. One hundred sixteen female college students participated in a competitive reaction-time task, received escalatory negative feedback purportedly from another participant. In addition to being categorized as either...
Show morePrevious research has concluded that individuals high in perspective taking respond less aggressively to provocation than do those low in perspective taking. Whether the perspective-taking effect is automatic or not and many other process-related questions remain largely unanswered. One hundred sixteen female college students participated in a competitive reaction-time task, received escalatory negative feedback purportedly from another participant. In addition to being categorized as either high or low perspective takers, participants also received either high or low levels of situational information about the other and high or low levels of cognitive busyness. Participants high in perspective taking who were under high cognitive load responded significantly less aggressively than did participants low in perspective taking. Results suggest that perspective taking is an automatic process. The findings are discussed in terms of attribution theory, complexity-extremity theory, and in terms of an arousal-dominant response model.
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Date Issued: 2000
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/fcla/dt/12657
Subject Headings: Psychology, Behavioral, Psychology, Social, Psychology, Experimental
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: Social context and sex-typing in young children: Friendship status and peer affect influences.
Creator: Sung, Hung-yen Angela, Florida Atlantic University, Charles E. Schmidt College of Science, Department of Psychology
Abstract/Description: Social context effects on young children's sex-typing were examined in two studies. In Study 1 sex-typed toy choices of 139 children aged 4 to 8 were assessed first for a solitary-play context, and then for three social contexts distinguished as to friendship status of a specified play partner (represented by a photo): best friend, acquaintance, and an unfamiliar peer. For each context, children selected preferred toys from photographs of a neutral toy paired with either a same- or opposite...
Show moreSocial context effects on young children's sex-typing were examined in two studies. In Study 1 sex-typed toy choices of 139 children aged 4 to 8 were assessed first for a solitary-play context, and then for three social contexts distinguished as to friendship status of a specified play partner (represented by a photo): best friend, acquaintance, and an unfamiliar peer. For each context, children selected preferred toys from photographs of a neutral toy paired with either a same- or opposite-sex toy. Results indicated social context effects for girls but not boys, in that girls tended to display more sex-typed toy choices in the solitary and best-friend than in the acquaintance or unfamiliar peer contexts. In general, however, girls approached same-sex toys less than boys, while both sexes avoided opposite-sex toys to a similar extent. In Study 2 subjects were 68 children aged 4 to 7. They were asked to imitate videotaped masculine, feminine, and neutral actions of a hand puppet. For different children, the puppet was designated (by name and photo display) as either a best friend or acquaintance, and it engaged in the sex-typed activities with either gender-congruent or incongruent affect (happy for same-sex actions and sad for opposite-sex actions, or the reverse). Friendship status and gender-affect congruency effects which varied with age level were evident for several memory measures. Incongruency promoted accurate imitative matching for the acquaintance context in younger children, and for the best-friend context in older children. In addition, best-friends' feminine actions were imitated more accurately than their masculine or neutral actions. Subject age and sex also interacted with activity gender type and gender-affect congruency to influence peer affect recall, with poorer recall of feminine-activity affect by boys in the incongruent condition. While social context had little impact upon boys' reported affect, girls' enjoyment was lower for masculine activity imitation in the best-friend congruent-affect condition. Overall, the two studies demonstrate that young children's gendered behaviors show considerable sensitivity to social context factors, and indicate the important influence of affective factors in early sex-typing.
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Date Issued: 1996
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/fcla/dt/12473
Subject Headings: Psychology, Social, Psychology, Developmental, Psychology, Experimental
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: Learning to hear new speech sounds: A dynamical approach.
Creator: Case, Pamela S., Florida Atlantic University, Charles E. Schmidt College of Science, Center for Complex Systems and Brain Sciences
Abstract/Description: When adults attempt to learn new speech sounds, they do so in the context of the phonology of their native language. The purpose of the present work is to investigate the nature of the learning process; that is, to examine, in individuals, (1) the process of acquiring a new phonetic category, (2) the impact of learning a new phonetic category on a similar, existing category, and (3) transfer of learning to a novel phonetic context. Monolingual American English speakers were required to learn...
Show moreWhen adults attempt to learn new speech sounds, they do so in the context of the phonology of their native language. The purpose of the present work is to investigate the nature of the learning process; that is, to examine, in individuals, (1) the process of acquiring a new phonetic category, (2) the impact of learning a new phonetic category on a similar, existing category, and (3) transfer of learning to a novel phonetic context. Monolingual American English speakers were required to learn the Hindi voiced, unaspirated, dental stop consonant. Two synthetic speech continua (one voiced, the other voiceless) were created, spanning a range from Hindi dental to American English alveolar stop consonants. Subjects underwent a perceptual mapping procedure that included identification, judged goodness, and difference-rating tasks in order to establish how they perceived the stimuli initially. Then they participated in a two-alternative, forced-choice training program using only voiced, natural speech stimuli. Progress was monitored throughout training. Following training, the mapping procedure was repeated with both the voiced and voiceless continua. After at least a two-week delay with no further training, subjects participated in a follow-up test. Results indicate that the nature of change during the learning process depends on how the individual listener perceives the stimuli prior to training and on the order of presentation of stimuli.
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Date Issued: 1996
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/fcla/dt/12475
Subject Headings: Language, Linguistics, Psychology, Experimental, Psychology, Cognitive
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: Exposure to reading and motivation to read as mediators of the relationship between socioeconomic status and reading comprehension skills in adolescents: A multi-national investigation.
Creator: Vagi, Kevin J., Florida Atlantic University, Charles E. Schmidt College of Science, Department of Psychology
Abstract/Description: This study examined the hypothesis that both exposure to reading materials in the home and intrinsic motivation to read mediate the relationship between socioeconomic status and reading comprehension skills in adolescents. Data were derived from the Program for International Student Assessment 2000 dataset (PISA 2000). Six countries out of forty-three were chosen on the basis of country-level SES: two from the bottom 25th percentile (Thailand, Mexico), two at the 50th percentile (Austria,...
Show moreThis study examined the hypothesis that both exposure to reading materials in the home and intrinsic motivation to read mediate the relationship between socioeconomic status and reading comprehension skills in adolescents. Data were derived from the Program for International Student Assessment 2000 dataset (PISA 2000). Six countries out of forty-three were chosen on the basis of country-level SES: two from the bottom 25th percentile (Thailand, Mexico), two at the 50th percentile (Austria, France), and two at the 75th percentile (Norway, United States). Data analysis was conducted on a total of 27,351 participants and 823 schools. Hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) analyses were conducted to examine predictors of reading comprehension skills. Follow-up analyses using logistic regression were conducted to predict group membership (i.e., poor vs. normal readers). Results support the idea that exposure to reading materials in the home mediates the relationship between SES and reading comprehension skills at the child level, regardless of the overall economic state of the country. This relationship did not hold when predicting at the school level. Intrinsic motivation to read was consistently a poor predictor.
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Date Issued: 2006
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/fcla/dt/12236
Subject Headings: Education, Reading, Psychology, Developmental, Psychology, Experimental
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: Effects of giftedness and achievement on the training and transfer of a strategy for solving analogies.
Creator: Muir-Broaddus, Jacqueline E., Florida Atlantic University, Charles E. Schmidt College of Science, Department of Psychology
Abstract/Description: This research explored group differences according to giftedness and achievement in the acquisition and generalization of a strategy for solving analogies. A distinction was made between proximal and distal transfer, with the latter expected to differentiate between gifted and nongifted cognition. Underachievement in gifted children was expected to reflect either strategy deficits, or the absence of performance differences in a theoretically important cognitive skill (generalization) between...
Show moreThis research explored group differences according to giftedness and achievement in the acquisition and generalization of a strategy for solving analogies. A distinction was made between proximal and distal transfer, with the latter expected to differentiate between gifted and nongifted cognition. Underachievement in gifted children was expected to reflect either strategy deficits, or the absence of performance differences in a theoretically important cognitive skill (generalization) between the so-called "underachieving" gifted and other bright but nongifted children. 162 seventh and eighth graders were selected according to intelligence and achievement scores, academic program, and teacher opinion, and assigned to one of four groups: high achieving gifted, underachieving gifted, high achieving nongifted, and average achieving nongifted. Each child was seen individually for two sessions, and solved a total of five sets of ten multiple-choice analogies. The first session included two baseline trials (one verbal and one figural set), followed by training in the use of a strategy. The second session included a proximal transfer trial (same analogy type as used at training), and a distal transfer trial (analogies from the never-trained domain). All analogies were solved orally, and strategy use was determined from audio-recordings. The results showed that the high achieving gifted children were more spontaneously, frequently, and successfully strategic than the other three groups, as well as most accurate following the decision not to use a strategy. They were also the only group to show performance increases at distal transfer. In terms of gifted underachievement, there was evidence to support both hypotheses. The underachieving gifted children showed qualitative deficits in strategic functioning as compared to their high achieving gifted counterparts, and also tended to "look" like the high achieving nongifted group in their patterns of performance. These results were discussed in terms of the likelihood of subgroups of underachieving gifted children, and their implications for education and the identification of giftedness.
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Date Issued: 1990
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/fcla/dt/12258
Subject Headings: Education, Educational Psychology, Education, Special, Psychology, Developmental, Psychology, Experimental
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: Behavioral contingencies, not pharmacological exposure, determine the development, loss and retention of tolerance to amphetamine hypophagia.
Creator: Hughes, Katherine M., Florida Atlantic University, Charles E. Schmidt College of Science, Department of Psychology
Abstract/Description: The purpose of this study was to determine whether behavioral contingencies or pharmacological exposure governs the development, loss and retention of tolerance to amphetamine-induced hypophagia in rats. In Experiment 1, rats that had developed tolerance by learning to suppress stereotypy that interfered with feeding from a bottle were divided into three groups to test the retention of tolerance. The Before group received injections of amphetamine (2.0 mg/kg) before access to milk, the After...
Show moreThe purpose of this study was to determine whether behavioral contingencies or pharmacological exposure governs the development, loss and retention of tolerance to amphetamine-induced hypophagia in rats. In Experiment 1, rats that had developed tolerance by learning to suppress stereotypy that interfered with feeding from a bottle were divided into three groups to test the retention of tolerance. The Before group received injections of amphetamine (2.0 mg/kg) before access to milk, the After group received injections of amphetamine after access to milk, and the Saline group received injections of saline before access to milk. Both the After and Saline groups lost tolerance when later tested with amphetamine before milk tests. Thus, the loss of tolerance was not a function of drug withdrawal, because drug exposure remained constant in the After group. When milk reward was obtained noncontingently, tolerance was lost even though pharmacological exposure was maintained. Behavioral strategies that were learned while intoxicated were replaced with new learning when the contingencies were changed. Experiment 2 determined that tolerance loss was a function of new learning and not simply ingesting milk in the unintoxicated state. Bottle-fed tolerant rats were given amphetamine prior to intraoral feeding of milk during a retention interval. Subsequent testing with amphetamine in the bottle condition revealed that tolerance was lost. Because the cannula feeding condition does not require suppression of stereotypy, milk reward was available noncontingently in the intoxicated state and tolerance was lost even though drug exposure was maintained. In Experiment 3 rats were given chronic amphetamine injections and intraoral feeding. Subsequent tests with amphetamine and bottle feeding revealed that no tolerance developed. These results demonstrate that even when ingestion occurs in the intoxicated state, no tolerance develops if milk reward is available noncontingently. Animals that drank intraorally were not tolerant when tested in the bottle condition.
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Date Issued: 2000
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/fcla/dt/12659
Subject Headings: Psychology, Psychobiology, Psychology, Behavioral, Health Sciences, Pharmacology, Psychology, Experimental
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: Syllable structure and stress effects on articulatory coordination.
Creator: Gleason, Philip Lawrence, Florida Atlantic University, Charles E. Schmidt College of Science, Center for Complex Systems and Brain Sciences
Abstract/Description: Two experiments are reported, both dealing with syllable affiliation of a consonant. The first experiment extends the work of Tuller and Kelso (1990) and was designed to capture the signatures of loss of stability in a dynamical system (enhanced fluctuations and critical slowing). An Articulograph device (Carstens Medizinelektronik GmbH.) was used to track the movements of the tongue tip, the lower lip, and the jaw in the midsagittal plane while the subjects spoke a VCC word in time to an...
Show moreTwo experiments are reported, both dealing with syllable affiliation of a consonant. The first experiment extends the work of Tuller and Kelso (1990) and was designed to capture the signatures of loss of stability in a dynamical system (enhanced fluctuations and critical slowing). An Articulograph device (Carstens Medizinelektronik GmbH.) was used to track the movements of the tongue tip, the lower lip, and the jaw in the midsagittal plane while the subjects spoke a VCC word in time to an auditory metronome at a slowly increasing rate. A clear transition occurred in the phonetics (VCC -> CVC) as judged by a phonetically trained listener, and the transition in phonetics corresponded to a change in the relative phase between the tongue tip and the lower lip and between the tongue tip and jaw. The transition was accompanied by both enhanced fluctuations and critical slowing for subjects who complied with the metronome. The second experiment examined syllable affiliation in natural English phrases with contrasting metrical structures. The phonemes /s/, /t/ and /k/, were used, and the tongue tip, tongue blade, and jaw were recorded by the Articulograph device. Consistent relative timing of the consonant movement in relation to vowel movement was observed, thus supporting the position that syllable affiliation is expressed as distinct phase values in natural speech as well as reiterated speech. In addition, the evidence supports the view that the syllable is an organizational unit of speech in English.
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Date Issued: 1999
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/fcla/dt/12591
Subject Headings: Language, Linguistics, Psychology, Psychobiology, Psychology, Experimental, Psychology, Personality
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: Parsing local ambiguities in syntactic structures: Prosodic influences.
Creator: Nagel, Harold Nicholas, Florida Atlantic University, Charles E. Schmidt College of Science, Department of Psychology
Abstract/Description: This project comprises a series of experiments investigating the role of prosody--the timing and intonation of an utterance--in syntactic disambiguation. Acoustic analyses isolated two parameters--main-clause verb segment and pause durations, and the pitch contour over the verb and the following phrase--that reliably predicted syntactic structure in two sets of temporarily ambiguous sentences. The manipulation of one of these parameters--verb and pause duration--resulted in increased...
Show moreThis project comprises a series of experiments investigating the role of prosody--the timing and intonation of an utterance--in syntactic disambiguation. Acoustic analyses isolated two parameters--main-clause verb segment and pause durations, and the pitch contour over the verb and the following phrase--that reliably predicted syntactic structure in two sets of temporarily ambiguous sentences. The manipulation of one of these parameters--verb and pause duration--resulted in increased processing load over the disambiguating region of sentences temporarily ambiguous between a direct object and an embedded clause syntactic structure (e.g., "John knew the answer by heart" vs. "John knew the answer was correct"). Also, differences in the prosodic contours associated with temporarily ambiguous "filler-gap" sentences determined whether or not a gap was posited during on-line sentence processing. These findings suggest that prosodic information is used early, perhaps immediately, to make informed on-line parsing decisions and support a model of sentence processing in which both lexical and prosodic information interact on-line to generate the syntactic representation of an utterance.
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Date Issued: 1994
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/fcla/dt/12378
Subject Headings: Language, Linguistics, Speech Communication, Psychology, Experimental
Format: Document (PDF)

Psychology, Experimental (22)	+ -
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