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Description
The Gratton effect, the observation that the size of the Stroop effect is larger following a congruent trial compared to an incongruent trial, is one pivotal observation in support of the conflict-monitoring hypothesis. Previous reports have demonstrated that non-conflict components, such as feature binding, also contribute to this effect. Critically, Schmidt and De Houwer (2011) report a flanker task and a button-press Stroop task suggesting that there is no conflict adaptation in the Gratton effect; it is entirely caused by feature binding. The current investigation attempts to replicate and extend this important finding across two experiments using a canonical four-choice Stroop task with vocal responses. In contrast to Schmidt and De Houwer, we observe reliable conflict adaptation after controlling for feature binding. We argue that the overall strength of conflict is critical for determining whether a conflict adaptation component will remain in the Gratton effect after explaining binding components.
ContributorsBlais, Christopher (Author) / Stefanidi, Aikaterini (Author) / Brewer, Gene (Author) / Department of Psychology (Contributor)
Created2014-10-24
Description
The Writing Pal (W-Pal) is an intelligent tutoring system (ITS) designed to provide students with explicit writing strategy instruction and practice. W-Pal includes a suite of educational games developed to increase writing engagement and provide opportunities to practice writing strategies. In this study, first (L1) (n = 26) and second (L2) language (n = 16) students interacted with W-Pal over eight sessions. We collected students’ daily self- reports of engagement, motivation, and perceptions of performance, as well as their reported game attitudes (difficulty, helpfulness for learning, and enjoyment). Results indicated that, for all students, interactions with W-Pal led to increases in writing performance and more positive attitudes towards the system (engagement, motivation, and perceived performance). For L1 students, game difficulty was a significant predictor of boredom; however, for the L2 students, game enjoyment predicted both their motivation and perceived writing improvement. Notably, the L2 students’ game ratings accounted for more variance in these daily reports than did the ratings of L1 students. This study suggests that L1 and L2 students experience similar benefits offered by game-based strategy practice in an ITS. Further, the link between game attitudes and overall daily perceptions of training may be stronger for L2 students than L1 students.
ContributorsAllen, Laura (Author) / Crossley, Scott A. (Author) / Snow, Erica (Author) / McNamara, Danielle (Author) / Department of Psychology (Contributor)
Created2014-06-01
Description
The transition to college is a stressful time for many students, and potentially even more so for sexual minority students (Levine et al., 2023). Sexual minority students are at an increased risk for mental health problems across the college transition due to minority stressors (Velez et al., 2021), but social support may buffer these effects (Alsubaie et al., 2019; Woodford et al., 2015). Existing research demonstrates consistent findings on the impacts of college stress on internalizing symptoms (Bayram & Bilgel, 2008, Williams et al., 2023), but mixed findings on the role of peer and family support for buffering this relationship (Kahn et al., 2017; Anderson et al., 2020). No studies have examined associations between college stress, social support, and internalizing symptoms within sexual minority students, indicating a gap in the literature. This study aimed to assess associations between college stress, anxiety and depressive symptoms, and peer and family social support between sexual identity groups. Participants (N = 206; 54% female; n = 139 white; Mage = 19.7) from the LivesMix Study were administered quarterly surveys, once at the end of the first semester freshman year (Fall 2019) and again at the end of the second semester freshman year (Spring 2020). Analyses revealed that greater college stress significantly predicted higher anxiety and depressive symptoms in the full group and the sexual majority group, but not the sexual minority group. It was also found that in participants with high levels of peer support, peer support buffered college stress on depressive symptoms in the full group, while in sexual minority participants with low family support, family support exacerbated the association between college stress and anxiety symptoms. These findings contribute to a growing body of literature supporting the moderating roles of relationships in the lives of sexual majority and minority college students. More research is necessary to understand how protective factors buffer stressors and mental health symptoms in sexual minority students.
ContributorsGarcia, Brenna (Author) / Doane, Leah (Thesis director) / Pedram, Christina (Committee member) / Matsuno, Em (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of Psychology (Contributor) / School of Social Transformation (Contributor)
Created2025-05
Description
From an early age, children must decide where and how to spend effort on unavoidable challenges. This study explored three central questions to understand children’s social learning context better. First, we asked whether setting specific activity goals—Learn, Perform, or Play—affects children’s motivation to learn from teachers who present hard versus easy challenges. Second, we examined how these activity goals and children’s teacher choices influence children’s persistence when facing an impossible task. Third, we asked how children’s challenge-seeking behaviors are linked to parents’ reports of their own and their children’s mastery motivation. 192 children aged 5 to 8 were randomly assigned to one of three activity goals. During a Zoom session, they watched videos of different teachers, one who selected hard tasks and one who selected easy tasks, and chose whom they wanted to learn from. To measure persistence, the time children spent on an unsolvable spot-the-difference puzzle was coded. Parents completed the Dimensions of Mastery Motivation Questionnaire to assess their own and their children’s motivation (adult and child versions). Regardless of the condition, children choose the easier teacher, a preference seen especially in younger children. Activity goals also did not predict task persistence, except for the Play condition, where children persisted for less time than children in the Learn or Perform condition. Parents’ mastery motivation scores did not predict their children’s teacher choice or persistence. Similarly, children’s mastery motivation score did not predict their task persistence. These findings contribute to a better understanding of children’s social learning decisions by investigating children’s teacher and effort allocation choices, along with the caregiver’s influences in these processes.
ContributorsSilva Goldbaum, Helena (Author) / Lucca, Kelsey (Thesis director) / Mahaffey, Elise (Committee member) / Leonard, Julia (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Sanford School of Social and Family Dynamics (Contributor) / Department of Psychology (Contributor)
Created2025-05
Description
Sexual and Gender Minorities (SGM) include sexual minorities (e.g. lesbian, queer, asexual, etc.) and gender minorities (e.g. transgender, nonbinary, etc.). Research has shown that Black SGM youth are at higher risk for poor mental health outcomes. Research has also shown that there are many risk/protective factors related to these outcomes. The aims of the current study were to examine the mental health outcomes across Black youth based on their sexual orientation and gender identity; and to conduct exploratory tests of the associations between risk/protective factors and mental health outcomes across SGM groups. The current study used cross-sectional data from the Adolescent Brain and Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study. The study sample (n = 1,259 Black youth) were stratified into smaller groups based on sexual orientation (e.g. gay/bisexual/questioning [G/B/Q], heterosexual) and gender identity (e.g. boy, girl, another gender) for analyses. Regressions determined that gender identity (F(1, 1240) = 39.77, p < .001, R² = 0.031) and sexual orientation (F(1, 1240) = 39.77, p < .001, R² = 0.031) both predicted internalizing symptoms. Regressions determined that gender identity (F(2, 1256) = 9.21, p < .001, R² = 0.014) and sexual orientation (F(1, 1240) = 18.53, p < .001, R² = 0.015) predicted externalizing symptoms. Correlations grouped by gender identity and sexual orientation (e.g. heterosexual girls, heterosexual boys, G/B/Q girls, G/B/Q boys) revealed no significant risk/protective factors associated with internalizing symptoms for G/B/Q youth. However, family conflict was positively associated with externalizing symptoms for G/B/Q girls, and parental monitoring was positively associated with externalizing symptoms for G/B/Q boys. Results indicate a need for more research primarily focused on Black SGM youth. Further research is also needed to determine what factors contribute to positive or negative mental health outcomes for Black SGM youth.
ContributorsHerndon, Aaliyah (Author) / Simmons, Cortney (Thesis director) / Kim, Joanna (Thesis director) / Corbin, William (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of Psychology (Contributor) / Sanford School of Social and Family Dynamics (Contributor)
Created2025-05
Description
Alzheimer's disease is a rapidly growing public health crisis. This challenging neurodegenerative disease starts with a prolonged pre-clinical phase, known as Mild Cognitive Impairment. (MCI) Researchers advocate for the importance in diagnosing individuals with MCI to prevent further disease progression. Current diagnostic approaches are not sufficient because they don't capture the fluctuant behavior expected with MCI symptoms; consequently, researchers have been exploring how studying lifestyle and routine data of individuals can improve diagnosis accuracy. The goal of this thesis was to contribute towards a working-effort in creating a machine learning model that can supplement the clinical diagnosis of MCI using naturalistic driving data. By implementing a state-of-the-art algorithm known ROCKET with classical machine learning classifiers, my work aims to help design a model that can accurately diagnose individuals with MCI.
ContributorsLimaye, Anushka (Author) / Wu, Teresa (Thesis director) / Forzani, Erica (Committee member) / Al-Hindawi, Firas (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Harrington Bioengineering Program (Contributor) / School of Biological & Health Systems Engineering (Contributor) / School of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences (Contributor)
Created2025-05
Description
Both native and diaspora South Asian populations are facing a rapid epidemiologic shift in disease burden from communicable diseases, such as malaria, cholera, etc., to non-communicable metabolic and endocrine disorders, such as Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS), Metabolic Syndrome (MetS), Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM), and Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Disease (ASCVD). South Asians consistently report some of the highest prevalences of these conditions across the globe, with then having anywhere from two- to six-fold higher risks, depending on the condition, for developing these disorders than any other ethnic group. With the community developing these conditions at younger ages, lower BMIs, and with more severe symptoms, the significance of this trend cannot be understated. By analyzing the current rising rates of these metabolic and endocrine disorders through the lenses of history and the Evolutionary Mismatch Hypothesis, this study aims to draw a correlation between the 31 major famines that occurred on the South Asian subcontinent and the unfavorable health outcomes the community currently faces. Combining information on the history of starvation under British rule in the region, generational health effects and epigenetics of the Dutch, Chinese, and Ethiopian famines, and inheritance mechanisms for epigenetic biomarkers, and the pathology of non-communicable diseases present in South Asian population, demonstrates the longitudinal and multigenerational effects of famine on a population. Viewing the current disorder rates through the lens of famine could help create novel diagnostic and treatment criteria as well as community-based education programs for South Asians.
ContributorsLakhotia, Ananya (Author) / Jakubczak, Laura (Thesis director) / Mun, Chung Jung (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Molecular Sciences (Contributor) / Department of Psychology (Contributor) / School of Social Transformation (Contributor)
Created2025-05
Description
Introduction: Dyslexia is a prevalent neurological disorder characterized by difficulties with accurate or fluent word recognition and poor spelling and decoding abilities, but it has been suggested that these result from underlying neural impairments, such as auditory discrimination. Response time variability (RTV), or high degrees of inconsistency in one individual’s response times, is a trait that has been well-studied in and is strongly associated with ADHD, but has yet to be thoroughly investigated in dyslexia.
Methods: The present study’s participants included 19 individuals diagnosed with dyslexia and 18 controls with no history of speech or language disorders. Participants were given two auditory discrimination tasks, each consisting of 250 trials discriminating between frequency (“Diff”) and interaural time differences, i.e., perceived spatial differences (“Inter”). All participants were also given a timed and untimed word recognition task, a timed and untimed word decoding task, and a spelling task. A select group of seven individuals who exhibited high RTV in auditory tasks were then included in a genetic analysis to discover candidate genes for RTV in dyslexia.
Results: Results showed that participants with dyslexia performed more poorly than controls on auditory discrimination tasks, as measured by accuracy and average response time. Participants with dyslexia also showed significantly higher degrees of response time variability than controls, as measured by coefficient of variation. RTV was strongly correlated with nearly all measures of reading across all participants. The genetic analysis of variable participants for whom exomes were available resulted in 20 genes of interest, including EXOC4, SCG3, and CHD7. Of note is the fact that EXOC4 and SCG3 were recently implicated in a large genome-wide association study of RTV in a large general population sample.
Discussion: These findings indicate that poor auditory discrimination and high response-time variability are likely correlated with dyslexia. Multiple candidate genes found were strongly associated with neuronal development and have high expression throughout the brain. This could align with prior hypotheses regarding functional neural networks as a neurobiological explanation for variability. Overall, these findings support high response time variability as an endophenotype of dyslexia, but further research with more participants isolating dyslexia from other clinical disorders may help prove this idea.
ContributorsIssa, Kaitlyn (Author) / Peter, Beate (Thesis director) / Kim, Yookyung (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / College of Health Solutions (Contributor) / Department of Psychology (Contributor)
Created2025-05
Description
While introductory machine learning education emphasizes both theoretical foundations and programming syntax, the ability to confidently navigate data workflows and make informed decisions is typically developed through repeated, project-based experience. Interest in machine learning education is expanding simultaneously with the widespread availability of generative artificial intelligence (GAI) tools, capable of automating data analysis, decision-making, and code generation. While convenient, GAI tools may risk undermining students’ development of essential reasoning skills when used without a solid understanding of the underlying concepts. This issue may be particularly pressing for machine learning students attempting to conduct a machine learning workflow, already balancing the dual demands of learning programming and machine learning theory.
DataPylot is an interactive application designed to support early learners in machine learning by fostering strategic intuition around effectively applying machine learning techniques to data. The tool provides a structured interface that enables users to upload a dataset of their choice and apply common supervised machine learning tasks step-by-step. At each step, users make explicit choices through a graphical interface, and the application deterministically maps these selections into formatted Python code ready for execution. DataPylot supports code generation for many typical tasks within a machine learning workflow, including importing a raw dataset, applying exploration and preprocessing techniques, and training and evaluating machine learning models. This approach places the reasoning and decision-making process in the hands of the learner while reducing programming barriers and minimizing common errors.
To evaluate DataPylot’s educational value, a user study was conducted with Arizona State University students who had prior experience with machine learning. Participants successfully completed a guided machine learning project using only code generated within DataPylot to explore, preprocess, and model a provided dataset. Afterwards, participants completed a questionnaire assessing perceived challenges in learning machine learning, the ease of use and value of using the tool, and its comparative utility relative to GAI tools. Results indicated that participants found DataPylot useful for applying machine learning and supporting independent reasoning, particularly among lower-experience learners. These findings provide support for the potential of structured, interactive, and deterministic tools like DataPylot to foster conceptual understanding and strategic intuition surrounding applying machine learning to data through guided hands-on engagement.
ContributorsRice Nulty, Seth (Author) / Chavez Echeagaray, Maria Elena (Thesis director) / Zhu, Qiyun (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of Psychology (Contributor) / Computer Science and Engineering Program (Contributor)
Created2025-05
Description
The stigma surrounding men’s mental health discourages open discussion, perpetuating cycles of silence and suffering. Although women are reported to experience mental illness at higher rates, men's underreporting—shaped by gender role norms and social constraints—points to a more widespread yet hidden crisis. Research highlights toxic masculinity—a social construct emphasizing toughness, anti-femininity, and dominance—and feelings of shame as major barriers to men seeking treatment. Through analysis of three key texts—I Don’t Want to Talk About It: Overcoming the Secret Legacy of Male Depression, The Man They Wanted Me to Be: Toxic Masculinity and a Crisis of Our Own Making, and Man Kind: Tools for Mental Health, Well-Being, and Modernizing Masculinity—this thesis explores the origins of stigma, the urgency of addressing male-specific mental health challenges, and possible solutions. To address institutional shortcomings, mental health resources from 15 American universities were evaluated to inform the development of a unified support model for emerging adults. The ultimate goal of this thesis is to promote advocacy and turn awareness into meaningful action.
ContributorsSogn, Ashley (Author) / Sturgess, Jessica (Thesis director) / Short, Robert (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor) / Department of Psychology (Contributor)
Created2025-05