Memory-Based Attentional Guidance: A Window to the Relationship between Working Memory and Attention

Attention, the cognitive means by which we prioritize the processing of a subset of information, is necessary for operating efficiently and effectively in the world. Thus, a critical theoretical question is how information is selected. In the visual domain, working memory (WM)—which refers to the short-term maintenance and manipulation of information that is no longer accessible by the senses—has been highlighted as an important determinant of what is selected by visual attention. Furthermore, although WM and attention have traditionally been conceived as separate cognitive constructs, an abundance of behavioral and neural evidence indicates that these two domains are in fact intertwined and overlapping. The aim of this dissertation is to better understand the nature of WM and attention, primarily through the phenomenon of memory-based attentional guidance, whereby the active maintenance of items in visual WM reliably biases the deployment of attention to memory-matching items in the visual environment. The research presented here employs a combination of behavioral, functional imaging, and computational modeling techniques that address: (1) WM guidance effects with respect to the traditional dichotomy of top-down versus bottom-up attentional control; (2) under what circumstances the contents of WM impact visual attention; and (3) the broader hypothesis of a predictive and competitive interaction between WM and attention. Collectively, these empirical findings reveal the importance of WM as a distinct factor in attentional control and support current models of multiple-state WM, which may have broader implications for how we select and maintain information.

Exploration of the relationship between tacit knowledge and software system test complexity

This research has explored the relationship between system test complexity and tacit knowledge. It is proposed as part of this thesis, that the process of system testing (comprising of test planning, test development, test execution, test fault analysis, test measurement, and case management), is directly affected by both complexity associated with the system under test, and also by other sources of complexity, independent of the system under test, but related to the wider process of system testing. While a certain amount of knowledge related to the system under test is inherent, tacit in nature, and therefore difficult to make explicit, it has been found that a significant amount of knowledge relating to these other sources of complexity, can indeed be made explicit. While the importance of explicit knowledge has been reinforced by this research, there has been a lack of evidence to suggest that the availability of tacit knowledge to a test team is of any less importance to the process of system testing, when operating in a traditional software development environment. The sentiment was commonly expressed by participants, that even though a considerable amount of explicit knowledge relating to the system is freely available, that a good deal of knowledge relating to the system under test, which is demanded for effective system testing, is actually tacit in nature (approximately 60% of participants operating in a traditional development environment, and 60% of participants operating in an agile development environment, expressed similar sentiments). To cater for the availability of tacit knowledge relating to the system under test, and indeed, both explicit and tacit knowledge required by system testing in general, an appropriate knowledge management structure needs to be in place. This would appear to be required, irrespective of the employed development methodology.

The Relationship Between Self-Awareness and Psychotic-Like Experiences

The psychosis phenotype is thought to exist on a continuum, such that the same symptoms experienced by individuals diagnosed with psychotic disorders can also manifest in the general population to a less severe degree. The subclinical psychotic-like experiences reported by healthy individuals share a number of risk factors with psychotic disorders and confer greater risk of developing a psychotic disorder. Thus, healthy individuals with psychotic-like experiences comprise a valid population in which to study the underlying mechanisms of clinically significant psychotic symptoms. In this thesis, we aimed to further our understanding of psychotic-like experiences and the individuals who report them. We explored the relationships between tasks measuring different aspects of self-awareness and self-reported psychotic-like experiences using data obtained from 30 university students. We found that greater sensitivity to the difference between one’s own voice and another person’s voice predicted fewer symptoms of persecutory ideation. Additionally, we found that greater tendency to misattribute one’s own voice to an external source predicted greater symptoms of persecutory ideation.

Exploring the relationship between women’s empowerment and the internet in China: potentials and constraints

This thesis reports on an exploratory study of the relationship between the Internet and women’s empowerment in China. The theoretical framework of the study combines feminist theorisations of power – the core concept of empowerment – with insights from sociological perspectives on power and gender, as well as collective action theory. This allows for the conceptualisation of women’s empowerment as a dynamic process that is shaped by a set of communicative practices. Focusing on female Chinese bloggers and women’s groups of different organisational types, this study aims to explore the respective ways in which these two types of women actors use the Internet with a view to examining whether, and the extent to which it enables them to generate a sense of empowerment. The empirical data mainly derives from interviews with female bloggers and with staff members from different women’s groups, as well as from a features analysis and social network analysis of the sampled blogs and official websites of studied groups. Overall, the findings suggest that the opportunities offered by the Internet for women’s empowerment through awareness-raising, social interactions, and the organising of collective action, are limited. For female bloggers, their activities do not translate the new communicative practices afforded by the Internet into concrete action to bring about changes in their everyday life. On the contrary, blogs become an alternative platform to discipline their behaviours and to reinforce patriarchal gendered norms. Moreover, the research finds that the promise of empowerment is further undermined by the pervasive commercialisation of the Internet and state control. For women’s groups, contextual factors prevent them from fully realising the potential of the Internet for increasing their organisational visibility, promoting public awareness about gender issues, building a sense of the collective, campaigning, or networking. The major barriers in these processes are state control, a lack of resources, online censorship, and at times, competition from commercial sites. In this respect, the Internet does not play a significant role in forming a collective to challenge existing unjust power relations.

College radio as coaching professional. Analysis of the relationship between the degrees and Spanish university radio

College radio is subject to constant transformation. The rise of information and communications technologies has allowed its development and modernization as well as the proliferation of new professional profiles. This research aims to analyze the connection of the Spanish university stations with the relevant qualifications. To do this, we use a comparative methodology based on examination of descriptors and specific principal subjects of degrees such as Audiovisual Communication and Journalism, although we will be using other degrees that are acquiring more responsibilities in a radio station, such as the degree in Information and Documentation. In conclusion, structural weaknesses in the university environment are observed, but future possibilities are detected as well: A college radio station is a place of convergence between the training of students from different degrees and reality itself, a versatile medium that provides the relevance of being the first professional contact of college students with the labor market.

Do Individual Differences in Emotion Regulation Mediate the Relationship Between Mental Toughness and Symptoms of Depression?

Mental Toughness (MT) provides crucial psychological capacities for achievement in sports,
education, and work settings. Previous research examined the role of MT in the domain of
mental health and showed that MT is negatively associated with and predictive of fewer
depressive symptoms in non-clinical populations. The present study aimed at 1) investigating
to what extent mentally tough individuals use two emotion regulation strategies: cognitive
reappraisal and expressive suppression; 2) exploring whether individual differences in
emotion regulation strategy use mediate the relationship between MT and depressive
symptoms. Three hundred sixty-four participants (M = 24.31 years, SD = 9.16) provided
self-reports of their levels of MT, depressive symptoms, and their habitual use of cognitive
reappraisal and expressive suppression. The results showed a statistically significant
correlation between MT and two commonly used measures of depressive symptoms. A small
statistically significant positive correlation between MT and the habitual use of cognitive
reappraisal was also observed. The correlation between MT and the habitual use of
expressive suppression was statistically significant, but the size of the effect was small. A
statistical mediation model indicated that individual differences in the habitual use of
expressive suppression mediate the relationship between MT and depressive symptoms. No
such effect was found for the habitual use of cognitive reappraisal. Implications of these
findings and possible avenues for future research are discussed.

Relationship between surface topography and energy density distribution of Er, Cr:YSGG beam on irradiated dentin: an atomic force microscopy study

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

The Relationship between Materialistic Aspirations and Distinct Aspects of Psychological Well-being in a UK sample

The purpose of this research is to gain a deeper understanding of how materialistic aspirations are related to distinct aspects of psychological well-being. Research has consistently found a negative relationship between materialistic goals and well-being, but a review of the literature identified that the measures of well- being used in the majority of studies were measures of what Keyes (2002) describes as “subjective well-being” or “hedonic happiness”. Criticisms of these types of measures are that they fixate too much on the momentary experience of pleasure and don’t take into account what is meaningful and or what contributes to long lasting fulfilment. Very little research was found investigating the impact of materialism on “eudaimonic” well-being, which is found through doing what is worthwhile and realising ones potential and has been found to have a longer lasting impact on overall well-being (Huta & Ryan, 2010). To address this gap in the literature, a convenience sample of 113 adult subjects in the UK were recruited through Facebook and asked to respond to the Aspiration Index and the Psychological wellbeing scale. The relative importance placed on extrinsic (materialistic) and intrinsic aspirations was compared to the six dimensions of psychological well-being. In line with previous research, higher importance placed on materialistic aspirations for wealth, status and image were found to be negatively correlated with all aspects of psychological well-being. However, the strongest and only statistically significant negative correlation was between extrinsic aspirations and positive relations with others (r = -.256, p< 0.01). Positive relationships with other people form a central component of many theories of well- being and so this negative relationship may help to explain why materialistic aspirations are so consistently found to be negatively correlated to a variety of measures of well-being. Further research is needed to explore this relationship as no causation could be inferred.

Association between physical activity and cardiorespiratory factors in adolescents: a cross-sectional exploratory study

Background: Currently, under half of the adolescents reach recommended daily levels of physical activity (PA). It is known that higher levels of PA lead to higher levels of cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) and therefore, a health-related CRF criterion value could contribute to identify the target population for primary cardiovascular disease prevention. Therefore, the aim of this study was to explore the relation between PA levels and CRF factors in healthy adolescents. Methods: A cross-sectional exploratory study with healthy adolescents aged 12-18 years old was conducted. Socio-demographic and body composition data were collected using a questionnaire. PA level was scored with the Physical Activity Index (PAI) and CRF assessment included lung function (LF) measured with spirometry and exercise tolerance measured with Incremental Shuttle Walking Test (ISWT). According to PAI scores the sample was divided in two groups: 1 (sedentary, low and moderately active); 2 (vigorously active (VA)). Descriptive statistics were applied to characterise the sample. Independent sample t-tests assessed differences between groups and simple logistic regressions identified the predictors of being VA. Results: The study included 115 adolescents (14.63±1.70 years old; 56.52% female). Adolescents presented a normal body mass index=21.19±3.14 Kg.m-2) and LF (forced expiratory volume in the first second (FEV1)=105.58±12.73% of the predicted). Significant differences were found between groups in height (G1–163.44±8.01; G2–167±8.65; p=0.024), LF (FEV1/ forced vital capacity (FVC); G1–97.58±10.66; G2–94.04±8.04; p=0.049), ISWT distance (G1– 1089.81±214.04; G2–1173.60±191.86; p=0.038); heart rate (HR) at rest (G1– 84.61±13.68; G2–79.23±13.81; p=0.038), HR at the end of the best ISWT (G1– 124.71±37.57; G2–133.54±33.61; p=0.041) and percentage of the maximal HR achieved during ISWT (G1–63.09±19.03; G2–67.53±17.08; p=0.043). Simple logistic regressions showed that height (OR–1.054; 95%CI 1.006-1.104), ISWT distance (OR–1.002; 95%CI 1.000-1.004) and HR at rest (OR–0.971; 95%CI 0.945-0.999) were predictors of being VA. Conclusions: Results suggest that more physically active adolescents have a better CRF profile. The findings suggest that PA is important to adolescents’ health status and it should be encouraged since childhood. Clinical practice will benefit from the use of PAI, ISWT and HR findings, allowing physiotherapists to use it for prescribing exercise.

The relationship between visual acuity and conceptual tempo

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between visual acuity and the two components of conceptual tempo, response accuracy and response latency. Subjects were chosen at random. Each subject was then administered a test of conceptual tempo, the Matching Familiar Figures Test (MFFT) and a test of visual acuity, the Snellen. The only significant relationship found was that between response accuracy and near visual acuity. Subjects with superior visual acuity made significantly fewer errors than did those with average or inferior acuity. It was concluded that visual acuity is an important determinant of MFFT performance. Based on these results, it was recommended that further research examine the relationship between visual acuity and other psychometric measures containing a visual component.

An exploratory study of the relationship between psychosocial hazard and ambulatory physiological response in higher education employees.

Purpose: as exposure to psychosocial hazard at work represents a substantial risk factor for employee health in many modern occupations, being able to accurately assess how employees cope with their working environment is crucial. As the workplace is generally accepted as being a dynamic environment consideration should be given to the interaction between employees and the acute environmental characteristics of their workplace. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of both acute demand and chronic work-related psychosocial hazard upon employees through ambulatory assessment of heart rate variability and blood pressure. Design: a within-subjects repeated measures design was used to investigate the relationship between exposure to work-related psychosocial hazard and ambulatory heart rate variability and blood pressure in a cohort of higher education employees. Additionally the effect of acute variation in perceived work-related demand was investigated. Results: two dimensions of the Management Standards were found to demonstrate an association with heart rate variability; more hazardous levels of “demand” and “relationships” were associated with decreased SDNN. Significant changes in blood pressure and indices of heart rate variability were observed with increased acute demand.

The relationship between health literacy and indicators of informed decision making for colorectal cancer screening among African Americans

African Americans are disproportionately affected by colorectal cancer (CRC) incidence and mortality. CRC early detection leads to better treatment outcomes and, depending on the screening test, can prevent the development of CRC. African Americans, however, are screened less often than Whites. Aspects of decision making (e.g., decisional conflict, decision self-efficacy) can impact decision making outcomes and may be influenced by social determinants of health, including health literacy. However the relationship between social determinants of health and indicators of decision making in this population is not fully understood. Additionally, individuals have a choice between different CRC screening tests and an individual’s desire to use a particular screening test may be associated with social determinants of health such as health literacy. This study aimed to examine the relationship between social determinants of health and indicators of decision making for CRC screening among African Americans. A total of 111 participants completed a baseline and 14-month follow-up survey assessing decisional conflict, decision self-efficacy, decisional preference (shared versus informed decision making), and CRC test preference. Health literacy was negatively associated with decisional conflict and positively associated with decision self-efficacy (ps < .05). Individuals who were unemployed or working part-time had significantly greater decisional conflict than individuals working full-time (ps < .05). Individuals with a first-degree family history of CRC had significantly lower decision self-efficacy than individuals without a family history (p < .05). Women were significantly more likely to prefer making a shared decision rather than an informed decision compared to men (p < .05). Lastly, previous CRC screening behavior was significantly associated with CRC test preference (e.g., individuals previously screened using colonoscopy were significantly more likely to prefer colonoscopy for their next screening test; ps < .05). These findings begin to identify social determinants of health (e.g., health literacy, employment) that are related to indicators of decision making for CRC among African Americans. Furthermore, these findings suggest further research is needed to better understand these relationships to help with the future development and improvement of interventions targeting decision making outcomes for CRC screening in this population.