Psychology (Functional Area: Developmental Science)

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Open Access
How Beliefs Affect Relationship Formation
(2025-04-10) Basurto, Vanessa Kailyn; Wiseheart, Melody
Past research has investigated racial implicit biases in the context of short-term relationships, such as strangers. However, implicit biases have not been studied in the context of longer-term relationships. The present study explores ways in which implicit biases may impact integral aspects of relationship formation: relationship stressors and supports, and friendship group diversity. Additionally, trait personality was examined as a potential contributor towards implicit bias and friendship diversity. Agreeableness and openness were chosen as the main personality traits of focus due to their involvement in explicit prejudice. Three types of relationships were assessed to explore whether effects differ based on closeness: family, friends, and acquaintances. People with whom we have closer relationships are also more likely to share social categories with us, which would mitigate the effects of implicit biases. Implicit biases were assessed using a race Implicit Association Test (IAT) which incorporated 24 different skin shades to represent a diverse racial spectrum. Relationship stressors and supports were assessed using the Wiseheart Socioeconomic Scale. Personality was assessed using the HEXACO-PI-R. We found weak, and statistically nonsignificant, correlations for all variables, suggesting that close relationships may not be impacted by implicit biases, regardless of the closeness of the relationship. Personality also does not appear to be related to implicit bias. The findings suggest that implicit biases may not be involved in longer-term relationships, and may have different contributing factors than explicit biases. The results and limitations from this study demonstrate the need for future research in the study of implicit bias.
Open Access
The Effects of Age and Bilingualism on Memory Retrieval
(2025-04-10) Letendre, Thierry; Pathman, Thanujeni
It is often argued that older adults show memory decline because they have fewer attentional resources which impedes the explicit retrieval of information. The present study aimed to assess the role of attentional control as a second factor that could influence memory in older adulthood. We recruited participants presumed to have different levels of attentional resources, younger and older adults, as well as participants presumed to have differences in attentional control, monolinguals and bilinguals. Testing consisted of verbal and non-verbal tasks that included both implicit and explicit retrieval conditions. We examined the influence of age (older, younger), language group (bilingual, monolingual) and condition (explicit, implicit) on memory performance and found different patterns of results for the verbal and non-verbal tasks. We also found correlations between bilingual experience (measured continuously) and explicit condition memory performance. Findings suggest that bilingual experience could be a potent factor in mitigating memory decline.
Open Access
Associations Between Socioeconomic Stress, Engagement In Joint Attention, And Neurodevelopment In 24- to 36-Month- Old Infants
(2024-11-07) Badal, Ana Alexandra; Pierce, Lara
Associations between maternal socioeconomic stress (SE-stress) at 6 months, quality and quantity of joint attention (JA) at 24 months, and relative alpha and theta activity at rest in 24- to 36-month-old infants were examined. Data from 116 mother-infant dyads from predominantly low-income families were analyzed. Multiple hierarchical regressions indicated significant associations between SE-stress and EEG outcomes, SE-stress and JA quality, and JA quality and 24-month outcomes. Several models tested whether JA quantity/quality mediated or moderated associations between SE-stress and EEG outcomes. A significant moderation effect of JA quantity on the association between stress and theta at 36 months was found, indicating a stronger association between maternal stress and theta power at 36 months when dyads engaged in less JA during play. Overall, findings show SE-stress is associated with both infant resting brain activity and engagement in JA during play. Associations between stress and EEG outcomes vary depending on the quantity of engagement in JA.
Open Access
Associations Between Socioeconomic Status and EEG Alpha Power in Monolingual and Bilingual Infants: Early Predictors of Neural Processes Underlying Executive Function
(2024-03-16) Maudoodi, Heala; Pierce, Lara
Research suggests that the bilingual experience facilitates the development of executive function (EF) skills, whereas experiencing low socioeconomic status (SES) has been associated with challenges to EF. Little research, however, has explored how SES contributes to variation in neural processes underlying EF during infancy, nor how SES and bilingualism interact to predict neural processes underlying EF. This study tested bilingual and monolingual exposed infants from low- to mid-SES backgrounds (n = 116) when they were 2, 6, 9, and 12 months of age to explore variation in an early neural predictor of EF - frontal alpha power. Results demonstrated that SES variables predicted alpha power at both 9 and 12 months. Minimal differences in alpha power were observed between bilingual and monolingual-exposed infants. However, language group did moderate associations between SES and alpha power at 9 months, such that negative associations between SES and frontal alpha were observed for the monolingual, but not bilingual group. Results suggest that SES contributes to variation in neural processes underlying EF from infancy and that bilingualism might act as a protective factor for early development of EF.
Open Access
Can personal memories and fictional stories enhance retention of novel words and facts?
(2023-12-08) Deker, Lina; Pathman, Thanujeni
Two strategies that increase memory retention are the self-reference effect and generation effect. The generation effect involves the self generating the stimuli to-be-remembered. The self-reference effect involves knowledge about the self. Previous studies have compared the ‘self’ and ‘other’ conditions to determine whether a memory advantage exists. However, one novel way to compare these elements is directly comparing the ‘self’ and ‘other’ while also comparing effects of either asking participants to come up with an episodic AM or story narrative to associate with the to-be-remembered stimuli. Both studies in this dissertation had young adults complete two sessions separated by a two-day delay. Participants were divided into two groups: AM group and Story group. Each group learned adjective words (Study 1) or facts (Study 2) in conditions that differed in encoding task: baseline, self and other. Later, participants were tested on their retention of the words (Study 1) or facts (Study 2) using free recall and recognition subtasks. In both studies, memory performance was higher for all four experimental conditions compared to baseline. In Study 1 free recall subtask, recall of words was higher for AM group-self than Story group-self. However, no differences were found in recall between AM group-other and Story group-other. In Study 1 recognition subtask, there was a memory advantage for the self but no differences were found between AM and Story groups. In Study 2 free recall subtask, there were no differences in recall between the self and other conditions in the AM group. However, in the Story group, the number of facts recalled in the self condition was higher than the other condition. Moreover, in Study 2, recall of facts was higher for self condition in the Story group than AM group. In Study 2 recognition subtask, we found differences between AM and Story groups. These results can inform educators about strategies used to promote learning within the classroom.
Open Access
Transfer Success on the Linda Problem: A Re-Examination Using Dual Process Theory, Learning Material Characteristics, and Individual Differences
(2023-03-28) Truong, Michael; Stevens, Dale; Pathman, Jeni
The Linda problem is an intensely studied task in the literature for judgments where participants judge the probability of various options and frequently make biased judgements known as conjunction errors. Here, I conceptually replicated and extended the finding by Agnoli and Krantz (1989) that when participants are explicitly trained with Venn diagrams to inhibit their heuristics, successful transfer of learning is observed. I tested whether transfer success was maintained: (1) when the purpose of the training was obscured; (2) after controlling for individual differences; and (3) when learning materials did not include visual images. I successfully replicated their finding, identifying transfer success when the purpose of the training was masked and after controlling for individual differences. Furthermore, the effects of individual differences on transfer success depends on both the kind of learning material used and whether the purpose was masked. Hence, these findings support claims that education can inhibit biases.
Open Access
Does Mother's Early Talk Impact Children's Inclusion of Time and Space Details in their Autobiographical Narratives? A 12- Year Longitudinal Study
(2022-12-14) Virk, Tarnpreet Kaur; Pathman, Thanujeni
In this longitudinal study we examined the developmental trajectory of children’s inclusion of WHEN (temporal) and WHERE (spatial) details in their autobiographical memory narratives from early childhood (25-, 40, and 65-months) into adolescence (12-years-old) and investigated the factors that led to this development. Results showed that children’s inclusion of time and space details were statistically significant over time, with development for time being steeper than development for space. Mother’s inclusions of time, but not space, details were significant over the early childhood period. Mother’s early inclusions of time, but not space, details were a predictor of children’s future talk for time. Conventional time knowledge task performance was also correlated with children’s future inclusions of time information. This is the first longitudinal study to examine children’s inclusion of time and space details across childhood and into adolescence, and to examine how early factors in childhood could predict future narrative behaviour.
Open Access
Adults' long term memory as a function of birth experience
(2022-12-14) Au, Kar Yin Michelle; Adler, Scott A.
The growing rate of caesarean-section births has aroused concerns as it has shown to be associated with increasing biological and neurodevelopmental risks, but whether such neurodevelopmental impacts manifest behaviorally remain questionable. With studies demonstrating an attentional disruption in c-section-delivered infants and adults, similar effects are hypothesized to filter up the cognitive processing stream to memory function. The current study, therefore, aims to examine the birth experience effect on adults’ long-term memory. Vaginal-delivered and c-section-delivered adults participated in a two-day, memory-based visual search task. Results revealed that the two birth groups exhibited similar long-term memory retention and discrimination. However, memory differences might have been limited due to testing at a single retention interval as differences might manifest over longer intervals. Nonetheless, this finding suggests a negligible birth experience impact on adult’s long-term memory. Whether birth experience affects specific memory pathways and early memory development, as well as affecting memory differentially by c-section types, are yet to be examined.
Open Access
Effects of Birth Experience on Relational Memory in Adults
(2022-12-14) Ravi, Aarthi; Pathman, Thanujeni; Adler, Scott
Recent evidence has emerged that being born via planned or emergency cesarean section delivery (CSD) compared to vaginal delivery (VD) not only led to slower allocation of attention in human infants and adults but also affected hippocampal regions responsible for memory in mice. This is concerning as the number of C-sections has risen in the past two decades according to the World Health Organization. Therefore, the current study investigated if a higher-order cognitive function like relational memory, is also affected by CSD and if these effects last into adulthood. Birth experience effects on item-item, item-space and item-time relational memory along with item recognition were assessed in adult participants using a task developed by Konkel et al. (2008). Results indicated that the item-item memory performance was affected by CSD with planned CSD adults showing poorer recognition compared to emergency CSD adults. No differences in memory performance were found between either of the CSD groups and the VD group in any of the relational conditions. As relational binding has implications in forming autobiographical memories and connections between our past, present and future states, healthcare professionals should discuss with expecting mothers the potential long-term effects of planned CSD on their infants’ cognitive development.
Open Access
The Effect of C-Section Birth on Attention Task Performance and Cortical Grey Matter Integrity
(2022-03-03) Chevalier, Owen Michael Lane; Stevens, Dale; Adler, Scott
Past evidence suggests that Caesarean section (C-section) birth is a factor in reduced performance on visual attention tasks, as well as altered intrinsic functional neural networks, for both infants and adults born via C-section. The present study tested C-section and vaginally born adults on six tasks: a visual search task, the Attention Network Task, the Sustained Attention to Response Task, the Stroop Task, the Trail Making Test, and an n-back task. Adults born via C-section were less accurate on target-absent conditions in the visual search task. No other tests showed significant differences based on birth method. Additionally, whole-brain voxel-based morphometry analysis was conducted on the anatomical magnetic resonance imaging data of adults to identify potential effects of C-section birth on cortical grey-matter integrity. Findings suggest that there is an effect of C-section birth on top-down attention but were not significant for other hypotheses in the experiment and MRI analysis.
Open Access
Phonemic Discrimination and Eye-Movements in Infants
(2022-03-03) Bach-Kay, Shir; Adler, Scott A.
The ability to discriminate between different phonemes is a crucial part of language development in the first year of life. While language acquisition is a process that has been studied in both infants and adults in the past, the paradigms that were used to study this sensitive process have a number of shortcomings. To overcome these shortcomings, the present study examined 6-month-old infants' ability to discriminate between two different phonemes by means of an eye-tracking task, the Visual Expectation Cueing Paradigm (VExCP). In this paradigm, one randomly presented phoneme (paired with a central visual stimulus) predicted a visual target on the right side of a monitor screen and the other randomly presented phoneme predicted a visual target on the left side of the screen. If the infants could discriminate between the different phonemes then they would be able to correctly make anticipatory eye movements to the target location at a rate above chance. Results indicated that 6-month-old infants successfully discriminated between the two different phonemes forming an expectation for the phoneme-target location relations, and thereby making correct anticipatory eye-movements to the correct target location at a rate greater than chance. The findings indicate that the VExCP is an appropriate paradigm for the study of phonemic discrimination while overcoming the weaknesses of previously used paradigms.
Open Access
Assessing Context in Emotion Regulation: Validating the Difficulties in Interpersonal Regulation of Emotion (DIRE) Scale and Its Use in Measuring Emotion Regulation Variability
(2022-03-03) Girma, Fenote Selam; Rawana, Jennine
As research into emotion regulation (ER) expands, it is important to empirically account for contextually relevant aspects of interpersonal emotion regulation (IER). This study aimed to validate the Difficulties in Interpersonal Emotion Regulation (DIRE) scale, a new measure of interpersonal emotion dysregulation and examine its relationship to measures of psychopathology and well-being across three contexts (i.e., task, romantic, social). We also explored the utility of using the scenario-based structure of the DIRE scale to develop an ER variability score that would capture the number of strategies a person accesses between- and within-contexts. A test of the DIRE scale resulted in adequate model fit and validated its factor structure. DIRE scales were associated with emotion dysregulation, depression, and well-being. ER variability scores showed associations with emotion dysregulation and depression. These findings demonstrate the strong validity of the DIRE measure and underscore the importance of including situational contexts in IER research.
Open Access
Examining the Influence of Semantic Knowledge on Episodic Memory
(2021-11-15) Kian, Tida; Pathman, Thanujeni
Memory is a critical capacity for everyday life. Memory is not one process but consists of different systems (Robertson & Khler, 2007). Semantic memory is memory for general knowledge about the world and episodic memory is memory for a specific event from a particular time and place in the past (Tulving, 1972, 1983). Tulving (1972) referred to these systems as two separated but partially related memory systems. However, relatively little is known about how these two systems relate. Specifically, the influence of semantic memory on episodic memory is not fully understood. This study investigated the influence of semantic memory on memory for events (actions) and their spatial locations. The final sample for this study included 73 participants. Participants were divided into two groups that varied in the delay they experienced between the encoding phase and retrieval phase (immediate group, n=37; delay group, n=36). During the encoding phase, participants were presented with images of cartoon characters completing an action along with an image of a background scene (i.e., locations) that either matched the action (congruent trial), did not match the action (incongruent trial) or an action that could be performed in any location (neutral trial). During the retrieval phase, participants were presented with actions and asked whether the action was old or new (old/new recognition memory) and, if old, asked to choose the background image that went with that action (spatial location) among a group of distractors. Across delay, participants more accurately identified the locations for the congruent actions compared to the locations for the incongruent actions. Across conditions, participants in the immediate group more accurately identified the actions and spatial locations compared to the delay group. Further, different patterns for the types of errors participants made were observed. This study adds to our knowledge about the influence of semantic memory on episodic memory. Future studies can expand the research to different settings (e.g., naturalistic environments) and with more variable samples (e.g., different age groups).
Open Access
Bilingualism as a Proxy of Cognitive Reserve
(2021-11-15) Berkes, Matthias Daniel; Bialystok, Ellen
Previous studies have reported bilingualism to be a proxy of cognitive reserve (CR) based on evidence that bilinguals express dementia symptoms ~4 years later than monolinguals yet present with greater neuropathology at time of diagnosis when clinical levels are similar. This dissertation presents two studies that provide further evidence for the contribution of bilingualism to CR. The first study uses a novel brain health matching paradigm. Forty cognitively normal bilinguals with diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance images recruited from the community were matched with monolinguals drawn from a pool of 165 individuals in the Alzheimers Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) database. White matter integrity was calculated for all participants using fractional anisotropy, axial diffusivity, and radial diffusivity scores. Propensity scores were obtained using white matter measures, sex, age, and education as predictive covariates, and then used in one-to-one matching between language groups, creating a matched sample of 32 participants per group. Matched monolinguals had poorer clinical diagnoses than that predicted by chance from a theoretical null distribution, and poorer cognitive performances than matched bilinguals as measured by scores on the MMSE. The findings support the interpretation that bilingualism acts as a proxy of CR such that monolinguals have poorer clinical and cognitive outcomes than bilinguals for similar levels of white matter integrity even before clinical symptoms appear. The second study examines the role of biomarkers and genetic factors associated with Alzheimer disease in a sample of 641 individuals from the ADNI database. Gradient boosted regression modelling was used to examine the influence of 10 predictive factors on clinical diagnosis in 3 different models. Weighted propensity scores were applied to analyses of white matter integrity and cognitive performance between clinical groups in two models and between language groups in one model. Analyses revealed a strong influence of biomarkers and genetic factors on clinical diagnosis in monolingual participants, but underrepresentation of bilingual participants in the sample limited interpretations of the findings between language groups. The results of the second study indicate that information about biomarkers and genetic factors improves analyses exploring the role of CR on dementia outcomes.
Open Access
Socio-Economic Status Scale Validation Study
(2020-11-13) Rowlin, Vanessa; Wiseheart, Melody Sunshine
The present study is investigating the validity and reliability of a new socioeconomic scale called the Wiseheart Socioeconomic Scale (WSESS). This new scale measures socioeconomic status (SES), as well as sociodemographic factors, including wealth, social supports and life stressors through the addition of eight novel WSESS subscales. Participants were recruited to investigate whether (1) the novel WSESS subscales were internally consistent; and (2) whether the WSESS novel subscales had acceptable levels of construct validity by comparing them to existent questionnaires. The results of the present study provide strong support for the internal consistency for the WSESS subscales. The WSESS subscales demonstrated either weak or weak-to-moderate correlations to either both or one of their associated criterion measures. Further tests are needed to evaluate different types of reliability and validity, and towards the production of a shorter version. This scale has implications for research, policy design, and in the therapeutic setting.
Open Access
Examining the Time Course of Attention in Monolinguals and Bilinguals
(2020-08-11) Chung-Fat-Yim, Ashley Kim; Bialystok, Ellen B.
There is converging evidence demonstrating that lifelong experience managing multiple languages on a regular basis has consequences for both language and cognition. Across the lifespan, bilinguals tend to outperform monolinguals on tasks that require selective attention. Compared to studies on children and older adults, these effects are less consistently observed in young adults. The majority of the research with young adults use relatively simple tasks that yield fast reaction times and accuracy rates at ceiling. In addition, these measures capture the endpoint of a chain of dynamic cognitive processes. Hence, the goal of the dissertation was to integrate two time-sensitive methodologies, mouse-tracking and eye-tracking, to examine whether monolinguals and bilinguals differ in the processes engaged between the time a response is initiated to when a response is selected. To assess cognitive performance, young adult and older adult monolinguals and bilinguals were administered the global-local task and oculomotor Stroop task while their eye-movements and mouse-movements were recorded. Both tasks involved focusing on one feature of the stimulus, while ignoring the other feature. When standard analyses of mean reaction time and accuracy were performed, no differences between language groups were observed in either age group. The mouse-tracking measures revealed that similar to experts, young adult bilinguals were slower to initiate a response than young adult monolinguals, while older adult bilinguals had a higher maximum velocity than older adult monolinguals. By using time-sensitive methodologies, we gain a deeper understanding of the cognitive processes associated with attention that are impacted by bilingualism during decision-making.
Open Access
Differential Attentional Responding by Planned and Emergency Caesarean-Section Versus Vaginally Delivered Infants and Adults
(2020-05-11) Rahimi, Maryam; Adler, Scott A.
Search asymmetry occurs when feature-present targets are detected more easily than feature-absent targets, resulting in an efficient search (i.e. flat RT - set size function) for feature- present targets, but an inefficient search (i.e. increasing RT set size function) for feature-absent targets. Both 3-month-old infants and adults have been found to exhibit a search asymmetry when assessed with saccade latencies (Adler & Gallego, 2014). Additionally, caesarean-section delivered infants exhibit slower attention and saccadic latencies than those born vaginally (Adler & Wong-Kee-You, 2015). This study is designed to determine the relative effects of different birth experiences on attention and search asymmetry performance and whether differences persist in adulthood. Two different visual circular arrays were presented: feature-present target among feature-absent distractors (R among Ps) or feature-absent target among feature-present distractors (P among Rs) with array set sizes of 1, 3, 5, 8. Results indicated that infants and adults saccadic latencies were unaffected by set size in feature-present arrays, suggesting an efficient search. Both caesarean-section born infants and adults had slower saccadic latencies when compared to the vaginal groups. Interestingly, infants born via planned caesarean-section were slower when compared to an emergency caesarean-section. There were no differences in saccadic latencies, however, between emergency and planned caesarean-section adults, suggesting that any difference due to planned vs emergency caesarean-sections does not persist into adulthood. For feature absent targets, both infants and adults exhibited increasing saccadic latencies with set size, suggesting an inefficient search. These findings suggest that any caesarean-section birth influences bottom-up attention and requires greater reliance on top-down processing even into adulthood. Thus, the development of attentional mechanisms can be influenced by early birth experiences that also impact adulthood.
Open Access
Task Switching Over the Lifespan
(2020-05-11) D'Souza, Annalise; Wiseheart, Melody Sunshine
People often switch from one goal to another, in response to changing environmental demands. Task switching affords flexibility, but at a price. A robust switch cost ensues, whereby individuals are slower and less accurate when switching between tasks than when repeating tasks. The current dissertation investigated the factors that contribute to a switch cost, using an exceptionally large sample of over 25,000 individuals (ages 10 to over 65) collected online. Switch costs are interpreted as the duration of psychological processes that are recruited to shift between tasks. In Study 1, shifting a task took 576 ms (or 108%) longer than performing a single task. Shifting tasks resulted in a 34% immediate decrease in productivity. An additional 74% long-term decrease in productivity occurred from maintaining readiness for a shift, and for using a cue to select a task, both of which occur even without an actual shift taking place. The results show that the seemingly simple switch cost involves multiple processes. Understanding these processes is crucial to interpret how flexibility varies with age. In Study 2A, task switching process developed until adulthood and then declined, similar to general cognitive ability. However, each process changed differently with age. Findings show that decline is not simply development in reverse: The rate of decline in mid to late adulthood was up to 20 times slower than the rapid development in adolescence; Middle-aged adults were slower than young adults, but as accurate; They maintained less advance readiness but used contextual cues as well as their younger counterparts. In Study 2B, the effects of age were replicated in an independent sample using identical methodology. These findings highlight the usefulness of web-based data collection, effect size estimation, and segmented regression techniques.
Open Access
Judging the Credibility of Websites: An Effectiveness Trial of the Spacing Effect in the Elementary Classroom
(2019-11-22) Foot, Vanessa Lauren; Wiseheart, Melody Sunshine
Spaced learningthe spacing effectis a cognitive phenomenon whereby memory for to-be-learned material is better when a fixed amount of study time is spread across multiple learning sessions instead of crammed into a more condensed time period. In an educational context, this means that long-term retention is enhanced when students begin to review subject material several days leading up to a test instead of cramming right before the test. The spacing effect has been shown to be effective across a wide range of ages and learning materials, but no research has been done that looks at whether spacing can be effective in real-world classrooms, using real curriculum content, and with real teachers leading the intervention. The current study was the next step in determining whether spacing can and should be implemented across the curriculum. Lesson plans for teaching website credibility was distributed to homeroom elementary teachers with specific instructions on how to manipulate the timing of the lessons for either a massed (one-per-day) or spaced (one-per-week) delivery, and after one month, students were asked to apply their knowledge on a final test, where they evaluated two new websites. Students in the spaced condition remembered more facts from the lessons but showed no spacing advantage on the critical thinking measures where they had to explain their ratings in a paragraph. There was no difference in the actual rating scores during the lessons or at final test. These results indicate that when lesson plans are released to homeroom teachers, variability between teachers and classrooms may result in an overall reduction or elimination of a traditional spacing effect. Future recommendations for spacing studies are made.
Open Access
A Closer Look at the Effect of Bilingualism on Working Memory
(2019-11-22) Capani, Angela M.; Bialystok, Ellen B.
Previous research suggests that bilinguals act as experts when engaged in tasks requiring attentional control (Incera & McLennan, 2015). Experts across various domains are slower to initiate a response, but then produce a more efficient response. We used mouse-tracking to determine whether bilingual (n = 51) and monolingual (n = 51) young adults (M = 20.65) employed different strategies while engaged in two sets of memory tasks, the n-back and item/associative tasks. Language groups displayed similar performance on most tasks, however, bilinguals had longer initiation and reaction times than monolinguals on the associative task. When examined as a continuous factor, degree of bilingualism was positively correlated with initiation time. The results of the regression analysis support the conclusion that bilingualism impacts the strategies that participants display while completing memory tasks. In the future, tasks requiring more controlled processing should be utilized to allow for more robust differences to appear.