Conscious and unconscious: passing judgment

The extent to which conscious and unconscious mental processes contribute to our experiences of learning and the subsequent knowledge has been subject to great debate. Dual process theories of implicit learning and recognition memory bear many resemblances, but there are also important differences. This thesis uses subjective measures of awareness to explore these themes using the artificial grammar learning (AGL) and remember/know (R/K) procedures. Firstly, the relationship between response times associated with intuition and familiarity based responding (conscious judgment of unconscious structural knowledge) compared to rule and recollection based responding (conscious structural knowledge) in AGL were found to be strikingly similar to remembering and knowing; their R/K analogues. However, guessing (unconscious judgment knowledge) was also distinct from intuition and familiarity based responding. Secondly, implicit learning in AGL was shown to occur at test, which would not be expected in R/K. Finally, wider theories of cognition, unconscious thought and verbal overshadowing, were shown to have measurable effects on AGL and R/K respectively. The approach used in this thesis shows the merits of both in-depth analysis within a given method combined with the synthesis of seemingly disparate theories. This thesis has built upon the important distinction between conscious and unconscious structural knowledge but also suggests the conscious-unconscious division for judgment knowledge may be as important. Implicit learning and recognition memory tasks differ in the kinds of mental processes that subjective measures are sensitive toward; particularly so in situations where judgment knowledge is unconscious. Different theories and methods divide nature in different ways; the conscious-unconscious judgment distinction may prove an important one

Remote sensing study of land use and sedimentation in the Ross Barnett Reservoir, Jackson, Mississippi area

This multi-year study is aimed at focusing on the recognition of sediment and other affluents in a selected area of the Ross Barnett Reservoir. The principle objectives are the determination of land use types, effect of land use on erosion, and the correlation of sediment with land use in the area. The I2S multi-band imagery was employed in conjunction with ground truth data for both water and land use studies. The selected test site contains approximately forty square miles including forest, open land, and water in addition to residential and recreational areas

Higher-order thoughts in action : Consciousness as an unconscious re-description process

Peer reviewedPostprin

Different dimensions of cognitive style in typical and atypical cognition: new evidence and a new measurement tool

We developed the Sussex Cognitive Styles Questionnaire (SCSQ) to investigate visual and verbal processing preferences and incorporate global/local processing orientations and systemising into a single, comprehensive measure. In Study 1 (N = 1542), factor analysis revealed six reliable subscales to the final 60 item questionnaire: Imagery Ability (relating to the use of visual mental imagery in everyday life); Technical/Spatial (relating to spatial mental imagery, and numerical and technical cognition); Language & Word Forms; Need for Organisation; Global Bias; and Systemising Tendency. Thus, we replicate previous findings that visual and verbal styles are separable, and that types of imagery can be subdivided. We extend previous research by showing that spatial imagery clusters with other abstract cognitive skills, and demonstrate that global/local bias can be separated from systemising. Study 2 validated the Technical/Spatial and Language & Word Forms factors by showing that they affect performance on memory tasks. In Study 3, we validated Imagery Ability, Technical/Spatial, Language & Word Forms, Global Bias, and Systemising Tendency by issuing the SCSQ to a sample of synaesthetes (N = 121) who report atypical cognitive profiles on these subscales. Thus, the SCSQ consolidates research from traditionally disparate areas of cognitive science into a comprehensive cognitive style measure, which can be used in the general population, and special populations

The sensitivity and specificity of a diagnostic test of sequence-space synesthesia

People with sequence-space synaesthesia (SSS) report stable visuo-spatial forms corresponding to numbers, days and months (amongst others). This type of synaesthesia has intrigued scientists for over 130 years but the lack of an agreed upon tool for assessing it has held back research on this phenomenon. The present study builds on previous tests by measuring the consistency of spatial locations that is known to discriminate controls from synaesthetes. We document, for the first time, the sensitivity and specificity of such a test and suggest a diagnostic cut-off point for discriminating between the groups based on the area bounded by different placement attempts with the same item

Evolutionary Determinants of Genetic Variation in Susceptibility to Infectious Diseases in Humans

Although genetic variation among humans in their susceptibility to infectious diseases has long been appreciated, little focus has been devoted to identifying patterns in levels of variation in susceptibility to different diseases. Levels of genetic variation in susceptibility associated with 40 human infectious diseases were assessed by a survey of studies on both pedigree-based quantitative variation, as well as studies on different classes of marker alleles. These estimates were correlated with pathogen traits, epidemiological characteristics, and effectiveness of the human immune response. The strongest predictors of levels of genetic variation in susceptibility were disease characteristics negatively associated with immune effectiveness. High levels of genetic variation were associated with diseases with long infectious periods and for which vaccine development attempts have been unsuccessful. These findings are consistent with predictions based on theoretical models incorporating fitness costs associated with the different types of resistance mechanisms. An appreciation of these observed patterns will be a valuable tool in directing future research given that genetic variation in disease susceptibility has large implications for vaccine development and epidemiology

The Rangeland Cup

The Rangelands archives are made available by the Society for Range Management and the University of Arizona Libraries. Contact [email protected] for further information.Migrated from OJS platform March 202

Validity of a Primary Screening Device as a Predictor of Subsequent Academic-Achievement

Correlations among scores on motor, visual, auditory, and language subscales of a primary device, Yellow Brick Road, with subsequent academic achievement on Comprehensive Test of Basic Skills were moderate (.35 to .81). Comparisons of the third grade boys (n, 113) and girls (n, 111) on the screening device yielded little difference. Implications for screening and educational strategies were discussed

Unconscious sources of familiarity can be strategically excluded in support of conscious task demands.

What factors contribute to subjective experiences of familiarity, and are these subject to unconscious selection? We investigated the circumstances under which judgments of familiarity are sensitive to task-irrelevant sources using the artificial grammar learning paradigm, a task known to be heavily reliant on familiarity-based responding. In 2 experiments, we manipulated ‘free-floating feelings of familiarity’ by subliminally priming participants with either a subjectively familiar stimulus (their surname) or unfamiliar stimulus (a random letter string). In Experiment 1, after training on an artificial grammar, participants were required to rate the familiarity of a new set of grammar strings where the subliminal priming manipulation preceded each rating. Under these instructions the manipulation significantly altered ratings of familiarity. In Experiment 2, the training, the request for familiarity ratings, and the subliminal manipulation were all unchanged. In addition, however, participants were informed about the presence of rules dictating the structure of the training strings and were required to judge both whether each test-string conformed to those rules and to report the basis for their judgment. This broader decision context eliminated the effect of subliminal primes on ratings of familiarity even when participants’ reported basis for their judgments revealed no conscious knowledge of the rule structure. These results demonstrate that unconscious sources of familiarity can be selected or excluded according to conscious task contexts. The findings are incompatible with theories that equate familiarity with automaticity and those that state people must always be aware of the structural antecedents of metacognition