Cognitive Science & Psychology Division, ULAB

The following study examines the relation between perceived duration and the intensityand fundamental frequency of sounds. Sounds with higher fundamental frequency (the lowestfrequency of a periodic waveform) and greater intensity are judged to have longer duration.However, it is not known if fundamental frequency, intensity, or both affect the perceivedduration, and to what extent. The purpose of this study is to find out the variance in contributionof both fundamental frequency and intensity to perceived duration through two forced choicetasks. Through replication, we found that fundamental frequency does in fact have a significantpositive effect on perceived duration while intensity did not. Future research may focus ontesting these results among different language groups, and applying these results to anunderstanding of communication and language.

The purpose of this study is to expand upon the findings published by Junhong Yu, Qian Tao,Ruibin Zhang, Chetwyn C.H. Chan, and Tatia M.C. Lee in their paper, “Can fMRI discriminatebetween deception and false memory? A meta-analytic comparison between deception and falsememory studies” by conducting a meta-analysis to compare brain activation between deceptionand general memory1 recollection (Yu et al., 2019). Meta-analyses compile fMRI results frommany individual studies with regard to a specific cognitive task into one, cumulative dataset. Themeta-analyses for this extension were compiled by Neurosynth using FMRIB Software Library(FSL) to measure the amount of brain activation corresponding to areas involved in bothdeception and memory in general (“Nipype: Neuroimaging in Python,” 2020). The purpose ofthis extension is to understand how general memory recollection might compare to deception.The prediction of this study is that by broadening the memory dataset to include data from falseand true memory, activation will be reported in more areas than those reported in Yu and hiscolleagues separate analysis of each kind of memory. This, in turn, should make it more difficultto differentiate deception from memory recollection when it is not known to be true or false.While Yu et al. 2019 concluded that areas associated with truthful memory and false memorywere both separately distinguishable from deception, the results found in this study indicate thatactivation involved with general memory was distinguishable from deception only in theprecuneus and cingulate gyrus.

Previous research has documented that mood affects memory accuracy. The present study aimsto (1) replicate earlier work showing that mood (negative, positive, neutral) and valence affectsmemory consolidation, (2) examine whether retrieval processes are more likely to preserve falsememories when a mood is induced, (3) identify error prevalence associated with memoryconsolidation. A recognition-memory standard for photographs depicting script-like events wasused. Individuals in both negative and positive moods–similar in arousal levels–correctlyidentified more target events and are more confident in fewer false memories comparing toindividuals in a neutral mood. This shows that arousal (but not valence) helps predict memoryperformance. These findings suggest that arousal state affects memory while mood mediates trueand false memory.

Distractions and multitasking are generally detrimental to learning and memory.Nevertheless, people often study while listening to music, sitting in noisy coffee shops, orintermittently checking their e-mail. The experiment we replicated examined how distractionsand divided attention influence one’s ability to selectively remember valuable information.Participants studied lists of words that ranged in value from 1 to 10 points while completing adigit-detection task, while listening to music, or without distractions. Most of the figures weresuccessfully replicated using the given dataset and tools like Microsoft Excel and Google Sheets.Since we were able to arrive at the same conclusion as the original author, we believe thisexperiment is valid and reliable for application to further extension studies. Our extension studyexamined correlations between gender and recall ability and between age and recall ability. Weconcluded that there was no significant correlation between these variables, suggesting thesefactors did not affect the outcome. This extension further supports the author’s results, as age andgender were seemingly not confounding variables.

fMRI imaging measures brain activity by detecting changes in the brain that are associated with blood flow and can be used in order to determine the size and location of visual field maps. This study measured BOLD responses in humans to understand spatial summation by showing them spatial contrast pattern images through vertical and horizontal apertures.Nonlinear responses can be computed from the visual field responses, from which the spatial summation ratio is calculated. A ratio of less than one indicates a smaller response to exposure to a full aperture or contrast image than predicted by the linear model. Datasets were analyzed using MATLAB, producing eccentricity maps of the visual cortices from stimuli. BOLD response curves identify the intensity of the maps within a particular voxel. The eccentricity maps can then be overlain on anatomical representations of the brain, characterizing the various visual field cortices. Methods of fMRI data analysis are confirmed with the results of this study.

Several lines of evidence indicate that glucose can enhance cognitive performancewithout being ingested. Previous research has found that the effect of food anticipation can boostcognitive resources in a testing environment [1]. This study was designed to replicate thefindings utilizing the same population, examining the effect that food anticipation has oncognitive abilities among multiple weight groups. 182 students were included in this replicationstudy. In order to accurately measure the results, the study randomized the order that foodanticipation tasks and cognitive tests were performed. The results indicated that an anticipatoryfood reward effect enhanced the cognitive capabilities of individuals categorized by BMI asoverweight and obese. Furthermore, this effect shifted the attention of these individuals towardlite food options as opposed to regular. Finally, this anticipatory food effect reduced emotionalarousal regarding food for individuals in the obese BMI category. We replicated previousfindings of increased cognitive resources in the presence of food anticipation prior to test taking.These findings add to the growing literature that the presence of food can boost cognitiveresources in testing environments. Future studies should shift the focus away from weight as adriving factor in the results, and instead look at how socio-economic status (SES) and foodinsecurity may affect eye gaze behavior and the anticipatory reward effect associated with foodcues.

In this paper, we detail a theoretical research proposal to investigate the emergence of genderrelated gay males’ and lesbians’ stereotypes using a model called COAT measures which was used in gender stereotypes studies (Liben et al, 2012). Our idea is based on people’s tendency to attribute sexual orientation stereotypes with the opposite gender (Blashill & Powlishta, 2002). Extending on past literature on the early development of gender stereotypes on brilliance in children aged five to seven, we explored whether children in that age range start to perceive and associate gay males and lesbians with gender stereotypes of the opposite gender (Bian et al., 2019). Without carrying out the experiments, we have completed designing the framework of the study and corresponding analysis as well as addressing future ideas to enhance our understanding on the development of gay/lesbian stereotypes. Exploring the association between gender stereotypes, we hypothesize that gay/lesbian stereotypes emerge early at the same time with gender stereotypes.

fMRI has the potential of being able to differentiate between false memory and deception, but to apply this ability to real life situations, such as court cases or in neurodegenerative studies involving the brain's ability to recognize memory, it is vital that fMRI can detect the differences between general memory1 and deception, as false memory is often mixed in with true memory during recollection. To determine whether fMRI can do this, the prior study, “Can fMRI discriminate between deception and false memory? A meta-analytic comparison between deception and false memory studies” (Yu et al., 2019) [18] was extended. Yu et al., 2019 found that true memory and false memory, independently, could be distinguished from deception. This extension aims to determine if brain activity resulting from deception can be distinguished from activity caused by general memory as opposed to false memory. Given the broader scope of general memory compared to false memory, the prediction is put forth that general memory recollection will not be distinguishable from deception due to broader regions of activation in the brain. Appropriate meta-analyses for deception and general memory recollection were selected and used to determine z-scores and voxel coordinates of activity in different regions of the brain. The brain structures with the highest z-scores during general memory analysis were the caudate, the medial frontal gyrus, and the insula. The brain structures with the highest z-scores during deception analysis were the inferior frontal gyrus, the supramarginal gyrus, and the insula. After further analysis, it was determined that activation for general memory vs deception can be distinguished by looking at the activation of the cingulate gyrus and the precuneus.

There is growing interest in the potential of exercise interventions in therapy for individuals with Alzheimer’s disease (AD). This paper replicates and extends upon some of the analysis of a randomized controlled pilot study that investigates the effect of a 26-week aerobic exercise program on memory, executive function, functional ability, and depression in 68 participants who were likely to develop AD. The replication was focused specifically on the analysis performed on the Memory Composite outcome variable, reproducing an interaction model between two of the main variables, Treatment Arm (Stretching and Toning Exercise versus Aerobic Exercise) and Timepoint (Baseline, Week 13, Week 26). The replication yielded the same values as the original study with similarly insignificant p-values. Using RStudio, the present study tests three additional interaction models, the interaction between Sex and Treatment Arm, between Sex and Timepoint, and between Sex, Treatment Arm, and Timepoint. These tests yielded insignificant p-values, implying that, contrary to the previous literature on gender differences in AD and exercise interventions, gender may not be a differentiating factor in memory. The hypothesis was that the exercise type affects the interaction between time and memory loss in early AD patients.

Much of research surrounding reading difficulties is based solely on behavioral analyses.A child’s early and correct diagnosis is imperative to insure that they receive adequate resourcesand support which can severely affect equal opportunities for success in the future. Afterstudying different methods of diagnosis for reading difficulties, we saw most of these tests couldnot assert significant differences between children with and without reading difficulties. Thiscontributes to diagnoses being heavily reliant on behavioral observations. Since statisticallysignificant distinction can’t be made with behavioral tests, researchers are pushed to exploredifferent approaches.In order to explore more concrete approaches to diagnoses, we then looked at fMRI datato determine if we could accurately attribute functional localizations in the brain to responses towords and pictures. Through this, researchers aimed to use specific neuroanatomical images todetermine how the brain activity of a person without reading difficulties corresponds to wordandimage-processing. We compared data between two runs of the same subject as well asbetween subjects in order to determine consistency of the study. Although we could not findconsistency between subject, we were able to explore possible ways to optimize fMRI studies forfuture diagnoses. We hope to one day optimize the data collection system in order to use thelocalization of brain activity to diagnose children with reading difficulties in an unbiased,systematic way.