Psychology

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This is the collection for the University of Waterloo's Department of Psychology.

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Imagery and Music Performance Anxiety in Elite Musicians
(University of Waterloo, 2025-03-14) Finch, Katherine; Oakman, Jonathan
Many musicians experience music performance anxiety (MPA) regardless of their level of expertise (Fernholz et al., 2019) and based on the level of distress and impairment it causes, MPA can be diagnosed as performance-only social anxiety disorder (SAD) (American Psychiatric Association, 2022). However, important phenomena theorized to fuel social anxiety, such as negative spontaneous self-imagery (NSI), have not been studied in musicians or integrated into existing MPA theory which might limit our conceptualization and treatment of this concern. Due to the distress and impairment associated with MPA, different treatments have been developed, many of which integrate intentional mental imagery manipulation to ameliorate anxiety (e.g., relaxation imagery). However, it is difficult to draw a clear picture regarding whether certain approaches (e.g., relaxation imagery) are more helpful than others due to methodological limitations of existing imagery-based MPA intervention research. Importantly, little is known about how musicians engage in mental imagery to manage MPA independent of existing intervention research, which could guide future imagery-based MPA research (e.g., examination of commonly used approaches). Thus, we conducted a series of studies to extend our understanding of musicians’ experiences along the imagery continuum (i.e., spontaneously experienced to intentionally generated) as they relate to MPA to inform future MPA theory, research, and treatment. In Chapter 1, we followed elite musicians (N = 40) for 7 days leading up to an important anxiety-provoking performance of their choice. After completing an initial battery of questionnaires including a measure of trait MPA, musicians completed nightly measures of NSI and state MPA. We theorized that similar to those with SAD, musicians would experience NSI related to musical performances, and that this phenomenon would be positively associated with the intensity with which musicians experience trait and state MPA. Consistent with our predictions, we found that NSI was highly prevalent amongst elite musicians. At the between-person level, musicians who experienced more frequent NSI also had higher trait MPA and state MPA intensity. Multi-level analyses further allowed us to explore the association between NSI and state MPA intensity at the within-person level amongst those who experienced NSI, and we found that state MPA intensity was significantly higher on days where musicians experienced NSI compared to days when they did not. Building on these findings and using the same methodology and participant data, Chapter 2 investigated the association between NSI and additional variables important to the conceptualization of MPA, including state MPA interpretation (i.e., whether musicians interpret anxiety as helpful or harmful to performances) and self-confidence. Contrary to our hypotheses, we did not find an association between NSI and these variables at the between-person level. However, on average within-person, we found that self-confidence was significantly lower on days where musicians experienced NSI than on days when they did not, although a similar association did not emerge between NSI and state MPA interpretation. Taken together, Chapters 1 and 2 indicate that cognitive theoretical models of SAD may be more applicable to MPA than previously thought (Osborne & Franklin, 2002), as an important phenomenon theorized to fuel social anxiety is associated with increased state MPA intensity and decreased self-confidence in anticipation of important anxiety-provoking performances. Further, similar to those with other forms of social anxiety, musicians experiencing MPA may benefit from imagery-enhanced cognitive behavioural therapy for SAD which specifically targets NSI to ameliorate anxiety. In Chapter 3, we turned our attention to the use of intentionally generated imagery to manage MPA. To lay important groundwork for future research, Chapter 3 investigated how elite musicians (N = 25) employ mental imagery to manage MPA, and whether they experience difficulty controlling such imagery through a semi-structured interview and Likert-style rating scales. Thematic analysis revealed that musicians engage in a variety of imagery approaches (e.g., mental rehearsal, relaxation) to manage MPA, several of which are similar to approaches in existing intervention research. Although musicians reported a high degree of overall control of intentionally generated imagery to manage MPA, themes emerged regarding difficulties which musicians experience controlling such imagery. Thus, our findings have implications for future MPA research, as well as clinical implications regarding the use of mental imagery to manage MPA. We conclude with a summary of our results, provide an overview of clinical implications of our novel findings, outline limitations of our program of research, and suggest directions for future research in this important area.
On Spoken Confidence: Characteristics of Explicit Metacognition in Reasoning
(University of Waterloo, 2025-02-20) Stewart, Kaiden; Fugelsang, Jonathan
In this thesis, I assess how explicit, subjective evaluations of confidence influence monitoring and control (i.e., metacognitive) processes in reasoning. Metacognitive processes play a crucial role in modern dual-process theories of reasoning and decision-making, the consequences of which have been implicated in numerous significant real-world decisional outcomes. It is tacitly assumed that monitoring one’s reasoning for the purpose of optimal deployment of controlled, deliberative processing functions similarly to monitoring one’s reasoning for the purpose of providing a judgment of confidence, despite evidence from other domains indicating otherwise. This thesis takes a critical step toward evaluating metacognitive theories of reasoning and their broader application by assessing the degree to which standard approaches represent realistic accounts of metacognitive processes. To aid in interpretation of the work directly testing this possibility, I first present six experiments addressing foundational issues with respect to the operation of metacognition in reasoning. Chapter 2 provides evidence for a causal relationship between confidence judgments and controlled behavior (specifically deliberation), a reality often assumed in the absence of direct evidence. I demonstrate across four experiments that processing manipulations affect confidence and influence control behavior, consistent with a causal relationship, but also that it is possible to target control behaviour without mirroring effects on confidence. Chapter 3 develops a simple predictive model of confidence that identifies heretofore unidentified, item-based predictors of confidence. This simple model allows a unique approach to testing the central question in Chapter 4. Chapter 4 investigates whether the relationship between confidence and controlled behavior partly depends on the requirement to make explicit confidence judgments. Using a paradigm adapted from research involving nonhuman primates, I compare implicit and explicit confidence conditions. Results reveal small differences in controlled behavior and substantial differences in monitoring. In the present thesis, I provide evidence of plausibly systematic influences of common measurement approaches on reasoning. To this effect, it is likely that the reasoning processes in which individuals engage in day-to-day life are reliably different than those commonly assessed in the lab. This has practical, but also theoretical implications which I discuss.
How hard was that? Context effects on judgments of effort
(University of Waterloo, 2025-01-03) Ashburner, Michelle; Risko, Evan F
How do individuals make judgments of effort? Despite cognitive effort being a central construct in scholarship, as well as an influential concept in day-to-day life, we have a limited understanding of how individuals determine the effort associated with cognitive acts. Recent work has demonstrated that judgments of effort can be influenced by the context in which they are made (i.e., the judgment context). I employed a reading task and stimulus set that has produced a reliable dissociation between judgments of effort and cognitive demand to further investigate contextual influences on effort judgments. Specifically, I manipulated the context (i.e., the evaluation context) in which individuals read and judged the stimuli; collected individuals’ reasons for their effort judgments; and measured objective demand (i.e., reading times, error counts). In Experiments 1-4, I determined that this context manipulation did not seem to eliminate the dissociation between judgments of effort and objective demand; however, I revealed that evaluation context has a robust effect on judgments of effort. Furthermore, individuals’ reasons varied just as markedly across evaluation contexts. In Experiments 5-7, I extended this work by manipulating the context in which individuals read the stimuli (i.e., the stimulus context) while holding the judgment context constant. Individuals’ reasons for judgment suggested that the cues used to make effort judgments are influenced by the stimulus context, with both judgments and reasons exhibiting notable changes across stimulus contexts. Implications of these results, including how they guide our understanding of the effort judgment process, are discussed.
A Two-Effects Model of Explanation on Exposing the Illusion of Understanding
(University of Waterloo, 2024-12-20) Meyers, Ethan; Koehler, Derek; Fugelsang, Jonathan
People often overestimate their understanding of how things work. For instance, people believe that they can explain even ordinary phenomena such as the operation of zippers and speedometers in greater depth than they really can. This is called the illusion of understanding (originally known as the illusion of explanatory depth). Fortunately, a person can expose the illusion by attempting to generate a causal explanation for how the phenomenon operates (e.g., how a zipper works). This might be because explanation makes salient the gaps in a person’s knowledge of that phenomenon. However, recent evidence suggests that people might be able to expose the illusion by instead explaining a different phenomenon. Across six preregistered experiments and one secondary data analysis, I examined whether explaining one phenomenon (e.g., how a zipper works) leads individuals to lower their self-assessed knowledge of unrelated phenomena (e.g., how snow forms). My findings demonstrated that participants consistently revised their understanding downwards, not only for the item they explained but also for other items they did not explain. For instance, participants reported reduced understanding of speedometers after explaining helicopters or zippers. Contrary to prior research, participants did exhibit the illusion for familiar movie plots (Experiment 4), but consistent with prior research, participants did not exhibit the illusion for common procedures (Experiment 5). Additionally, when common procedures were included in the experimental design used in Experiments 2 and 3, participants showed no illusion whatsoever (Experiment 6). Finally, an analysis of explanation quality using ChatGPT to code the explanations revealed that the reduction in perceived understanding after explaining (compared to before) correlated with the difference between how well the participant thought they understood the item and how well they actually explained it, but only for explained items. These findings challenge the common framework of how the illusion of understanding operates. Throughout the thesis I evaluate alternative models of the illusion and ultimately find the most support for a two-effects model of explanation, wherein failing to explain a phenomenon temporarily makes people recognize the gaps in their knowledge of the item they explained and makes them feel less knowledgeable about most other things.
Empirical Adequacy of Ranking Theory: A Behavioural and Theoretical Investigation of Human Uncertainty Representation
(University of Waterloo, 2024-12-12) Go, Hanbin; Anderson, Britt
Measuring and quantifying degrees of belief poses a fundamental challenge, prompting an exploration of how humans navigate uncertainty. This study investigated the application of ranking theory to human belief systems, focusing on its effectiveness in measuring degrees of disbelief across diverse contexts. Experiments 1 and 2 confirmed the reliability of negative ranks as a robust measure of disbelief in uncertain situations where belief might be shaped by personal experiences, societal, and cultural norms. Experiment 3 extended the framework by introducing positive ranks, providing a more comprehensive representation of belief and disbelief, and enabling finer distinctions between disbelief, neutrality, and belief. Experiment 4 examined ranking functions within a dynamic learning environment, demonstrating that ranks aligned more closely with objective probabilities than subjective probabilities when outcomes were clearly defined and consistently observed. Experiments 5 and 6 explored the Ellsberg Paradox, showing that ranking functions reduced ambiguity aversion and provided a more true reflection of participants’ beliefs compared to traditional choice-based methods. Overall, the findings supported ranking theory as an effective framework for understanding belief systems, highlighting its potential to simplify the cognitive demands of uncertainty assessment and reduce biases commonly associated with subjective probability models. This work laid a foundation for future research to explore ranking theory’s application in psychology as a metric for belief and its broader relevance in decision-making processes.
On the effects of external support on memory and metamemory
(University of Waterloo, 2024-11-26) Kelly, Megan; Risko, Evan
Our ability to remember has long been aided by various supports in our environment. Although these supports are indeed helpful when available, compared to having expected no support, there is a memory cost of expecting external memory support. This dissertation presents a series of experiments that systematically examined this cost of expecting external memory support across a variety of conditions and contexts. Central to the dissertation is the proposed explanation for the memory cost: that it occurs because expecting external support leads to reduced efforts at committing the to-be-remembered information into internal memory—or study effort. Results do suggest that the costs to memory of expecting external support can be explained, at least in part, by this study effort hypothesis. But results also evidence memory costs of expecting external support that are not easily explained by reduced study effort. In exploring the influences of expecting external support on metamemory, results suggest that people have a general awareness of their performance ability with and without expected support. However, results also suggest areas of difficulty with respect to metacognitive awareness of performance, implying that metacognitive accuracy could be challenging when using external memory supports. In examining the memory cost of expecting external support across a variety of conditions and contexts, this dissertation provides further insights regarding our use of external memory supports and places the study effort hypothesis on solid footing as a partial explanation for the cost.
Two Essays on Managers' Feedback Behavior in the Workplace
(University of Waterloo, 2024-11-22) Minnikin, Amy Florine; Beck, James
Previous feedback research has largely focused on the perspective of the feedback recipient, often taking the act of giving feedback for granted. However, providing feedback can be a complicated and demanding task for managers, and there is likely considerable variance in the frequency and types of feedback behaviors in which managers engage. To this end, in this dissertation I present two essays to address this issue. In Essay 1, I develop the Manager Feedback Behavior Scale (MFBS), which is comprised of seven factors: fostering credibility, providing high-quality feedback, delivering feedback with tact, providing positive feedback, providing negative feedback, ensuring availability, and promoting feedback-seeking. Across four studies, I provide evidence for the validity of the MFBS. In Essay 2, I integrate self-regulatory theories of work motivation with the literature on mental health stereotypes. Across two studies, I present evidence that managers adjust the effort they allocate toward feedback behaviors based on perceptions of their subordinates’ mental health. Briefly, the results indicate that these adjustments are driven by beliefs regarding the likelihood that providing feedback will “pay off” in terms of improved performance. As a set, these essays make several contributions to the feedback literature. Specifically, this research elucidates feedback processes from the manager’s point of view, provides a framework for future investigation of managerial feedback behavior, and emphasizes that providing feedback should be considered with more nuance than simply whether feedback was or was not provided.
The Association between Executive Functioning Skills and Spousal Attributions: An Investigation of Younger and Older Samples
(University of Waterloo, 2024-09-24) Dawson, Jenna; Rehman, Uzma
Marriage in older age has been shown to provide important benefits such as increased emotional support, increased affective positivity and decreased health concerns (Stinnett et al., 1972; Erikson et al., 1986; Parron, 1982). While relationship satisfaction has been shown to increase in later years (Carstensen et al., 1996), there is variability in relationship satisfaction levels in the marriages of older individuals (Carstensen et al., 1995). In the current study, I focused on how individuals construe the meaning of their partner’s negative behaviour and investigated how such attributions, a key relationship process, change as a function of age. An attribution is the process by which individuals explain the causes of a behaviour or event. Individuals make attributions in order to create a more stable, predictable world (Heider, 1958; Kelley, 1972; Miller et al., 1978). To address my goal, I included a sample of younger individuals (ages 18-35 years, N=63) and a sample of older individuals (60 years and older, N=69). The second goal of the current study was to examine how declines in executive functioning skills, that occur as part of normative aging, influence the types of attributions that individuals make about their partner’s behaviours. I compared predictions offered by two important and influential theories of aging, Socioemotional Selectivity theory and the Frontal Aging hypothesis. Socioemotional Selectivity theory posits that as mortality becomes more salient, one’s motivation shifts to maximizing emotional well-being (Carstensen, 2006; Carstensen et al., 1999; Mather & Knight, 2006). As a result, older adults are able to employ cognitive strategies to improve emotion regulation because they are more focused on emotional goals. Paradoxically, the Frontal Aging hypothesis has established that executive functioning systems decline with age (Dempster, 1992). Research on executive functioning suggests declines should also be associated with less flexibility and more negative attributions (Gross & John, 1998). To test these theories, I ran multiple regression analyses to test the main effects of relationship satisfaction, executive functioning skills, and age on each of the attribution variables. In addition to the main effects models, I conducted a multiple moderation analyses for each outcome variable. Specifically, I included the two-way interaction between executive functioning and age, as well as the two-way interaction between executive functioning and relationship satisfaction. Overall, the study findings provided greater support for Socioemotional Selectivity theory, as older adults tended to provide less negative attributions for their partner’s undesirable behaviours. Further, the study findings showed that older individuals with weaker executive functioning skills tend to make more positive attributions for their partner’s behaviour when they have high levels of relationship satisfaction. Therefore, while I found that executive functioning does decline with age, in line with the Frontal Aging hypothesis, the consequences of those declines on relationship attributions are protected by other mechanisms that come ‘online’ when older individuals are satisfied within their relationships.
Helping or Harming? The Impact of Exploring Trauma Within a Men’s Residential Addiction Treatment Program
(University of Waterloo, 2024-09-03) Tung, Simrat; Oakman, Jonathan
Substance abuse and trauma experiences have a high comorbidity and are more likely to co-occur than not (Farley et al., 2004; Tripp et al., 2019; van Dam et al., 2012). The cooccurrence of trauma and substance use is associated with greater symptom severity for both issues, poorer treatment outcomes, and higher rates of drop out from treatment (V. B. Brown et al., 2013; Roberts et al., 2015; van Dam et al., 2012). Historically, substance abuse and trauma have been addressed separately in treatment through independent (both issues are addressed through independent programs that do not co ordinate care) or sequential (one issue is prioritized and addressed individually before addressing the other) treatment programs (Hermann et al., 2014). Some practitioners and treatment programs hold the belief that incorporating trauma care within substance abuse treatment can result in triggering relapse, jeopardizing a person’s sobriety or recovery, or exacerbating the individual’s trauma issues (V. B. Brown et al., 2013; Covington et al., 2008; Lortye et al., 2021) despite support for the effectiveness of integrated treatment wherein both issues are addressed together within a singular program (Blakey & Bowers, 2014; Dass-Brailsford & Myrick, 2010; Tripp et al., 2019; Vujanovic et al., 2018). It is well established within the literature that there are gender differences in experiences of substance abuse and trauma (Cosden et al., 2015), which supports the need for gender-responsive treatment. This research assesses a specific gender-responsive integrated group therapy treatment for men, implemented within a residential addiction treatment program that has not been previously assessed. It focuses on analyzing a specific two-week portion of the overall treatment that explores the role of trauma in a person’s substance abuse issues and how it impacts their goals of recovery to determine potential iatrogenic effects of exploring trauma (i.e., worsening symptoms, and increased drop out from treatment). Participants were recruited from Wayside House of Hamilton and completed a baseline assessment, an assessment before beginning the specific portion of treatment exploring the role of trauma in substance abuse, and an assessment after completing this trauma centred section of treatment. Participant attendance in group sessions throughout the program was also tracked. Paired sample t-tests revealed no significant changes across measures of hope, self-esteem, and sleep disturbance - indicating there was no worsening of symptoms – and a significant decrease in distress caused by trauma symptoms – indicating improvements in trauma symptomology. Analyzing drop outs from treatment revealed no significant differences between the sections of programming during which participants prematurely terminated treatment, indicating there is no evidence to suggest individuals experienced intense distress specific to the trauma module presenting as increased drop out. This research lends support for the use of the Exploring Trauma module for integrated treatment of substance abuse and trauma within a men’s residential program.
An Exploration of Attraction Stereotypes and Self-Reported Attraction Priorities across Diverse Groups
(University of Waterloo, 2024-08-30) Quinn, Krista Allison; Hester, Neil
Psychologists have identified several characteristics that impact judgments of attraction, including physical appearance, personality, earning potential, and social status. Prior research has focused on evaluating self-report judgments of which factors people prioritize when selecting partners, but less work has investigated the attraction stereotypes that people hold, which we define as beliefs about specific groups’ priorities when evaluating a partner. Furthermore, past literature has focused on gender differences, yet lacks diversity and is influenced by a cisnormative, heteronormative bias. The present work ventures to examine how people’s perceptions of others’ partner priorities are affected by targets’ unique intersectional identities. University (N=214) and online (N=436) samples — featuring straight, bisexual, and gay men and women — provided stereotype ratings of ten traits for judging attractiveness for six gender-by-sexuality groups, as well as self-report ratings of these traits’ importance when choosing their own partners. We describe attraction stereotypes across gender-by-sexuality groups, examine how these patterns are moderated by type of rating (stereotype vs. self-report), and evaluate how discrepancies between these types of ratings differ according to perceiver identity.
Struggling to Let Go: The Role of Prior Investment in Goal Disengagement
(University of Waterloo, 2024-08-30) Hubley, Candice; Scholer, Abigail A.
Prior research on goal disengagement has established that being able to let go of unattainable goals is positively related to well-being. While the benefits of goal disengagement have been well-established, relatively little is known about what influences the likelihood of disengagement from personal goals. I propose that prior investment directly reduces the likelihood of disengagement and can reduce responsiveness to signals that disengagement is adaptive. I report five studies (total N = 1217) that examined whether prior investment (previously invested resources) negatively relates to goal disengagement. Study 1 demonstrates that prior investment is negatively associated with disengagement from personal goals. Study 2 replicates Study 1 and also demonstrates that prior investment reduces the effect of unattainability on disengagement, suggesting that prior investment is associated with reduced responsiveness to unattainability. Studies 3 and 4 replicate Studies 1 and 2 in experimental contexts. In Study 3, participants were less responsive (i.e., disengaged less) from an unattainable lab task when perceived prior investment was manipulated to be higher (vs. lower). In Study 4, participants were less responsive to lower perceptions of goal attainability when perceived prior investment was manipulated to be higher (vs. lower) on a personal goal. Finally, Study 5 generally replicated these patterns in a longitudinal design: prior investment predicted greater goal commitment one month later and reduced the effect of attainability on goal commitment and goal disengagement one month later. I position these studies within a broader framework of “hooks” that can reduce the likelihood of goal disengagement. Implications for understanding goal disengagement discernment and the sunk costs fallacy are discussed.
Pathways to Authoritarianism: Metacognitive Influences on Extremist Attitudes and Behaviours
(University of Waterloo, 2024-08-29) Wegenschimmel, Neil; Johnson, Samuel
This paper investigates the relationship between perceptions of societal extremism and the rise of authoritarian attitudes across the political spectrum. Across two studies, involving American adults, we examined how perceptions of increasing radicalism, media consumption, and existential nihilism contribute to both right-wing and left-wing authoritarian tendencies. Study 1 identified significant correlations between perceptions of societal extremism and right-wing authoritarianism (RWA) and its associations with conspiracy mentality and media use. Left-wing authoritarianism (LWA), on the other hand, was primarily predicted by existential nihilism. Study 2 made use of an experimental manipulation with historical data on political violence to assess the impact of accurate information about rates of political violence on authoritarian attitudes. Results revealed that presenting accurate historical data did not significantly alter perceptions of societal extremism; however, existential nihilism positively moderated the endorsement of authoritarian behaviors, particularly in the experimental condition. These findings suggest that authoritarian attitudes are influenced by complex interactions between individual psychological factors and broader informational environments, with parallel pathways leading to RWA and LWA. The implications for understanding the psychological underpinnings of political extremism are discussed.
Navigating the Balance Between Urgency and Importance: Exploring Task Prioritization Strategies Across Environments
(University of Waterloo, 2024-08-28) Wu, Kristina; Johnson, Samuel
Task prioritization is essential for managing multiple tasks with competing goals, yet psychological research has been limited to basic observations in simplified environments. The current research aims to address this gap by examining how various environmental features influence task management using a novel incentive-compatible game across two experiments. In the game, participants sequenced tasks with different levels of urgency (represented by deadlines) and importance (represented by point values) over multiple rounds, aiming to maximize the number of points earned. In Experiment 1, we manipulated task schedulability (ability to plan task orders in advance) and urgency-importance correlation (degree to which urgent tasks and important tasks conflict). Results showed that planning task orders in advance helped participants better balance urgency and importance, leading to near-optimal performance. In contrast, those who did not plan ahead tended to overprioritize importance and performed worse as a result. In Experiment 2, we manipulated task segmentation (whether tasks were to be completed in segmented parts or as a whole), task comparability (uniform versus varied task lengths), and urgency-importance correlation. We found that task segmentation did not affect urgency or importance prioritization, however it decreased overall performance due to suboptimal task-switching. When task lengths varied, performance declined because participants overprioritized importance, while neglecting urgency and task length. Across both experiments, participants balanced urgency and importance more effectively when these factors conflicted the least, but they tended to prioritize importance over urgency more heavily as the conflict between urgency and importance increased. This research highlights the need for strategies that help individuals better balance importance relative to urgency, particularly in dynamic environments with variable task demands. Limitations and future directions are discussed.
Intersectional Invisibility: Whose Discrimination Experiences Are Recognized?
(University of Waterloo, 2024-08-27) Denney, Grace; Bergsieker, Hilary; Eibach, Richard
In two studies, diverse Canadian undergraduate samples evaluated vignettes depicting ambiguous anti-Black racism, sexism, or homophobia towards a target individual. Pre-Study participants (N = 226) rated how typical the vignette was of identity-specific discrimination. Study 1 (N = 867) tested whether attributions to identity-specific discrimination varied based on the number of marginalized identities held by the target (one, two, or three). Consistent with predictions derived from intersectional invisibility theory, "prototypical" targets with only a single marginalized identity were seen as more likely to be experiencing discrimination than targets who held multiple marginalized identities. Within discrimination domain, this effect remained significant only for homophobia evaluations, but had a comparable marginal effect for racism evaluations. Participants who held more (vs. fewer) marginalized identities or who had higher (vs. lower) intersectional awareness made stronger attributions to discrimination, both overall and within each domain. Notably, the focal target marginalization (or intersectional invisibility) effect was not moderated by participants' own marginalization, their intersectional awareness, or vignette typicality and harm (as rated during material validation). I discuss the implications of these findings for discrimination recognition, as well as limitations and future directions.
Beyond Algorithm Aversion: The Impact of Conventionality on Evaluation of Algorithmic and Human-Made Errors
(University of Waterloo, 2024-08-23) Tariq, Hamza; Fugelsang, Jonathan; Koehler, Derek
Prior research has found that when an algorithm makes an error, people judge it more severely than when the same mistake is made by a human. This bias, known as algorithm aversion, was investigated across two studies (N = 1199). Specifically, we explored the effect of the status quo on people’s reactions to identical mistakes made by humans and algorithms. We found significant algorithm aversion when participants were informed that the decisions described in the scenarios are conventionally made by humans. However, when participants were told that the same decisions are conventionally made by algorithms, the bias diminishes, is eliminated, or even reverses direction. This effect of varying whether the algorithm or the human is described as the convention had a particularly strong influence on recommendations of which decision maker should be used in the future. These findings suggest that the existing status quo has a consequential influence on people’s judgments of mistakes. Implications for people’s evolving relationship with algorithms and technology are discussed.
Exploring Social Attention in Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder: A Dimensional Approach
(University of Waterloo, 2024-08-23) Trossman, Rebecca; McAuley, Tara
There is a well-established finding that individuals with ADHD experience social impairment in their daily lives. This likely arises from symptoms of the disorder coupled with deficits in cognitive factors important for effective social function. However, the exact nature of the social impairment remains poorly understood. That is, despite a substantial literature documenting the existence of social problems in daily life, it remains unclear which social cognitive processes may underlie these deficits. Because we lack a clear understanding of the mechanism behind social deficits in ADHD, extant social skills interventions have proven ineffective in ameliorating social functioning for individuals with ADHD. This is particularly notable given the detrimental effect of social impairment on overall wellbeing for those with ADHD. The complexity of social interactions places a high demand on attentional skills; thus, it is plausible that social attentional processes may subserve social impairment in ADHD. The current dissertation aims to elucidate the relationship between ADHD and two core social attentional constructs: self-referential processing and orienting to gaze cues. In line with the RDoC, this dissertation conceptualizes ADHD through a dimensional lens, measuring traits of ADHD along a continuum in three large undergraduate samples. Traits of Autism Spectrum Disorder were also included (and measured dimensionally) given commonalities between the disorders. In Study 1, I examined self-referential processing in a large sample of undergraduates (n=265) varying in ADHD traits. Self-referential processing was assessed online using the self-referential encoding task (SRET), a common implicit memory paradigm. Contrary to hypotheses, neither ADHD traits (nor ASD traits) influenced SRET performance. The self-reference effect also did not emerge when memory was assessed using the most robust metric from the SRET, recognition sensitivity (d’), despite adequate power and careful quality control of data. These findings question self-referential processing as a mechanism underlying social impairment in ADHD and, more broadly, highlight the need for further evaluation of the SRET. Building upon these findings, in Study 2 I adapted the SRET to explore self-referential processing in a socially evaluative context to determine whether prioritization of self-referential information was reduced in ADHD in situations of social threat. This study employed another large undergraduate sample (n=302) expressing a varying level of ADHD traits. Consistent with Study 1, traits of ADHD and ASD did not modulate the self-reference effect, providing further support that ADHD and ASD traits do not impair prioritization of self-relevant information. Additionally, an unexpected finding emerged whereby participants with higher levels of neurodevelopmental traits demonstrated better overall performance on the implicit memory task. Finally, Study 3 (n=169) focused on a different core social attentional process: orienting towards eye gaze cues. This study employed an online adaptation of the classic gaze cueing paradigm to investigate whether ADHD and ASD traits modulate orienting to both neutral and emotional eye gaze cues. Results did not support a modulation in gaze orienting by ADHD (nor ASD) traits; that is, participants demonstrated spontaneous orienting towards eye gaze cues across all levels of neurodevelopmental trait expression. Further, there was no indication of reduced emotional modulation of gaze orienting in ADHD or ASD. Overall, the studies presented in this dissertation suggest that ADHD traits do not modulate two core social attentional processes. However, across the three studies – and over 700 participants – results consistently demonstrate a correlation between ADHD and ASD traits and social impairment in daily life, as measured through a self-report questionnaire of everyday social problems (e.g., getting into arguments, difficulty maintaining friendships, etc.). Thus, although real-world social outcomes are negatively impacted by traits of both disorders, the two social attentional skills evaluated here do not appear to account for these deficits. Findings of this work address a gap in our understanding of the state of social cognitive abilities – specifically social attentional skills – in ADHD, with the ultimate aim of contributing to the literature seeking to develop successful interventions to remediate social impairment in this population.
Neural responses to facial expressions: A story of arousal and valence?
(University of Waterloo, 2024-08-22) Durston, Amie Jeannette; Itier, Roxane
Facial expressions of emotion provide important information about our social partner’s internal state. Historically facial expressions have been conceptualized as discrete categories (i.e., happy, angry), as well as along a continuum of arousal (activated to calm) and valence (positive to negative). Both behavioural and event-related potential (ERP) research attribute emotion category effects (i.e., happy vs angry) to arousal and valence, however, no study has directly linked these constructs. The aim of the present study was to understand if early ERP components involved in visually processing facial expressions are sensitive to these continuous factors (i.e., arousal and valence) at the stimulus level. ERPs were recorded while 80 participants viewed faces expressing fear, anger, happiness, and no emotion, and performed a gender discrimination task. Following the ERP task, participants then viewed each face again and rated them on arousal and valence using 1-9 Likert scales. Individual ratings from each face were linked back to ERP data, trial by trial. ERPs were analyzed in a data-driven way (all time points, all electrodes) using mass univariate statistics. Paired contrast between expressions were analyzed using three different hierarchical models: without (original) and with valence or arousal ratings. Results from models with ratings highly overlapped with the original model, although were more restricted. The N170 component was the most impacted by arousal and valence ratings, where most emotion contrasts revealed significant valence or arousal interactions at this peak. On the P2 emotion differences were driven by more negative amplitudes for angry than happy or neutral faces, but this was unrelated to any rating. On the Early posterior negativity (EPN) happy faces elicited more negative amplitudes than fearful and neutral faces, a difference related to both arousal and valence ratings. However, no other contrast was significant on the EPN. Overall, our analyses show that ERP emotion effects are related to the participants’ perceived arousal and valence of the stimuli, although these relationships highly depend on the specific contrast analyzed. We conclude that perceived arousal and valence of individual stimuli is a critical source of ERP variability, likely contributing to inconsistent findings in the field. Future research must consider the relationship between stimuli ratings and ERP amplitudes to fully unpack how and when our brain extracts emotional information from faces.
Children’s Performance and Social Behaviour during Competitive Games with (simulated) Peers
(University of Waterloo, 2024-08-19) Gevaux, Nicole; Nilsen, Elizabeth
Young children are exposed to competitive environments daily, yet relative to cooperative situations, less is known about the factors that influence children’s behaviour during competition. While there is debate in society whether encouraging children to behave competitively is beneficial or detrimental, this work supports the position that competition is an unavoidable context in our social world that children must learn to navigate in order to be successful. My doctoral dissertation examines which contextual and individual factors relate to children’s behaviour within a competitive environment. I seek to understand how children behave socially towards others and perform on the task, as well as how they explain their behaviours during the game as well as the outcome. To achieve my research objectives, an interactive competitive online game was created that allowed observation of different types of children’s behaviours within an experimentally controlled environment. Children (N = 143; ages 4 to 9) competed against virtual opponents wherein they had to click on target objects faster than their opponent, with the game outcome rigged. Following the games, children sent messages to their opponents and indicated the number of stickers that should be given to the opponent, as well as a neutral peer after the competition had ended. Children were also asked to give verbal explanations about why they thought they won or lost against each opponent, as well as explanations for the sticker distributions they gave. Chapter one provides a theoretical background and review of the literature relevant to children’s behaviour during competition, as well as an overview of the aims and hypotheses of this research. Chapter two explores how context (game outcome, opponent gender) and individual characteristics (gender, socio-cognitive skills) relate to children’s task performance and social behaviour towards competitors. Chapter three investigates children’s beliefs and attributions about the game outcome, as well as their reasons for their pre-and-post game resource distributions to others, exploring the insight or motivations behind their behaviours. Chapter 4 integrates the findings from chapters two and three, highlighting their importance and exploring themes within results, and implications arising from this work. The measured dependent variables in this study included task performance (measuring both speed and accuracy for clicking on target objects), prosociality of messages sent to opponents, number of stickers distributed to opponents and the neutral peer, nature of their attributions for winning versus losing, and whether the explanations for their sticker distributions were based on merit. Girls performed significantly better than boys, but only when they were winning. Children with better emotion regulation performed significantly better than children with low emotion regulation when winning. The prosociality of messages was not related to individual or contextual factors, but sticker distributions were predicted by children’s ToM (higher ToM related to fewer stickers) and gender (when winning, girls gave more stickers to their opponents than boys). Engaging in the competitive game did not influence children’s sticker distribution to an unknown peer. Children gave more internal attributions for winning (attributed success to personal factors) and more external attributions for losing (attributing failure to factors about their environment or opponents). Children most often made merit-based explanations for sticker distributions to opponents, and higher merit-based reasoning reflected higher sticker distribution in the losing condition. Findings highlight the importance of considering the interplay of individual and contextual factors when examining children’s behaviour during competition.
Examining the Influence of Caffeine on Attentional Engagement in Everyday Life and During an Auditory Attention Task
(University of Waterloo, 2024-08-16) Kruger, Tyler; Smilek, Daniel
Caffeine is a popular psychoactive substance used by a large part of the population primarily to increase their cognitive abilities. In this dissertation I explore the links between caffeine consumption, motives to use caffeine, and attention-related experiences. After reviewing the relevant literature (Chapter 1), I report several studies (Chapter 2) exploring 1) how caffeine consumption relates to attention in everyday life using self-report measures that each target a different facet of attentional engagement, and 2) how different motivations for choosing to ingest caffeine may relate to the measures of everyday attention. Findings showed that amount of caffeine consumed in a typical day (estimated in milligrams) was not to related to attention-related experiences in everyday life. However, those who are more likely to ingest caffeine to potentially enhance their cognition, or to experience the reinforcing effects of caffeine, or to help relieve negative affect showed higher levels of inattention in everyday life. Next, I explored how caffeine (versus placebo) may influence performance and attentional engagement during a sustained auditory attention task, as well as the replicability of earlier findings regarding the effects of caffeine consumption on various attention-related experiences such as affect, arousal, boredom, sleepiness, and mental effort (Chapter 3). Participants completed two sessions of an attention task (once before consuming caffeine or placebo and once after) and intermittently responded to thought probes asking about their mind-wandering. Compared to placebo, findings showed that there was a performance and attentional benefit on the attention task following caffeine consumption. I also replicated earlier findings by showing that participants who consumed caffeine reported greater positive affect and arousal as well as less feelings of boredom, sleepiness, and mental effort compared to placebo. I also further explored the positive relation regarding the cognitive motives of caffeine consumption and the tendency to experience more inattention in everyday life. Prior to caffeine consumption, participants who had greater cognitive motives reported being less on task; following caffeination, this correlation became non-significant. In a follow-up study (Chapter 4), I sought to replicate the main findings from the attention task and further explored the relations between cognitive motives and proportion of on task responses in a larger sample. I replicated my earlier findings by showing there was a performance and attentional benefit on the attention task following caffeine consumption. I also replicated the findings regarding affect, arousal, boredom, sleepiness, and mental effort. Importantly, however, I failed to replicate the relations between the cognitive motives and proportion of on task responses suggesting that this relation may not be as robust as originally thought. Finally, I conclude (Chapter 5) by contextualizing the main findings from the studies presented, their limitations, and suggest future directions.
Examining the Relation between Oral Contraceptive Use and Attention-Related Traits and States
(University of Waterloo, 2024-08-13) Smith, Alyssa; Smilek, Daniel
There is a rapidly growing body of work examining the association between the use of oral contraceptives (OCs) and cognition. This dissertation describes a series of studies examining the links between OC use and attention-related traits and states in large diverse samples (all OC Ns > 80). In Chapter 1, the literature on OC use and cognition—and in particular attention—are reviewed, highlighting the limitations of the extant work. Chapter 2 describes studies showing that OC users do not differ from non-OC users in terms of their self-reported traits tendencies to experience inattention (including spontaneous and deliberate mind wandering, attention related errors, and attention lapses). Chapter 3 discusses additional questionnaire-based studies showing that OC users tended to report less boredom proneness than non-users, but roughly equivalent levels of internal or external flow. In Chapter 4, the aforementioned attention-related (with the exception of boredom) were again examined as a function of OC use and OC formulation (in OC users), with results replicating outcomes of the prior studies and additionally showing that OC formulation is not associated with individual differences in attention-related traits. In Chapter 5 OC users and non-users completed a sustained attention task and reported their levels of mind wandering and media multitasking during the task; there were again no consistent differences between OC users and non-users on task performance, thought probe responses, or reports of media multitasking. Chapter 7 includes studies showing that OC users and non-users did not consistently differ on the self-overriding aspect of self-control or self-regulatory assessment, but that OC users consistently reported greater locomotion than non-users. Finally, in Chapter 7 includes a summary of the findings and discusses possible reasons for the inconsistent findings, the challenges of studying OC use and cognition, limitations of the present studies, and future directions.

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