“Grasp the Mind”

 

 

School of Psychology

Honours Conference 2011

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

With thanks to the Honours Committee: Simone Fernandez, Alice Gummery, Regan Housley,  

 Cherie Strikwerda‐Brown, Rosy Tomkinson, Cheryl Yam 

 

 

 

 

PSYCHOLOGY HONOURS PROGRAM 2011 UWA 

 

WELCOME TALK (BAYLISS BUILDING FOYER); 9:00‐9:15AM  

9:15‐11:00AM: SESSION 1 

Session 1: Wilsmore Lecture Theatre  

Session 1: Tattersall Lecture Theatre  

Session 1: G.33 MCS Lecture Room   

MORNING TEA (BAYLISS BUILDING FOYER); 11:00‐11:30AM  

11:30‐1:15PM: SESSION 2 

Session 2: Wilsmore Lecture Theatre  

Session 2: Tattersall Lecture Theatre  

Session 2: G.33 MCS Lecture Room   

LUNCH (BAYLISS BUILDING FOYER); 1:15‐2:00PM 

Wilsmore for prospective Honours students  

2:00‐4:30PM: SESSION 3 

Session 3: Wilsmore Lecture Theatre  

Session 3: Tattersall Lecture Theatre  

Session3: G.33 MCS Lecture Room  

 

 

AFTERNOON TEA + CLOSING TALK AND PRIZES (BAYLISS BUILDING FOYER);  

3:45‐5:30PM  

 

 

 

 

 

TIME  Wilsmore Lecture Theatre 9.00‐9.15am   Opening Address 9.15‐9.30am  Cheryl Yam (Mark Griffin) 9:30‐9.45am  Rosy Tomkinson (Murray Mayberry) 9:45‐10.00am  Melissa Nicholls (Murray Mayberry) 10.00‐10.15am  Lisa Unwin (Murray Mayberry) 10.15‐10:30am  Yong Xiang Yeo (Murray Mayberry) 10.30‐10.45am  Casie Hebbermann (Shayne Loft) 10.45‐11.00am  Luke Strickland (Shayne Loft) 11.00‐11:30am  MORNING TEA 11:30‐11:45am  Thomas Mcdougall (David Badcock) 11:45‐12:00pm  Jessica Mcginty (David Badcock) 12:00‐12:15pm  Olivia Tan (David Badcock) 12:15‐12:30pm  Shi Yan Cheng (Donna Bayliss) 12:30‐12:45pm  Candice Metlitzky (Donna Bayliss) 12:45‐1:00pm  Ye’elah Berman (Andrew Page) 1:00‐1:15pm   1:15‐2:00pm  LUNCH 2:00‐2:15pm  Nicole Dixon (Geoff Hammond) 2:15‐2:30pm  Elise Duncan (Geoff Hammond) 2:30‐2:45pm  Prudence Fordham (Geoff Hammond) 2:45‐3:00pm  Lisa Mackay (Geoff Hammond) 3:00‐3:15pm  Kalina Makowiecki (Geoff Hammond) 3:15‐3:30pm  Matthew Tang (Geoff Hammond) 3:30‐3:45pm  Stephanie Wade (Geoff Hammond) 3:45‐4:15pm  AFTERNOON TEA 4:30‐5:00pm  Closing Talk and Prizes  

  

   

 

 

TIME  Tattersall Lecture Theatre 9.00‐9.15am   Opening Address 9.15‐9.30am  Jessica Rowland (Stephan Lewandowsky) 9:30‐9.45am  Samuel Vaughan (Stephan Lewandowsky) 9:45‐10.00am  Elise Wells (Stephan Lewandowsky) 10.00‐10.15am  Brooke Addison (Linda Jeffrey) 10.15‐10:30am  Eleni Avard (Linda Jeffrey) 10.30‐10.45am  Sarah Haynes (Linda Jeffrey) 10.45‐11.00am  Simone Fernandez (Mike Weinborn) 11.00‐11:30am  MORNING TEA 11:30‐11:45am  Cherie Strikwerda‐Brown (Mike Weinborn) 11:45‐12:00pm  Nichola Burton (Gill Rhodes) 12:00‐12:15pm  Grace Morley (Gill Rhodes) 12:15‐12:30pm  Tori Patisana (Nicolas Fay) 12:30‐12:45pm  Jacinta Hatton (Romola Bucks) 12:45‐1:00pm  Shraddha Kashyap (Romola Bucks) 1:00‐1:15pm  Kerry McCabe (Romola Bucks) 1:15‐2:00pm  LUNCH 2:00‐2:15pm  Philipp Seiler (Carmen Lawrence) 2:15‐2:30pm  Nicola Flood (Werner Stritzke) 2:30‐2:45pm  Sian Gower (Werner Stritzke) 2:45‐3:00pm  Ellen Hart (Werner Stritzke) 3:00‐3:15pm  Pavitra Aran (Neil McLean) 3:15‐3:30pm  Kaitlin Driscoll (Neil McLean) 3:30‐3:45pm  Zoe Pearce (Neil McLean) 3:45‐4:15pm  AFTERNOON TEA 4:30‐5:00pm  Closing Talk and Prizes   

 

 

 

 

TIME  G.33 MCS Lecture Room 9.00‐9.15am   Opening Address 9.15‐9.30am  Regan Housley (Vance Locke) 9:30‐9.45am  Lara Fine (Vance Locke) 9:45‐10.00am  Alice Gummery (Jan Fletcher) 10.00‐10.15am  Larissa Golden (Jan Fletcher) 10.15‐10:30am  Belinda Norris (Jan Fletcher) 10.30‐10.45am  Amy Gostelow (Colin MacLeod) 10.45‐11.00am  Heather Liebregts (Colin MacLeod) 11.00‐11:30am  MORNING TEA 11:30‐11:45am  Kirsten Melville (Colin MacLeod) 11:45‐12:00pm  Charlotte Hunter (Andrea Loftus) 12:00‐12:15pm  Sumita Kunalingam (Andrea Loftus) 12:15‐12:30pm  Adeline Goh (Andrea Loftus) 12:30‐12:45pm  Laura Forrest (Mike Anderson) 12:45‐1:00pm  Kimberley Griffiths (Mike Anderson) 1:00‐1:15pm  Rebecca Seward (Donna Bayliss) 1:15‐2:00pm  LUNCH 2:00‐2:15pm  Kimberley Mckay (David Morrison) 2:15‐2:30pm  Jessica Moncrieff‐Boyd (Sue Byrne) 2:30‐2:45pm  Claire Reynolds (Sue Byrne) 2:45‐3:00pm  Casey Same (Sue Byrne) 3:00‐3:15pm  Tamar Cohen (Ullrich Ecker) 3:15‐3:30pm  Kelsey Martin (Ullrich Ecker) 3:30‐3:45pm   3:45‐4:15pm  AFTERNOON TEA 4:30‐5:00pm  Closing Talk and Prizes   

 

 

9:15am Wilsmore Lecture Theatre: Cheryl Yam Supervisor: Mark Griffin

The Moderating Effect of Leadership on Trait and State Regulatory Focus

Regulatory Focus Theory states that people strive for goals via two strategies: promotion and prevention focus (Wallace & Chen, 2006). People have an innate preference for either strategy (trait regulatory focus), but external stimuli such as leadership style may influence a person’s strategy selection (state regulatory focus) (Felfe & Schyns, 2006). The present study investigated whether leadership style moderates the relationship between trait and state regulatory foci. Fifty-three participants randomly assigned to two different leadership styles completed a performance task and a measure of their regulatory focus. Regulatory focus before and after the leadership intervention were compared. Results and implications will be discussed.

9:15am Tattersall Lecture Theatre: Jessica Rowland Supervisor: Stephan Lewandowsky

Social-norming, framing and worldview effects on attitudes towards reducing carbon emissions

The climate change debate will be viewed retrospectively as the defining social and political issue of modern times. This thesis examined possible drivers of attitude change towards policy action aimed at reducing carbon emissions. Over the course of two separate studies, the effects of social-norming, framing and worldview on participant’s attitudes towards reducing emissions was examined. None of the three manipulations had a significant effect on participant’s attitudes towards reducing carbon emissions. The majority of participants chose to reduce carbon emissions regardless of the experimental manipulation. This could possibly reflect a general desire amongst the population to reduce carbon emissions.

9:15am G.33 MCS Lecture Room: Regan Housley Supervisor: Vance Locke

Defending the self from personal uncertainty

Personal uncertainty regarding an individual’s intelligence, relationship or beliefs challenges their carefully constructed sense of self. Previous research has established that following experiences of personal uncertainty participant’s exhibit compensatory zeal to rectify feelings of low self-worth (McGregor, 2006). Research has also found that people with high explicit self-esteem and with low implicit self-esteem display greater zeal following personal uncertainty in comparison to others (McGregor & Marigold, 2003; McGregor & Jordan, 2007). Providing these individuals with the opportunity to externalise the cause of their uncertainty may act to reduce the sense of personal uncertainty and therefore reduce the need for compensatory zeal. Therefore it is hypothesised that the making of attributions acts to moderate the relationships between self-esteem and compensatory zeal.

9:30am Wilsmore Lecture Theatre: Rosy Tomkinson Supervisor: Murray Mayberry

Local-global processing strengths and weaknesses in the autism and schizotypy spectra: Evidence for diametrically opposed disorders?

Crespi and Badcock (2008) claimed that the autism and positive schizophrenia spectra are diametrically opposed, and thus display contrasting patterns for some cognitive profiles. One specific aspect of cognition posited to be contrastingly affected in the two spectra is processing style bias (i.e., preference for local versus global processing). The current study assesses the accuracy of this claim by examining the processing styles of two groups of students separated on autistic-like traits but matched on positive schizotypy traits, and a further two groups of students separated on positive schizotypy traits but matched on autistic-like traits (n=20). As the groups did not differ in their local or global processing abilities, this study offers no support for Crespi and Badcock’s theory.

 

 

9:30am Tattersall Lecture Theatre: Samuel Vaughan Supervisor: Stephan Lewandowsky

Scientific Consensus and its Effect on Individual Attitudes towards Global Warming

There is a consensus amongst climate experts that human CO2 emissions are a major contributing factor in global-warming. However, research suggests that the general public perceives this consensus as lower, and is less accepting of the proposition that the Earth is warming and humans are responsible. The aim of this study was to find if an individual is more likely to accept a scientific proposition if they perceive the consensus of scientists in the relevant field to be higher. Three hundred participants were asked to rate their attitudes towards global-warming after having been either informed of the current consensus amongst climate scientists or not. Results suggest that those presented with the consensus showed a greater acceptance of global-warming.

9:30am G.33 MCS Lecture Room: Lara Fine Supervisor: Vance Locke

The Effect of Anxiety on Racial Categorisation: A Flanker Task

Anxiety has been shown to effect categorization of inanimate objects but no research has investigated its effect on categorization of people. This study aims to investigate if anxious people show the same tendency to reject non-prototypical individuals from categories when implicitly categorizing people as they do with inanimate objects (Mikulicer, 1990). Undergraduate students from the University of Western Australia were recruited to complete a name categorization task with faces of varying racial ambiguity as flanker stimuli. Half the participants were subjected to an anxiety manipulation beforehand. Participants’ reaction times on the categorization task were examined to determine if anxious people were more likely to reject racially ambiguous faces from the racial category. This would be evidenced by a greater increase in reaction times compared to controls in response to increasing racial ambiguity. 9:45am Wilsmore Lecture Theatre: Melissa Nicholls Supervisor: Murray Mayberry

Individual Differences in Empathy, Valuing, and Prosocial Behaviour

This study investigated whether differences in dispositional and situational factors influence empathic responses and prosocial behaviour for others in need. Participants (n = 80) high and low in dispositional empathy played an interactive game in which they could help a ‘nice’ (high valuing condition) and ‘nasty’ (low valuing condition) socially excluded person. They also reported empathic concern felt towards the target. It was hypothesised that individuals with higher trait empathy would be more likely to display empathic concern for the targets and help them during the game than those with lower trait empathy. It was also hypothesised that the high valuing condition would elicit more empathic concern and prosocial behaviour than the low valuing condition across both trait empathy groups.

9:45am Tattersall Lecture Theatre: Elise Wells Supervisor: Stephan Lewandowsky

Does ambiguity tolerance predict strategy choice in categorization?

Categorization is the process by which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated and organized into meaningful groups. It has been demonstrated that even when category training is identical, people will employ different strategies to aid them in the categorization of novel items (Nosofsky, Palmeri, & McKinley, 1994). At present, little is known about the predictors of categorization strategy choice. The current study investigated ambiguity tolerance as a possible predictor of strategy choice. Participants were taken from first year psychology students from the University of Western Australia. Students were screened on the basis of their ambiguity tolerance using a 12-item questionnaire. It was found that ambiguity tolerance did not significantly predict strategy use. Implications are discussed.

 

 

9:45am G.33 MCS Lecture Room: Alice Gummery Supervisor: Jan Fletcher

The Relationship Between Reaction Time, Reading, and Rapid Automatised Naming

Research suggests two core deficits of dyslexia can be identified: a phonological awareness (PA) deficit and a rapid automatised naming (RAN) deficit. While PA is relatively well understood, less is known about RAN and how it relates to, and predicts, reading. Equivocal research evidence suggests that speed of processing may underlie the relationship between RAN and reading. The current investigation sought to determine the role of speed of processing in the relationship between RAN and reading. One hundred and three Year Six students participated in the current study and were tested on measures of reading, RAN, and reaction time (RT). It was found that speed of processing, indicated by RT, was not mediating the relationship between RAN and reading.

10:00am Wilsmore Lecture Theatre: Lisa Unwin Supervisor: Murray Mayberry

Is Central Coherence Impaired in Individuals who show Mild Eating Disorder Traits?

Individuals diagnosed with eating disorders (ED) have been found to share a cognitive profile characterized by weak central coherence (WCC) with their unaffected siblings. This has led to the proposition that ED traits are situated along a continuum, anchored at one end by clinical ED and extending to milder traits in the general population. To examine if central coherence is impaired in non-clinical populations, 30 high and 30 low ED trait students were compared on neuropsychological tasks assessing local and global processing. Findings were not consistent with the WCC account, suggesting that high ED trait individuals do not share a cognitive profile with clinical ED. Future studies may consider recruiting individuals who display more extreme levels of ED traits.

10:00am Tattersall Lecture Theatre: Brooke Addison Supervisor: Linda Jeffrey

Does Facial Expression Influence Cone of Gaze in 8-Year Olds?

Perception of facial cues, such as expression and gaze direction, is integral to successful social interaction. The cone of gaze task has revealed that expression can influence the perception of gaze direction. Cone of gaze is the width of gaze deviations over which an observer perceives a face to be looking directly at them. Adult studies have shown that a wider range of gaze directions is perceived as direct for angry faces than fearful or neutral faces. We used the cone of gaze task to study children’s ability to integrate facial cues. Thirty-five adults and 33 eight-year-olds participated. Current analyses show a similar pattern of cone of gaze in both adults and children, indicating early development of the ability to integrate facial cues.

10:00am G.33 MCS Lecture Room: Larissa Golden Supervisor: Jan Fletcher

The role of mental orthographic images in reading and spelling

One of the factors considered to affect literacy attainments is the ability to form clear and accurate mental representations (orthographic images) of words (MOIs). The current study aimed to develop a Quality of Orthographic Representation (QOR) task that would enable measurement of the accuracy and speed of access of MOIs. It also aimed to examine the degree to which QOR performance contributed to literacy performance. Year 6 students from metropolitan and regional schools (N = 103) were assessed on reading, spelling, MOIs, general intelligence, and phonological awareness. Multiple regression analyses indicated that performance on the QOR predicted a significant amount of variance in both spelling and reading. As hypothesised, the variance explained was greater in spelling than reading.

 

 

10:15am Wilsmore Lecture Theatre: Yong Xiang Yeo Supervisor: Murray Mayberry

Are visuospatial representations preferred over verbal representations in autism? The Thinking in Pictures (TiP) hypothesis is an account of cognition in autism (Kunda & Goel, 2008), suggesting that individuals with autism are biased towards using pictorial over verbal representations, even in typically verbal tasks. Functional Transcranial Doppler sonography (fTCD) was used to determine each participant's lateralisation while performing an ambiguous verbal and visual task. This was compared against the lateralisation of individual verbal and visual tasks, in order to determine each participant's cognitive preference. Using the Autism Quotient to form two groups, individuals with higher traits of autism were hypothesised to rely more on pictorial over verbal representations relative to individuals with lower traits of autism. Implications for the TiP hypothesis and avenues for future research will be discussed. 10:15am Tattersall Lecture Theatre: Eleni Avard Supervisor: Linda Jeffrey

Do people with high and low social anxiety integrate facial and vocal expressions differently? The influence of

threat emotion.

Social anxiety has been associated with a bias towards expressions of emotion that convey negative evaluation. Such threat biases have primarily been studied using static facial stimuli, yet real-world expressions are dynamic and often accompanied by vocal expressions of emotion. Here we examined whether people high in social anxiety show a threat bias when integrating facial and vocal cues. Participants were shown audio-visual clips in which the facial and vocal expressions were the same or different and asked to judge the emotion (disgust or happy) shown in one modality while ignoring the other. We predicted that high socially anxious participants would experience greater interference from ‘disgust’ than ‘happy’ expressions, but did not find their performance differed from low socially anxious participants.

10:15am G.33 MCS Lecture Room: Belinda Norris Supervisor: Jan Fletcher

The Relationship between Rapid Automatised Naming and Reading Fluency in Students with Dyslexia

Rapid automatised naming (RAN) and phonological awareness (PA) are known to predict reading in normally developing primary school children. Less is known about the role of RAN and PA in the reading development of children with dyslexia. Using the database of a clinic for people with dyslexia this relationship was examined in reading fluency in 8-15 year olds. RAN made a significant contribution independent of phonological awareness to reading fluency in children with dyslexia up to 11-12 years old. Speed of processing accounted for part of of the relationship between RAN and reading fluency. The findings implicate RAN as a target for intervention in older children with dyslexia up to 11-12 years old.

 

 

10:30am Wilsmore Lecture Theatre: Casie Hebbermann Supervisor: Shayne Loft

Designing Automated Aids to Minimise the Disruptive Affects of Prospective Memory Demands in an Air Traffic Control Task

Often we must remember to perform planned actions at appropriate points in the future. This is known as prospective memory (PM). Many of our everyday activities rely on our ability to successfully remember to complete intentions while simultaneously being engaged in other activities. In certain safety focused work settings failure to complete intentions (PM error) can be disastrous. One prototypical case is in air traffic control where controllers monitor dynamic displays and complete routine tasks. Loft, Smith & Bhaskara (2011) found that memory aids in an ATC simulation task reduced PM errors and costs to ongoing task performance. However, the memory aids were tested under conditions of frequent cue presentation. In real world settings frequency of PM targets is highly infrequent. The aim of the current study is to extend on Loft et al. (2011) by examining the effectiveness of memory aids under conditions where the presentation of targets is less frequent.

10:30am Tattersall Lecture Theatre: Sarah Haynes Supervisor: Linda Jeffrey

Impressions of Trustworthiness from Facial Features: Do Adults and Children Judge Alike?

Adults rapidly make judgments of trustworthiness from unfamiliar faces, which can impact social decisions. Although little evidence exists for the accuracy of judgments, there is high rate of agreement among adult judgments. Little is known on whether children make similar judgments of trustworthiness from faces as adults, however research indicates children and adults make other similar social judgments from faces. In this study, children and adults viewed pairs of faces comprising one ‘high’ and one ‘low’ trust face (based on previous adult ratings), and selected the face they trusted more. It is predicted that children, like adults, will select ‘high’ trust faces over ‘low’ trust faces above chance level. These results would suggest that children and adults use similar facial information to judge trustworthiness.

10:30am G.33 MCS Lecture Room: Amy Gostelow Supervisor: Colin MacLeod

Does extended training on a computer task serve to modify behavioural selectivity and the degree to which individuals experience the key symptomatology of anxiety in a behavioural approach task?

Spider-fear is not only associated with biases of attention that result in the preferential processing of spider-related stimuli but also by behavioural avoidance to such stimuli. This experiment involved training 57 first-year UWA psychology students who were mid-range in spider fear (determined by the FSQ) to either touch spider images, butterfly images or both types of images on a computer task. The aim of the study was to determine if modifying behavioural selectivity to spiders in a computer task influenced subsequent behavioural approach towards a live spider. It was found that behavioural training differentially impacted on the behavioural selectivity participants showed following the computer training, but not on the subsequent behavioural approach. Implications and future directions for research are discussed.

 

 

10:45am Wilsmore Lecture Theatre: Luke Strickland Supervisor: Shayne Loft

Retrieval Competition in Event-Based Prospective Memory

Prospective memory (PM) refers to the processes required to perform a future intention. Participants completed a PM task embedded in a lexical decision task. PM targets were non-focal to performing lexical decisions (syllables) or focal (words). Participants completed three conditions (non- focal, focal and control). Participants were asked not to respond to stimuli until a tone played. The delay between item presentation and tone onset was varied (0ms, 600ms, 1000ms, 1600ms). More PM errors were made under non-focal conditions than focal conditions at tone delays up to 600ms. This effect ceased at longer delays. Costs to the ongoing task were larger under non-focal conditions than focal or control conditions at the 0ms tone delay. This ceased at longer delays.

10:45 Tattersall Lecture Theatre: Simone Fernandez Supervisor: Mike Weinborn

Recall and recognition on a novel serial memory task: can ‘subtle’ patterns in memory performance be used to detect when simulated-malingerers are faking impairments?

Memory malingering occurs when individuals deliberately fake memory impairments, typically to receive monetary rewards (e.g. compensation for injury). This study investigates the utility of a novel serial memory task that uses serial recall and forced-choice recognition procedures and combined absolute and pattern-performance indicators to detect when healthy participants are simulating brain-injury. Participants performed the memory task under one of three conditions: ‘try-your-best’ control (n=30), ‘try-your-best’ while completing a distraction task (meant to provide an attention impaired clinical-analogue group) (n=29), or when faking brain-injury (i.e. simulated-malingering) (n=28). Performance indicators on the serial memory task correctly detected 78.57% of simulated-malingerers. However, 10.00% of controls and 72.41% of clinical-analogues were incorrectly identified as malingering. Implications of the serial memory task are discussed.

10:45am G.33 MCS Lecture Room: Heather Liebregts Supervisor: Colin MacLeod

Evaluating the Causal Contribution of Engagement and Disengagement Attentional Biases to Positive Affectivity

Previous studies have indicated that attentional biases towards positive information contribute to differences in elevations in positive affectivity. However, the causal nature of this relationship has not yet been established. This study examines the causal contribution of attentional bias for positive information to elevations in positive affectivity following a success-experience, with an additional focus on the differential contribution of engagement and disengagement attentional biases. A variant of the attentional probe task was used to train engagement and disengagement in order to induce a group difference in attentional bias for positive information. Differences in attentional biases measured before and after training allowed us to assess whether there was a corresponding group difference in positive affective reactions to a success-experience.

11:30am Wilsmore Lecture Theatre: Thomas Mcdougall Supervisor: David Badcock

Mechanisms for detecting different texture patterns at strong signal levels

Psychophysical investigations have suggested that the visual mechanisms responsible for detecting radial, concentric and spiral texture are independent to each other. Studies examining this have used stimuli which are only just detectable to an observer, but in the real environment signals are likely to be much stronger. This study aims to determine if these separate mechanisms still exist when signals are much stronger by using an increment detection task where an observer is required to indicate which one of two patterns, each containing signal, is stronger than the other. Increment detection thresholds were found to be consistent with the existence of independent mechanisms for the detection of different types of texture.

 

 

11:30am Tattersall Lecture Theatre: Cherie Strikwerda-Brown Supervisor: Mike Weinborn

Forced-Choice Recognition Symptom Validity Tests as Requiring Cognitive Resources Rather Than Effort Alone: A Test of Modality-Specific Interference

Recent research suggests the Word Memory Test (WMT) requires cognitive resources to successfully complete and thus may not distinctively measure test-taking effort, as intended. In the present study 72 participants completed tasks similar to the WMT and the Test of Memory Malingering (TOMM) under one of three concurrent task conditions (none, verbal or visuospatial), to evaluate whether WMT-like (word) tasks are more demanding of general cognitive resources than TOMM-like (picture) ones, or whether each places demands on specific resources. Performance on both memory tasks was significantly affected by both types of concurrent task, suggesting both memory tasks require general cognitive resources, questioning their validity as pure effort measures. Consistent with previous findings, performance was poorer overall on the WMT-like task.

11:30am G.33 MCS Lecture Room: Kirsten Melville Supervisor: Colin MacLeod

The Causal Contribution of Attentional Biases in Anxiety

Research has successfully demonstrated attentional biases in anxiety are characterised by vigilance to negative information. It has also been suggested that trait anxiety may not be a unitary construct, but instead made-up of two unrelated manifestations, anxiety reactivity and perseveration. Literature has shown that attentional biases make a causal contribution to anxiety, and that there are two unrelated attentional biases. This study aimed to test alternative hypotheses concerning the potentially differing causal contributions of anxiety-linked styles of attentional engagement and disengagement on anxiety reactivity and perseveration. Attentional contingency training methods were used to create group differences in engagement and disengagement. Subsequently, participants were subjected to stressor. This was used to examine the effect of training on anxiety reactivity and perseveration.

11:45am Wilsmore Lecture Theatre: Jessica Mcginty Supervisor: David Badcock

Innate or Learned? Global Processing in Shape Perception.

Global mechanisms are used by the human visual system in the perception of regular shapes such as circles, squares and triangles. Typically, global processing also gives better task performance than that resulting from a more basic local processing mechanism. This study investigates whether global processing is innate or if it can be learned through familiarity with unfamiliar, irregular shapes. Discrimination tasks were distributed before and after a visual search task used for perceptual training to facilitate shape familiarity. Global mechanisms were employed initially for all shapes, but only maintained for regular shapes post-training. Results can be explained by improvements in tuning detection mechanisms for local shape cues during training, and are consistent with global processing being innate rather than learnt.

11:45am Tattersall Lecture Theatre: Nichola Burton Supervisor: Gill Rhodes

Children use Norm-Based Coding to Represent Facial Expressions

Faces can be visually represented in a multi-dimensional face-space. The position of a face in this face-space could be coded by the brain in one of two ways: in reference to a central norm or average face, or in terms of its absolute position along the space’s dimensions. Norm-based coding is used to represent facial expression in adults, and facial identity in both adults and children. This study investigated the coding system children use to represent facial expression. An adaptation aftereffect paradigm was used to test twenty-four adults and 18 children (9:2 – 9:11 years). Results indicate that like adults, children’s coding of facial expressions is norm-based.

 

 

11:45pm G.33 MCS Lecture Room: Charlotte Hunter Supervisor: Andrea Loftus

The Relationship Between Personality, Way of Coping, and Sleep Quality

The current study examines how personality influences sleep quality, and how way of coping mediates the predicted relationship between personality and sleep quality, in a normal healthy population. Participants completed a battery of questionnaires online, which included the Big Five Aspects Scale, Way of Coping Questionnaire, and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index. The first research question was analyzed using a simple regression and the second research question was analyzed using a mediated regression. It was hypothesized that those participants with a high Neuroticism score would also display a high (worse) subjective sleep score. It was also hypothesized that emotion-focused coping would mediate the predicted relationship between Neuroticism and reduced sleep quality. Results and implications will be discussed.

12:00pm Wilsmore Lecture Theatre: Olivia Tan Supervisor: David Badcock

Commonalities between the Tilt Illusion, the Tilt Aftereffect and Fraser's Illusion.

Orientation perception represents a crucial process in the perception of form. The perception of orientation is influenced by a number of visual attributes; three of which are illustrated in the illusions investigated in this study (the tilt illusion, tilt aftereffect and Fraser's Illusion). This study aims to compare the illusory percepts elicited by these orientation illusions at predetermined test/inducer angular differences. Results demonstrate consistencies across the three illusions within participants, which suggests that the three illusions may be attributable to common underlying mechanisms. Linear summation of the tilt illusion and Fraser's Illusion was demonstrated for all participants. It is suggested that these illusions are consequent of the visual mechanisms designed to make subtle differences in stimuli orientation more salient.

12:00pm Tattersall Lecture Theatre: Grace Morley Supervisor: Gill Rhodes

Judgements of Unfaithfulness: Consensus, Accuracy and Cues

People frequently make trait judgements about others based on their physical appearance. For judgements of trustworthiness, a high consensus for ratings is consistently achieved despite ratings demonstrating low accuracy. Higher accuracy may be attained for context-specific judgements of trustworthiness, such as sexual infidelity. It is unclear from the literature whether a consensus for unfaithfulness judgements exists. Furthermore, the accuracy of these judgements has not previously been examined. This study examined the consensus and accuracy of judgements of unfaithfulness, and the physical cues that predict them. Sixty-eight participants rated opposite sex photos of faces and bodies on either untrustworthiness or unfaithfulness. Current results indicate a reasonable consensus (Cronbach’s α ~0.7) for most ratings, and further analyses have yet to be conducted.

12:00pm G.33 MCS Lecture Room: Sumita Kunalingam Supervisor: Andrea Loftus

The Impact of tDCS on Executive Function

The present study investigated if transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) over the dorsal lateral pre-frontal cortex (DLPFC) would improve executive function (EF; i.e., planning, set shifting and working memory) in the elderly. Twenty participants between the age of 60 and 88 completed 3 separate tests of EF that measure planning, set shifting and WM. The tests were administered using Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery (CANTAB), a computerized format of testing via a touch screen tablet computer. Following this, participants received 20 minutes of tDCS stimulation, after which they completed the same 3 measures they had completed earlier. All participants received anodal tDCS and sham tDCS separately over two sessions. Each session was separated by a one-week interval. The results and implications of the present study are discussed.

 

 

12:15pm Wilsmore Lecture Theatre: Shi Yan Cheng Supervisor: Donna Bayliss

The Contribution of Inhibition and Goal Maintenance to Stroop Interference

Stroop interference is the robust finding that colour identification is slower when presented with conflicting colour words than neutral stimuli. Previous research proposed an inhibition mechanism to account for Stroop interference. The dual-mechanism theory (Kane & Engle, 2003) suggests that a goal maintenance mechanism is also involved. However, 2 important limitations were observed in the experimental design of Kane and Engle (2003). The current study modified and improved their experiment to examine the mechanisms affecting Stroop interference. Inhibition and goal maintenance were manipulated using different distractor words and the proportion of different trial types respectively. Introductory psychology students completed the Stroop task. Results found that both inhibition and goal maintenance contribute to Stroop interference, supporting the dual-mechanism theory.

12:15pm Tattersall Lecture Theatre: Tori Patisana Supervisor: Nicolas Fay

The Effects of Anxiety on Information Production

Anxious persons tend to interpret ambiguous information in a negative way. However, little research has investigated how they produce information. This study examined whether anxious persons produces information in a similarly negative way to their interpretation. Ninety-six participants were organised into speaker-listener pairs. Speakers scoring high and low on anxiety listened to ambiguous (can be interpreted as threatening or non-threatening) and unambiguous (neutral) sentences, and subsequently verbally communicated the sentences to a non-anxious listener. A pleasantness ratings task and recognition memory test revealed anxious and non-anxious speakers interpreted the ambiguous sentences in a similarly negative way. This does not support previous literature, and moreover renders the effects on information production as inconclusive.

12:15pm G.33 MCS Lecture Room: Adeline Goh Supervisor: Andrea Loftus

The Relationship between Personality, Coping and Quality of life

Quality of life (QOL) is an important construct reflecting an individual’s subjective evaluation of their general wellbeing and encompasses aspects of their physical, psychological, social and environmental conditions. Personality and coping styles have been shown to influence self-perceived QOL. Higher levels of neuroticism and greater use of emotion-focused coping (EFC) strategies are associated with lower QOL. In addition, studies report neuroticism to be positively correlated with EFC. No studies to date have investigated the ways in which personality and coping might interact to collectively influence individuals’ perceived QOL. The present study explored a mediation model of QOL in a sample of undergraduate students (N = 113). Self-reported data was obtained using standardised questionnaires. Results are discussed in terms of implications.

.12:30pm Wilsmore Lecture Theatre: Candice Metlitzky Supervisor: Donna Bayliss

Short-Term Consolidation: A Domain-General or Domain-Specific Process?

Short-term memory consolidation in working memory may be an important factor underlying cognitive development. There is evidence to suggest that this is a central process, with relevant aspects of attention competing for central resources. Interestingly however, previous research has been limited to tasks using visual stimuli, and assessment of adult memory consolidation performance. Given these limitations, the current research aims to examine whether consolidation is a central process and whether it becomes more efficient across childhood. 58 children aged 7 and 9 completed both a visual and auditory change-detection task designed to measure consolidation. A lack of correlation was found between tasks implying consolidation as domain-specific. Additionally, results were indicative of age-related differences in consolidation.

 

 

12:30pm Tattersall Lecture Theatre: Jacinta Hatton Supervisor: Romola Bucks

Obstructive Sleep Apnoea: predicting CPAP therapy usage over 3 months using depression and self-efficacy

levels

Obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) is a chronic sleep disorder characterized by the collapse of the upper airway during sleep. This disorder increases the likelihood of daytime sleepiness, cardiovascular disease, stroke and psychological problems, such as depression. Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) is the current gold standard treatment for OSA, however, usage is low. This study investigated the degree to which depression and self-efficacy, individually or through interaction, predict CPAP usage. Of 693 newly diagnosed patients with OSA, 58 provided CPAP usage data. Results revealed that depression and self-efficacy, both individually and combined, were not associated with CPAP usage; however, that self-efficacy changes with treatment usage. Implications for future research and interventions to improve CPAP usage are considered. 12:30pm G.33 MCS Lecture Room: Laura Forrest Supervisor: Mike Anderson

The Role of Executive Attention in Empathy Deficits in Preterm Children

Preterm children are at increased risk for psychosocial difficulties (Nadeau et al., 2003). Empathy has been implicated in these difficulties (Van Der Mark et al., 2002). Attention has been linked with the development of empathy in children (Valiente et al., 2004) and is decreased in children born preterm (Marlow et al., 2007). Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine the role that executive attention plays in the empathic ability of preterm children. Participants were 62 children (approximately half born preterm) who completed measures of empathy and attention, through Project Kids Intellectual Development Study (Project K.I.D.S.). 12:45pm Wilsmore Lecture Theatre: Ye’elah Berman Supervisor: Andrew Page

The Role of Patient–Clinician Alliance, Treatment Success and Feedback on Clinician Decision Making: An

Experimental Analog

Biases relating to the patient-clinician relationship affect a clinicians’ decision making (Eisenberg, 1979). In the current study, forty-eight undergraduate students chose between treatments that varied in levels of alliance and success rate (high, low). They did this once in the presence of graphical feedback of treatment success rate, and once in its absence. It was found that alliance did not affect participants’ treatment choice and that they were significantly more likely to choose high success treatments. Moreover, the presence of graphical feedback resulted in participants choosing more successful treatments and feeling more confident in their choice. As this was a novel experimental paradigm it is suggested that it be replicated but altered so that the alliance manipulation is more authentic.

12:45pm Tattersall Lecture Theatre: Shraddha Kashyap Supervisor: Romola Bucks

Depression and Social Support predicting treatment engagement in Obstructive Sleep Apnea

Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) is a common, chronic illness associated with obesity and cardiovascular disease. While Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) has been shown to reduce symptoms such as daytime sleepiness and impaired cognition, CPAP use is low and this lack of treatment engagement needs to be addressed. Before deciding to take up CPAP, many patients have a trial. This study explored whether depression and perceived social support would predict the decision to accept this trial. We hypothesised that low depression and high perceived social support would independently and interactively increase the odds of 556 OSA patients accepting a CPAP trial. Contrary to expectations, depression had no effect and lower perceived social support increased the odds of accepting a trial.

 

 

12:45pm G.33 MCS Lecture Room: Kimberley Griffiths Supervisor: Mike Anderson

How Speed of Processing Impacts Reading: Examining the Contributions of Phonological Awareness

and Rapid Naming

Phonological awareness and rapid naming are strong unique predictors of reading ability. Deficits in either one of these abilities can impact reading ability. However, when both are impaired reading ability is severely impacted. It is hypothesised that deficits in speed of processing can account for these other deficits. The study aimed to determine the impact of speed of processing on predictors of reading, and to see if a general speed of processing deficit could be to blame for reading disorders. Participants were 59 typically developing children who took part in Project KIDS. 1:00pm Tattersall Lecture Theatre: Kerry McCabe Supervisor: Romola Bucks

Does visuo-spatial ability mediate spatial-recognition memory deficits in Parkinson's?

People with Parkinson's have deficits in visuo-spatial ability (VSA; e.g. Levin, 1990), which is the capacity to attend to space and process spatial information (Kritchevsky, 1988). They also develop problems with spatial-recognition memory (SRM; Williams-Gray, et. al., 2007), which is long-term memory for locations. What is not clear is if these SRM problems are related to VSA deficits, or whether these problems occur independently. This study explores the possible mediating relationship of VSA on SRM performance. Participants, with and without Parkinson's, were recruited through the Parkinson's Centre (ParkC; ECU) and the West Australian Participant Pool (WAPP; UWA) and tested on VSA pencil-and paper tasks and a computer task measuring SRM. Planned analyses and possible implications of results will be discussed.

1:00pm G.33 MCS Lecture Theatre: Rebecca Seward Supervisor: Donna Bayliss

Memory Consolidation: A Predictor of Working Memory?

Working memory is an ‘active’ memory system that is responsible for the processing and storage of information relevant to a specific cognitive task. One process thought to be necessary for successful encoding into working

memory is consolidation the process of transforming a fleeting perceptual representation into a durable representation in short-term memory. However, the extent to which consolidation contributes to working memory performance is unknown. The purpose of this investigation was to determine whether memory consolidation is an important underlying process in working memory and whether it is distinct from storage ability and processing speed. Sixty children with ages ranging from 6-11 participated in the study as part of Project K.I.D.S.

2:00pm Wilsmore Lecture Theatre: Nicole Dixon Supervisor: Geoff Hammond

Measuring the Sense of Agency

Our study contributes a new method to measure the sense of agency, that is, the perception of control over one’s own actions. The method measures how much perturbation in a visual representation of self-generated pinch-forces affects one’s sense of agency. Our method produced sigmoidal functions from which measures such as 50% thresholds can be used in experimental research designs to study the sense of agency. We used these methods to investigate the contribution of the supplementary motor area (SMA) to the sense of agency. Participants completed the method before, during and after receiving sham and real cathodal transcranial direct current stimulation delivered to their SMA. Further information such as results and implications will also be discussed in the presentation.

 

 

2:00pm Tattersall Lecture Theatre: Philipp Seiler Supervisor: Carmen Lawrence

The cognitive consequences of self-affirmation in situations of stereotype-threat.

Self-affirmation refers to the process whereby an individual reflects upon and affirms a valued aspect of their life (e.g. self-defining characteristic, social role, belief). Research shows self-affirmation eliminates the detrimental effect stereotype-threat has on stereotyped ability performance; however, the causal mechanisms underlying this effect are unclear. The present study examined whether self-affirmation effects are mediated by working memory. Female participants completed a self-affirmation or control task whereupon the gender-quantitative ability stereotype was induced. Participants then completed a working memory assessment followed by a mathematics test. Results indicate that self-affirming eliminated performance decrements on the stereotyped ability (mathematics test), but had no effect on working memory capacity. This suggests self-affirming benefits stereotyped domain performance via a mechanism other than working memory.

2:00pm G.33 MCS Lecture Room: Kimberley Mckay Supervisor: David Morrison

Comparing the PEN and HEXACO models of Personality in the Prediction of Workplace Deviance

The present study aimed to compare the structures of the HEXACO and PEN models of personality and the models’ capacity to predict self reported workplace deviance. While previous studies have generally focused on comparing the broader dimensions of personality models, the current study aimed to compare the PEN factors with the narrower HEXACO facets in order to obtain a more informed comparison. Correlations amongst the scales revealed that PEN Psychoticism correlated strongly and significantly with Emotionality, Agreeableness and Conscientiousness at both the domain and the facet level. Regression analyses of personality data from both rater sources revealed that PEN Psychoticism and the Lie scale were strong predictors of workplace deviance that independently offered substantial incremental validity. For the peer report, the Honesty-Humility factor was also a strong unique predictor of workplace deviance.

2:15pm Wilsmore Lecture Theatre: Elise Duncan Supervisor: Geoff Hammond

The Effects of Transient Changes in Brain Excitability on Hand Movements of Older Adults

Normal aging is accompanied by a decline in the control of hand movements, particularly the fine control of distal hand muscles. In a study on older adults, Hummel et al. (2010) found anodal transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) applied to the primary motor cortex (M1) enhanced right-hand performance in a task assessing activities of daily living. It is unknown whether tDCS enhances older adults’ left-hand movements, nor whether tDCS has differential effects on spatial and temporal movement characteristics. The current study on older adults examined the effects of tDCS on the accuracy, speed, and smoothness of left and right-hand movements in a circle-drawing task. Results provide novel insight into the brain’s control of movement in aging.

 

 

2:15pm Tattersall Lecture Theatre: Nicola Flood Supervisor: Werner Stritzke

Dual Vulnerabilities Underlying Alcohol Use: The Effect of Reward Sensitivity on Craving and Decision

Making

Reward Sensitivity (RS) is a psychobiological personality trait that can manifest as impulsive behaviour that results from an underlying heightened motivation to obtain a reward associated with an appetitive stimulus (Corr, 2004). High RS has been linked to alcohol abuse through two vulnerabilities: individuals high in RS are more reactive to alcohol-related cues inducing craving; and they show impaired decision-making abilities compared to low RS individuals (Franken, 2002; Bechara, Dolan, & Hindes, 2002). It was hypothesised that high RS participants would report higher craving ratings and perform worse on a decision-making task to a greater extent compared to low RS participants. The first hypothesis was supported, however the second hypothesis was not supported. 2:15pm G.33 MCS Lecture Room: Jessica Moncrieff-Boyd Supervisor: Sue Byrne

Set-shifting and information processing styles: Relationships with body mass and eating disorder

symptomatology

Executive dysfunction has been implicated in the neuropsychological profile of overweight/obese individuals. Specifically, it is possible that mental rigidity (poor set-shifting) and atypical information processing biases are associated with excess body mass. Research suggests that overweight/obese individuals who binge eat potentially display more severe neuropsychological deficits than those who do not. This study compared set-shifting and information processing task performance among overweight/obese individuals with and without binge eating (n=26 per group). Both overweight/obese groups displayed similar set-shifting performance deficits in comparison to 26 healthy controls, with no atypical information processing biases observed. While results indicate that excess body mass is associated with poor set-shifting, neuropsychological deficits among overweight/obese binge eaters and non-binge eaters appear equivalent.

2:30pm Wilsmore Lecture Theatre: Prudence Fordham Supervisor: Geoff Hammond

Dissociating the Roles of the Left Posterior Parietal Cortex and the Right Cerebellum in Visuomotor Adaptation

Visuomotor adaptation refers to the adjustment of motor commands, based on errors detected from previous movements. It is a combination of two mechanisms, strategic adaptation and spatial realignment. This experiment tested the hypothesis that the left posterior parietal cortex (PPC) controls the former mechanism, and the cerebellum controls the latter. Participants completed three phases of fast reaching movements; feedback was unexpectedly distorted during the middle phase. Participants received either sham or cathodal transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) to either the left PPC or the right cerebellum throughout the experiment. It was found that PPC tDCS decreased the rate of adaptation, supporting the PPC’s involvement in strategic adaptation. There was no evidence that cerebellar tDCS influenced spatial realignment.

 

 

2:30pm Tattersall Lecture Theatre: Sian Gower Supervisor: Werner Stritzke

Dual Vulnerabilities for Alcohol Use: Influence of Reward Sensitivity on Craving and Decision Making

Reward sensitivity is a personality trait that influences responses to reward related stimuli. Literature posits that high reward sensitivity is associated with substance abuse because of (1) increased reactivity to craving-cues and (2) deficits in decision making. This study aimed to assess the possible interaction of these vulnerabilities. Participants partook in a Craving Induction followed by a decision making task. It was hypothesised that participants with high reward sensitivity would be more reactive to alcohol craving-cues. Secondly, if reward sensitivity and craving interact, performance on the decision making task would be further impaired for participants with high reward sensitivity. Results supported the first hypothesis but not the second. Seventy nine psychology students participated in this study. 2:30pm G.33 MCS Lecture Room: Claire Reynolds Supervisor: Sue Byrne

Predictors and Outcomes of Treatment Attendance in the Eating Disorders

Although poor attendance at outpatient psychotherapy can have serious adverse consequences for patients, therapists, and health services (Mitchell & Selmes, 2007), it has not been investigated in the Eating Disorders (EDs). The aim of this study was to examine the effect of poor attendance on treatment outcome, and whether poor attendance predicted treatment dropout, for ED patients. Data from 125 individuals, who received treatment for an ED at a public outpatient service, were used in the analysis. Logistic regression and linear mixed models analyses revealed that poor treatment attendance (i.e., attending less than 75% of scheduled sessions) predicted non-remission of ED symptoms. Logistic regression analysis revealed that poor attendance in the first eight-weeks of treatment predicted treatment dropout. 2:45pm Wilsmore Lecture Theatre: Lisa Mackay Supervisor: Geoff Hammond Auditory Enhancement: Effect of visual cues on detectability of near-threshold sounds presented in background

noise

A clearly audible sound (cue) increases detection of a subsequently presented near-threshold sound presented in background noise (Greenberg & Larkin, 1968); this increase is referred to as enhancement. It is unknown if enhancement results from the informational content the cue provides or its acoustic properties (Tan, 2008). This study separated these effects by measuring if visual cues (Experiment 1) and visuospatial cues (Experiment 2) could enhance detection of near-threshold sounds with short, but intensive training. A two-interval forced-choice method was used. Results revealed intensive training had no significant effect on detection rate, however an overall auditory enhancement was found in both experiments. Understanding the mechanisms of enhancement can lead to more efficient training programs for recipients of cochlea implants.

2:45pm Tattersall Lecture Theatre: Ellen Hart Supervisor: Werner Stritzke

Reinforcement Sensitivity Theory’s predictive ability of affectivity: A comparison of three RST measures.

Reinforcement Sensitivity Theory posits that three motivational systems control responses to reward and punishment. Several findings have implicated these systems in psychopathologies, such as depression and anxiety. Changes to the theory mean that there is debate as to which measures are most adequate. In this study, an old questionnaire, recently developed questionnaires, and a new behavioural task were used to compare the predictive ability of each measure on depression, anxiety, and stress. One hundred and thirty-one participants completed all four measures. We found that in relation to reward systems the new questionnaires are best at

 

 

predicting depression, whereas in relation to punishment systems the old questionnaires are best. These results have implications for using RST measures in assessment of depression. 2:45pm G.33 MCS Lecture Room: Casey Same Supervisor: Sue Byrne

Agreement between parent and child reporting of child functioning: A longitudinal study.

While multi-informant approaches are widely used to assess child functioning, the correlation between child self-reports and parent-proxy reports has been demonstrated to be poor. The current study examined parent-child agreement of child functioning. Parent-child correlations were found to be low to moderate, with parents overestimating child functioning. Parent-child agreement improved over time for child emotional functioning, but not for physical, social or school functioning. Higher levels of parental psychopathology were associated with lower levels of parent-child agreement. Cross-sectionally, a significant association between low parent-child agreement and higher levels of child psychopathology was observed, however, low agreement did not predict an increase in child psychopathology longitudinally. Results support findings that child functioning information should be collected from multiple informants.

3:00pm Wilsmore Lecture Theatre: Kalina Makowiecki Supervisor: Geoff Hammond

Effects of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation on reversal learning and brain organisation in ephrinA2-/-mice

Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) is thought to facilitate brain plasticity. However, few studies address both behavioural and anatomical effects of rTMS. This study aimed to replicate a study by Arnall et al. (2010) and extend it by applying rTMS, examining differences between ephrin-A2-/- knockout (KO) mice and wild-type (WT) mice in a reverse-learning task. It was hypothesised rTMS would correct reverse-learning deficits present in KO mice. Dendritic spine density (associated with plasticity) was examined to test the hypothesis rTMS would increase spine density. Results did not replicate previous findings, as mice did not learn the reverse task and there were no significant differences between genotypes or rTMS vs. sham stimulation in task performance or dendritic spine densities.

3:00pm Tattersall Lecture Theatre: Pavitra Aran Supervisor: Neil McLean

Predictors of Help Seeking for Depression among Australian University Students

Depression is a major health problem that is common among university students. Despite effective treatments being available, majority of depressed students do not seek help. To investigate why students do not seek help, 1530 depressed students from universities across Australia were surveyed. Quantitative and qualitative analyses were used to assess the attitudes of depressed students towards the use of antidepressant medication (AD) and counselling. Results revealed a significant preference for counseling over AD and previous experience with treatment as the strongest predictor of treatment use. Thematic analysis identified several recurrent themes among students’ treatment attitudes that have potential to be used as predictors of help seeking in future studies. The importance of additional research regarding students’ treatment attitudes is discussed.

3:00pm G.33 MCS Lecture Room: Tamar Cohen Supervisor: Ullrich Ecker

The Effect of Spider Fear on the Continued Influence of Misinformation

Information about an event that is presented as valid but subsequently retracted (i.e., misinformation) often continues to influence people’s understanding of that event. It was hypothesized that such continued reliance on misinformation may depend on pre-existing attitudes. The current study investigated whether people’s pre-existing attitudes towards spiders influenced their reliance on spider-related misinformation. Participants with high and low spider fear were presented with a fictitious article about a woman collapsing and were initially told it was caused by a spider bite. This cause was later retracted. It was found that people with high spider fear were

 

 

no more reliant on spider misinformation than people with low spider fear. This suggests that pre-existing attitudes do not influence the processing of misinformation.

3:15pm Wilsmore Lecture Theatre: Matthew Tang Supervisor: Geoff Hammond

The Effects of Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation Over Auditory Cortex on Auditory Learning and Perception

Practice improves auditory frequency discrimination and the improvement is associated with neural changes in the auditory cortex. Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) enhances motor and language learning but no studies have examined its effects on auditory learning. Experiment 1 hypothesized that anodal tDCS applied over auditory cortex would enhance frequency discrimination learning. However, tDCS did not affect learning but increased frequency discrimination thresholds at 1000 Hz. Poor frequency discrimination can be caused by broad frequency selectivity. Experiment 2 examined if anodal tDCS broadens frequency selectivity at 1000 and 2000 Hz. tDCS broadened frequency selectivity at 2000 Hz, but not 1000 Hz. tDCS may therefore interfere with temporal coding mechanisms.

3:15pm Tattersall Lecture Theatre: Kaitlin Driscoll Supervisor: Neil McLean

The Adult ADHD Self Report Scale, Cognitive and Academic Performance in University Students

ADHD has become increasingly recognised as a disorder that progresses into adulthood and is thought to have (Clark et al., 2007) negative effects on cognitive (Schoechlin& Engel, 2005) and academic performance (Martinussen, Hayden, Hogg-Johnson& Rosemary, 2005). The current study focused on the Adult ADHD Self Report Scale (ASRS, Kessler et al., 2004) and its association with cognitive and academic performance. Tertiary students (n =81) completed the ADHD ASRS and a battery of cognitive tests believed to differentiate individuals with and without adult ADHD (Schoechlin & Engel, 2005). Associations between ASRS score and cognitive and academic outcomes were explored. High and low scorers on the ADHD scale did not differ on the cognitive tasks or on academic performance.

3:15pm G.33 MCS Lecture Room: Kelsey Martin Supervisor: Ullrich Ecker

Pre-existing attitudes and the continued influence effect

Previous research has shown that people often continue to use discredited “misinformation” (information that has been presented as true but is later retracted) when making inferences and judgements. This is known as the Continued Influence Effect (CIE). The present study investigated the relationship between pre-existing racial attitudes and reliance on racial misinformation. Participants were presented with a fictitious report in which an Aboriginal man was initially said to be responsible for the arrest of a bank robber. Later on in the report, this information was either retracted or not retracted, depending on the condition. Results showed that people with high racial prejudice made fewer references to the Aboriginal hero, when compared to people with low racial prejudice.

3:30pm Wilsmore Lecture Theatre: Stephanie Wade Supervisor: Geoff Hammond

Increasing Mirror Neuron Excitability During Observation of Movement Enhances Motor Performance

Observational learning is the acquisition of motor skills through observing another individual perform a movement. Recent studies suggest the mirror neuron system (MNS) as the neural basis of this learning. Previous studies show increasing motor cortex excitability during movement execution enhances motor performance. This study aimed to examine whether increasing MNS excitability using transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) while observing movements would enhance observational learning. Participants observed finger sequence movements while receiving either sham stimulation or anodal tDCS over the ventral premotor cortex,

 

 

an MNS region involved in hand movements. Participants receiving tDCS had significantly faster response than sham participants. The current study provides new evidence that increasing MNS excitability during observation can facilitate motor learning.

3:30pm Tattersall Lecture Theatre: Zoe Pearce Supervisor: Neil McLean

Acculturation, Internalisation of the Thin Ideal and Body Dissatisfaction in Singaporean and Caucasian-Australian Females

The current study examined whether ethnicity moderates the impact of the media on body dissatisfaction. Effects of acculturation and internalisation of the thin ideal on body dissatisfaction were also investigated. Thirty-five Singaporean international students residing in Australia and 40 Caucasian-Australian university students participated in the current study. Participants completed a demographic questionnaire, the Body Dissatisfaction subscale of the Eating Disorder Inventory, the Sociocultural Attitudes Towards Appearance Questionnaire-3, and the Vancouver Index of Acculturation. Compared to Caucasian-Australian women, Singaporean women reported higher levels of body dissatisfaction. However, ethnicity was not found to moderate the impact of the media on body dissatisfaction, and there was no significant effect of acculturation or internalisation of the thin ideal on body dissatisfaction.

Louise Delane Supervisor: Mike Anderson

Investigating the Pathways to Impaired Intelligence in Children Born Very Preterm Prematurity at birth is associated with lower performance on measures of intelligence, however little is understood about the underlying mechanisms behind this impairment. The Theory of Minimal Cognitive Architecture proposes that there are two pathways to intelligence – one through processing speed and one through executive function. The current study compared 66 preterm children to 62 full-term controls (all 7-year-olds) on a measure of intelligence, executive function and processing speed to assess whether one, or both, of the pathways to intelligence was impaired and whether this could explain their impaired performance on the intelligence measure. Preterm children performed significantly lower on all three measures, and their impaired performance on processing speed and executive function fully explained their impaired performance on intelligence.