Ph.D. Psychology

Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://hdl.handle.net/10464/2237

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Open Access
Attention-memory interactions in children and young adults
Davis, Emily; Department of Psychology
Associative memory (the ability to bind parts of an event into an integrated unit) is important for encoding episodic events. Critically, associative memory changes throughout the lifespan, such that memory shows protracted development into young adulthood, then declines in older adults. In this thesis, I propose that this developmental trajectory is a result of age-related changes to attentional control, which affects associative memory performance in children and older adults. To test this, I took two approaches: 1) I tested children 8-12 years old on two associative memory tasks that differed in the demands placed on attention, and related performance on these tasks to individual differences in attentional control, and 2) I tested young adults in an experiment that measured memory for target-target and target-distractor associations and explored whether individual differences in attentional control predicted the extent that participants encoded these two types of associative pairs. The erroneous encoding of target-distractor pairs (referred to as hyper-binding) has been previously described as an effect unique to older adulthood, and so here we tested whether even young adults with poor attentional control showed these effects and to establish whether deficits in attentional control drove this effect. Our results support the hypothesis that attentional control influences associative memory performance and may be a cause of the developmental changes that we see in associative memory throughout the lifespan.
Open Access
Understanding the Link Between Affinity for Solitude and Psychosocial Adjustment During Adolescence
Borg, Meghan E.; Department of Psychology
Time spent alone increases from childhood into adolescence. Some previous research suggests that solitude is a constructive experience, whereas other researchers argue that spending time alone may have negative implications for peer relationships during adolescence. Less is known about how different characteristics of solitude may be differentially associated with adjustment. The primary goals of my dissertation were 1) to explore whether the link between affinity for solitude and psychosocial adjustment depends on why or how often an adolescent spends time alone, 2) assess whether there are individual differences in patterns of attitudes towards solitude and experiences with solitude, and 3) identify when solitude is most associated with maladjustment during adolescence. Study 1 of my dissertation used a sample of early and mid- adolescents to examine whether affinity for solitude predicted psychosocial adjustment (i.e., depressive symptoms, social anxiety, peer victimization, friendship quality, self-esteem), controlling for previous scores on these indicators from two years earlier, and whether motivations for spending time alone (i.e., positive versus reactive) and frequency of time spent alone moderated this association. Study 2 used a person-centered approach to identify subgroups of adolescents who varied in characteristics of solitude and sociability, and then assessed whether there were group differences in earlier and concurrent psychosocial adjustment (i.e., depressive symptoms, social anxiety, peer victimization, friendship quality). Study 3 extended Study 2 to explore whether these groups of adolescents with different patterns of characteristics of solitude and sociability experienced changes in trajectories of psychosocial adjustment after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, and whether the pandemic had a stronger effect for some groups compared to others. Overall, results indicated that affinity for solitude is relatively benign during adolescence, though this depends on why and how often adolescents spend time alone, as well as whether adolescents desire to be around others. Further, the implications of solitude may depend on contextual factors, such as the pandemic. Taken together, my dissertation highlights the importance of considering multiple characteristics of solitude, as well as sociability, to avoid broadly over pathologizing solitude during adolescence.
Open Access
Properties of a flexible visual short-term memory resource
Lockhart, Holly; Department of Psychology
For the last few decades, there has been considerable debate as to whether visual short-term memory (VSTM), the capacity limited memory system for the short-term storage of visual information, is a continuous or discrete resource. One property that has been identified that is consistent with a continuous resource is flexible allocation; in a delayed- recall task, when cues manipulate the priority (task relevance) of the sample items to decouple resource allocation from set-size, performance has been found to vary with the proportion of allocated resources. However, the extent and limits of this property have yet to be identified. Moreover, discrete resources could account for some previous findings through probabilistic encoding. The current thesis aimed to examine the properties and limits of flexible resource allocation in VSTM. In Chapter 2, I examined whether VSTM resources could be allocated to three levels of attentional priority. Although possible, examining individual differences in the strategies participants used revealed that the majority of participants do not use all three priority levels. Chapter 3 investigated an alternative resource allocation strategy, whereby the strategic use of a discrete memory resource to store the most relevant memory items would be encoded probabilistically. Response precision better matched predictions of flexible allocation. Further, I directly tested probabilistic encoding by estimating the proportion of “in-memory responses” and comparing it with individuals’ estimated capacity. Results again did not support a probabilistic encoding strategy. A criticism of flexible allocation is that very low precision memories are indistinguishable from out-of-memory responses. In Chapter 4, I examined flexible allocation using a two alternative forced choice (2AFC) task intermixed with continuous response trials, as 2AFC can show evidence of weak memory through better-than-chance recognition performance. Results demonstrated that participants performed better than chance for very low-priority items. This suggests that these items are stored as low-resolution memory representations, rather than being out of memory altogether. Collectively, these studies reveal properties of a flexible VSTM resource. Taken together, these data further suggest that any model that cannot accommodate a dynamic, flexible resource should be abandoned.
Open Access
The song remains the same? Responses to adversity in childhood
Roters, Jennifer; Department of Psychology
Childhood adversity, specifically abuse and neglect has several outcomes. Both insecure attachment styles and personality disorder traits (borderline and psychopathic traits) are known responses. This dissertation examined two main objectives. The first, to replicate findings where the relationship between childhood adversity and borderline and separately psychopathic traits were indirect through insecure attachment style. In Study 1, anxious attachment was hypothesized to mediate the relationship between adversity and borderline traits and avoidant attachment was hypothesized to mediate for psychopathic traits. In Studies 2 and 3, utilizing Bayesian methodology, fearful attachment was added to the model and hypothesized to mediate the relationship for Factor 2 psychopathic traits. The second objective was to expand the model to include other potential mechanisms in the relationship between adversity and borderline/psychopathic traits. Specifically, the role of mindfulness was examined. Across 3 separate studies, insecure attachment and lower mindfulness were examined. Overall, the findings for insecure attachment were replicated which was supported by the previous literature. The role of mindfulness was more complicated; however, more support for mindfulness as a mediator was found versus mindfulness as a moderator. Limitations and implications are discussed.
Open Access
Investigating the Role of Parental Care and Executive Function in the Neurodevelopment of Psychopathy: A Moderated Expression Model of “Successful” Psychopathy
Gauthier, Nathalie Yvonne; Department of Psychology
Psychopathy has been an important risk factor in predicting maladaptive outcomes and antisocial behaviour. However, some research has also explored “successful” psychopathy: individuals with psychopathic traits who avoid negative outcomes (e.g., criminal or antisocial behaviour) and/or those whose psychopathic traits are used to their advantage. The Moderated Expression model (Lilienfeld et al., 2015) posits that that while successful and unsuccessful psychopaths have the same core personality traits, other factors can moderate how these traits are manifested. For example, the quality of parental care, as well as executive function (EF) skills are among the potential factors in predicting antisocial outcomes in individuals with psychopathic traits, yet to date, research has not looked at these together in predicting psychopathy success. The program of study presented in this dissertation explored these factors through a Moderated-Expression framework: Study 1 used an adolescent sample of 229 girls and 165 boys from the community, and examined the role of parental care in predicting success outcomes in youth with Callous-Unemotional (CU) traits. Study 2 expanded on this and examined the role of parental warmth and neglect on success outcomes in adults with psychopathic traits, both directly, and through their effect on EF skills. This study recruited a community sample of 293 men and 301 women. Importantly, Study 2 included multiple sub-components of EF, in order to help address the mixed findings in the research to date, and to ascertain how these functions may work together. Both studies included multiple maladaptive outcomes as well as a proxy measure of social success. Overall, both studies found that (a) parental warmth decreased the strength of the relationship between the core psychopathic traits and multiple maladaptive outcomes; (b) parental neglect increased the risk of anti-sociality and multiple maladaptive outcomes; (c) the pattern of effects differed depending on the gender of the participant and of the parent. Furthermore, while girls and women were lower in overt physical aggression, psychopathic traits still predicted relational aggression, other maladaptive outcomes, and lower social success, highlighting the importance of using diverse measures of success and to look at the patterns across and within gender.
Open Access
Consuming Pornography Predicts Sexual Harm Against Women, but Only When Consumers Are Higher in Hostile or Benevolent Sexism: Multimethod Research Evidence
Prusaczyk, Elvira; Department of Psychology
Whether pornography use predicts sexual harm toward women has been debated, with past research producing contradictory findings. To clarify mixed results and qualify existing theoretical frameworks, I examined the viability of a prejudice-based person-by-situation approach focusing on hostile and benevolent sexism as essential moderators of potential anti-women effects of pornography, namely rape myth acceptance, sexual objectification, and sexual harassment. Study 1 revealed that for men (n = 379) and women (n = 278) higher but not lower in hostile or benevolent sexism, more frequent pornography consumption related to higher anti-women outcomes. Interestingly, however, women lower in hostile sexism exhibited lower anti-women outcomes with more frequent pornography consumption. In Study 2 (N = 253), I explored the dynamic processes of hardcore pornography use and anti-women effects over time. Notably, those high but not low in hostile sexism sexually objectified women more often when they watched more hardcore pornography in previous weeks, but not vice versa. Study 3 explored the effects of brief pornography exposure and the role of sexual arousal. Among men (n = 500) and women (n = 298), exposure to pornography (vs. control) images increased sexual arousal. Although exposure to hardcore (vs. romantic) images generally lowered sexual arousal, those higher in hostile or benevolent sexism were more aroused by the hardcore (vs. romantic) pornography images. Increased sexual arousal correlated with a) higher sexual objectification (regardless of hostile or benevolent sexism) and b) higher rape myth acceptance or sexual harassment inclinations, but only for those higher in hostile or benevolent sexism. For women lower in hostile sexism, increased sexual arousal correlated with lower rape myth acceptance. With Studies 1-3 demonstrating that anti-women effects are absent or reverse among those lower in ideological sexism, Study 4 delved into ethical pornography consumption in a sample of self-identified feminist women (N = 198). Qualitative data analyses revealed the importance of consent, pleasure, sexual freedom, and the distinction between fantasy and reality as participants navigated ethical tensions. Women overall sought pornography that reflected what they enjoyed in their sex lives, resolving tensions with strategies prioritizing their sexual tastes. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.
Open Access
Mechanisms of episodic simulation of helping behaviour in younger and older adults
Ryan, Ashley Dawn; Department of Psychology
The ability to recall the past (i.e., episodic memory) and simulate hypothetical events (i.e., episodic simulation) are intrinsically linked, and individuals with diminished episodic memory abilities show similar deficits when imagining potential future events. For instance, age-related declines in episodic memory are mirrored in older adults’ simulations of future events, such that older adults produce fewer episodic details, and more semantic information, than younger adults when both remembering the past and imagining the future. Despite such deficits, recent research suggests that older adults can successfully imagine future scenarios in which they help people in need; however, these findings are limited, and the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. The present thesis examines whether episodic simulation of future helping behaviours differs between younger and older adults under several conditions. Chapter 2 demonstrates that episodic simulation of helping behaviour increases younger and older adults’ willingness to help even in the highly novel scenarios posed by the pandemic. Participants relied more on non-episodic details when imagining COVID-related scenarios for which they had limited similar experiences. Relatedly, in Chapter 3, both episodic simulation and similarity to one’s personal experiences increase willingness to help and phenomenological experiences, but the mechanisms differ between younger and older adults. Scene vividness and perspective-taking mediated the relationship between situation similarity and willingness to help in younger adults, but only perspective-taking had an indirect effect in older adults. Finally, Chapter 4 suggests that time-spent-imagining does not affect older adults’ ability to simulate future helping behaviours. However, time-spent-imagining did affect the number of internal details produced, but the proportion of internal details (correcting for total details produced) was not affected by time. As such, the often-used metric of a count of episodic details alone may not be the best measure to assess episodic simulation abilities in younger and older adults. Taken together, the present studies suggest that episodic simulation of helping similarly increases younger and older adults’ willingness to help, but the underlying mechanisms likely differ across the lifespan. Additionally, both subjective and objective measures of simulated events must be examined to accurately assess simulation abilities across the lifespan.
Open Access
Lie-telling during adolescence: A multi-method approach
Dykstra, Victoria; Department of Psychology
Lie-telling commonly occurs in interpersonal interactions. Lie-telling has been suggested to be most prominent during adolescence, as research suggests that lie-telling frequency increases throughout childhood, peaks in adolescence, and decreases during adulthood. The goal of my dissertation was to use a multi-method approach to explore this peak in lie-telling during adolescence by examining the frequency, characteristics, and patterns of adolescent lie-telling, as well as aspects of individual differences and social development that relate to lie-telling. Study 1 used an experience sampling method to examine adolescent and young adults’ lie-telling across a one-week period, examining both the overall frequency of lie-telling as well as the recipients, reasons, and topics of lies. Study 2 used a longitudinal approach to examine the association between children and adolescents’ evaluations of lies for autonomy and their lie-telling frequency. Study 3 used a latent class analysis to identify groups that differed in patterns of lie-telling, as well as individual differences that predicted group membership. The results provide support for the u-shape developmental trend of lie-telling, but only in some contexts; specifically self-serving lying to parents was more common in adolescence than young adulthood (Study 1), and frequent lying to parents was more likely for older than younger adolescents (Study 3). The results also demonstrate the importance of considering individual differences and social development when examining and understanding adolescent lie-telling. Variation in lie-telling was explained by individual differences, including relations with others (Study 1, Study 3), lie evaluations (Study 2), well-being, and externalizing problems (Study 3). Furthermore, the importance of adolescent social development for lie-telling was demonstrated across all three studies. Specifically, social context (lying to parents vs friends) was found to be important for understanding the development of lie-telling frequency as well as individual differences associated with lie-telling. Taken together, the results of my dissertation demonstrate the ways in which adolescent lie-telling is unique, the variation in lie-telling that exists during adolescence, and the importance of accounting for social context when understanding the development of lie-telling.
Open Access
Unfamiliar and newly learned face identification: An examination of individual differences
Baker, Kristen A.; Department of Psychology
Face identification involves two tasks: Recognizing an individual even when their appearance changes, and discriminating them from similar-looking individuals. People vary in the accuracy with which they identify unfamiliar faces. Much of the work investigating individual differences in face identification used tightly controlled stimuli (i.e., focused on discrimination). Few studies have used stimuli that incorporate variability in appearance (e.g., focused on recognition). Despite interest in individual differences, and understanding that recognizing a face across instances poses a difficult challenge, many gaps in the literature remain. These include potential predictors, the reliability and convergent validity of face identification tasks, and whether unfamiliar face identification predicts face learning efficiency. I examined a potential predictor of face identification—photography experience (Chapter 2). I recruited photography Experts, Hobbyists and Novices to take part in an unfamiliar face identification task. Photography experience was not a significant predictor of sensitivity in unfamiliar face identification. However, it was a predictor of response bias. I examined the reliability and convergent validity of face identification tasks (Chapter 3). Participants completed four unfamiliar face identification tasks on two days (study 1), or two versions (simultaneous and sequential) of three unfamiliar face identification tasks (study 2). Sensitivity to identity and bias were stable across time and tasks. Response times were fastest on trials that were congruent vs. incongruent with one’s bias, providing preliminary evidence that this reflects decision-making processes. I examined whether unfamiliar face matching predicts face learning efficiency (Chapter 4). Participants completed two unfamiliar face matching tasks and a novel face learning task (which tested recognition four times during learning). Individual differences in the slope of face learning were predicted by unfamiliar face matching ability. These differences appear to be driven by individual differences in recollection, not familiarity. My dissertation provides insights about individual differences in face identification. Individual differences in sensitivity in unfamiliar face identification were stable across time and tasks. They also predict face learning efficiency. My results suggest that face identification is not just a perceptual problem—it is influenced by decision making and other processes. These results have implications for face identification theories and applied settings.
Open Access
The Influence of Reward Associations in the Facilitation and Impairment of Attention and Conflict Processing
Pitchford, Brent; Department of Psychology
The ability to inhibit rewarding impulses to focus on goal-relevant information is a key feature of self-control and is implicated in many psychopathologies and maladaptive behaviours. Focusing on a feature such as the font colour of a word is impaired when the word meaning does not match the font colour (e.g., the word RED in a blue font colour), but even more so when the word meaning is associated with reward (i.e., a potential reward is available when the font colour of the word is red). This phenomenon is referred to as the modulation of interference by the reward association (MIRA) and is contrasted with the improvement of performance when the task-relevant font colour signals a potential reward (reward responsiveness). The present dissertation explores how reward influences Stroop performance, the psychometric properties of these influences, how individuals differ in the influence of reward on their attentional performance, and group-level experimental manipulations that modulate these effects. In study 1, individual differences in behavioural measures of reward processing from the rewarded Stroop task (i.e., MIRA and reward responsiveness) and self-report measures of reward sensitivity and self-control were examined. While individual differences in reward responsiveness were reliable, individual differences in MIRA were not, suggesting that only reward responsiveness should be used to measure individual differences in behaviour. None of the self-report measures were related to behavioural measures suggesting that self-report and behavioural measures of similar constructs cannot be used interchangeably. Finally, there was no indication that reward responsiveness and MIRA were related In study 2, I used group-level manipulations to examine factors that could modulate reward responsiveness and MIRA. Whereas MIRA was relatively unaffected by these manipulations, reward responsiveness was increased for a large versus small reward, especially when colour-outcome instructions were provided. Further, individuals with high reward responsive tendencies responded faster to obtain a large reward but only when they were previously told which colour signals the large reward. Overall, these results highlight the dissociation between how reward can facilitate and impair attentional performance, and that further understanding this dissociation can have implications for our understanding of motivation and undesired reward-driven distraction.
Open Access
Lifestyle factors and neuroimaging metrics as predictors of cognitive performance in healthy aging
Guardia de Souza e Silva, Tiago; Department of Psychology
Despite all the advances made in health-related and psychological sciences, advancing age continues to be accompanied by cognitive decline. Aging is usually associated with major changes in the structure and functioning of the brain that lead to impairments in multiple cognitive functions. The trajectories of age-related effects on the brain and cognition exhibit considerable differences across cognitive domains and across individuals, and investigating approaches and factors that might prevent brain and cognitive decline during aging is considered a topic of great scientific and public health relevance. The overall goal of this thesis was to evaluate age-related differences in brain structure and functional connectivity to further our understanding of the neural mechanisms involved in age-related declines in cognition. This thesis also aimed to investigate the influence of lifestyle factors on age differences in cognition, and in that regard, I focused on the effects of sleep quality and physical activity on memory. In Study 1, I assessed the impact of aging on grey matter volume of the medial temporal lobe MTL and prefrontal cortex PFC and compared the relative contributions of MTL and PFC structures to age differences in associative memory. My findings emphasize the critical role of the frontal lobes, and the control processes they subserve, in determining the detrimental effects of age on memory. Additionally, I observed that the relationship between frontal grey matter volume and memory was not moderated by age or sex, suggesting that greater volume in PFC structures relates to better memory performance across the lifespan and in both sexes. In Study 2, I assessed the effects of age on functional brain networks. Given the essential role of the arousal system (ARAS) in cortical activation and previous findings of disrupted ARAS functioning with age, I investigated the hypothesis that age-related changes in ARAS-cortical functional connectivity may contribute to commonly observed age-related differences in cortical connectivity. The findings of this study showed that the arousal system is functionally connected to widespread cortical regions and suggest that age differences in functional connectivity within the cortex may be driven by age-related changes in the brainstem and these altered connectivity patterns have important implications for cognitive health. In Study 3, I investigated the relationship between sleep quality, physical activity, and memory in middle-age and older adults, in addition to assessing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on participants’ mood and sleep quality. Our results showed that people who were more active reported better sleep quality and showed better memory, and better sleep quality was associated with better memory. Moreover, our findings also showed that some of the beneficial effects of physical activity on cognition are partially mediated by improved sleep. Additionally, this study indicated that the COVID-19 pandemic had a deleterious effect on people’s sleep quality and overall well-being. Taken together, these studies suggest that aging is associated with disruptive effects on brain structure and function, and that these changes are associated with age-related cognitive decline. Additionally, our study supported the association between lifestyle factors, more specifically, sleep quality and physical activity, and cognitive performance during aging.
Open Access
Using the HEXACO to Capture Psychopathy: Development and Initial Validation of the Power Proxies of Psychopathic Traits
Power, Jordan P.; Department of Psychology
Psychopathy, though often considered an abnormal personality construct, has been repeatedly found to be related to “normal” personality traits, and the HEXACO model of personality is particularly capable of capturing the “dark” personality variance integral to the construct. Additionally, while previous research indicates that psychopathy can be applied to both sexes, it has been suggested that psychopathic traits are expressed somewhat differently between men and women. In Study 1, we examined the relations between the Self-Report Psychopathy Scale (SRP) and the HEXACO-60 in a student sample (n = 1,346) in order to create proxy measures for Hare’s two-factor/four-facet model of psychopathy and to investigate sex differences in the associations between the SRP and the HEXACO. We created “general” proxies for use with samples of men and women in addition to male- and female-specific proxies for potential use with samples of exclusively men or women, respectively. The proxies had good psychometric properties and had stronger correlations with several psychopathy-relevant variables than did a previous attempt to measure the SRP facets using HEXACO items. In Study 2, we investigated how the proxies would function in a youth community sample (n = 396). The proxies related to many external variables in a similar manner as that of a previously validated measure of psychopathic traits in youth, suggesting that the proxy scales can be used with younger populations. In Study 3, we used a MTurk sample (n = 471) to update the proxy scales with HEXACO-100 items and to investigate sex differences in the relations between the SRP and the new HEXACO items. Several items were added to each version of the proxy scales and, compared to the original proxies, the updated proxies displayed better psychometric properties and stronger correlations with psychopathy-relevant variables. Overall, this program of research demonstrates considerable overlap between Hare’s model of psychopathy and the HEXACO model of personality. Honesty-Humility and altruism seem to underlie all of the psychopathy scales, whereas aspects of the other HEXACO domains tend to differentiate the psychopathy scales from one another. Further, several sex differences in how psychopathic traits relate to basic personality were identified.
Open Access
Investigating the Conditional Adaptiveness of Adolescents’ Aggression from an Evolutionary Perspective
Lapierre, Kiana; Department of Psychology
Growing evidence supports the evolutionary perspective characterizing aggression as a strategy to achieve proximate adaptive benefits which can indirectly and probabilistically contribute to ultimate evolutionary goals (survival and reproduction). However, aggression may only be adaptive under certain conditions. Therefore, this dissertation investigated various conditions that may affect the adaptiveness of adolescent aggression, namely aggression characteristics (aggressive form, function, and anonymity), target characteristics (power of victim relative to the perpetrator), and perpetrator characteristics (experience of victimization and gender). Study 1 used a person-oriented approach to investigate how proactive and reactive cyber aggression and concurrent experiences of cyber victimization were associated with evolutionarily relevant social advantages and disadvantages in a community sample. Study 2 examined differential associations between aggression involvement and evolutionarily relevant aggressive functions, considering variations in aggressive form, the target’s power relative to perpetrator, and the perpetrator’s gender in a school-based sample. Finally, in a school-based sample, Study 3 investigated (1) how the associations between anonymous perpetration and evolutionary functions of aggression varied by aggressive form and the perpetrator’s gender, (2) how the target’s power and the perpetrator’s gender related to adolescents’ use of anonymous perpetration in each aggressive form, and (3) differential associations between anonymous victimization and victims’ perceptions of harm as a function of aggressive form and gender of the victim. Results suggest that adolescents’ aggression was linked to evolutionarily relevant aggressive functions motivated by competitive (e.g., aggression deterrence, intrasexual competition), impression management (seeking status and mates), sadistic (enjoyment), and reactive (impulsive response to real/perceived threats) functions, and to social advantages (social dominance, dating behaviour) for aggressors who used reactive aggression less frequently. However, aggression involvement was differentially associated with evolutionary motives based on the form, function, or anonymity of aggression, target characteristics, and perpetrator characteristics. Moreover, aggression was associated with costs, especially for cyber aggressor-victims who frequently aggressed reactively, and for victims of anonymous aggression. Thus, adolescents’ aggression may be conditionally adaptive for a narrow range of functions, depending on the characteristics of the aggression, target, and perpetrator. By highlighting the conditional adaptiveness of adolescent aggression, this research may inform efforts to improve interventions addressing aggression.
Open Access
Children’s Developing Use and Understanding of Coercive Language: Applications in a Legal Setting
Wylie, Breanne; Department of Psychology
Within adult-child interactions, where children may be the target of coercion, it is important for children to understand and accurately describe their experiences. Coercive language is expressed using deontic modals, distinguishing between terms of obligation (i.e., implying compliance is required) and permission (i.e., implying compliance is optional). Children’s ability to understand and use coercive language is particularly relevant within applied legal settings where children may be required to testify about coercive tactics, and jurors may use this information to form perceptions about the case. Across three studies, my dissertation examined children’s understanding and use of coercive language, and the influence of using terms of obligation and permission on jurors’ perceptions of children’s reports. In Study 1, I examined 160 3- to 6-year-olds' understanding of the deontic modals tell and ask (referring to obligations and permissions) compared to their epistemic understanding of these terms (referring to knowledgeable and ignorant conversationalists), and the role of theory of mind in their understanding. In Study 2, I examined attorney and children’s use of coercive language within 64 transcripts of children’s testimony for cases involving alleged sexual abuse. In Study 3, I examined the influence of coercive language and maltreatment type on 160 adults’ perceptions of coercion and the child, as well as their judicial decision making. Overall, children’s understanding of the terms tell and ask emerged around 5 years of age, supported by their developing theory of mind. Additionally, children (as young as 6 years) and attorneys used terms of obligation and permission to describe coercion, and jurors were sensitive to these linguistic differences, perceiving children using terms of obligation as more coerced and the adult as more to blame. Of benefit, jurors’ decision making was not influenced by language, but rather focused on the nature of the abuse. Altogether these studies provide insight into children’s developing understanding of coercive language and suggest that even when used appropriately by 5 years of age, terms of permission minimize perceptions of coercion and adult blame. These findings demonstrate the need for educating adults about factors (e.g., coercive language) that may influence their perceptions of children’s disclosure.
Open Access
Novel ways to measure future-oriented cognition: Using parent-report measures and open-ended responses to explore young children’s future thinking development
Mazachowsky, Tessa; Department of Psychology
Future-oriented cognition encompasses a set of key abilities that children must develop for successful functioning in daily life including, saving, prospective memory, episodic foresight, planning, and delay of gratification. These future thinking abilities are supported by memory systems (e.g., semantic, episodic), as well as constructive processes, self-projection, and executive functions. Research primarily measures young children’s future-oriented abilities through behavioural tasks, which have various limitations and may not engage future thinking. The current studies introduce new methods to overcome some of these limitations: developing a parent-report questionnaire and examining children’s open-ended responses. In Study 1 (N = 101; Mazachowsky & Mahy, 2020), 3-to 7-year-old’s future thinking was examined to establish the psychometric properties of a new parent-report measure, The Children’s Future Thinking Questionnaire (CFTQ). The CFTQ detected development of children’s future thinking and is a reliable and valid measure. Study 2 (N = 48; Mazachowsky et al., 2020) examined 3-to 5-year-old children’s episodic foresight using a novel, open-ended version of the Picture-book task. Results showed that children were able to generate items for future use and were more successful with age. Children’s explanations for their generated items were typically present-focused and included both episodic and semantic details. Expanding on Study 2, Study 3 (N = 158; Mazachowsky et al., revisions requested) explored 3-to 5-year-old’s explanations for their item choices on two episodic foresight tasks to determine the degree to which these tasks engaged children’s episodic and future-oriented processes. Children provided more future-oriented explanations on the Picture-book task compared to the Spoon task, but episodicity did not differ between tasks. Further, children’s Picture-book task explanations included more first-person personal pronouns compared to the Spoon task, but explanations did not differ in other pronoun use. Together, these studies show that use of a parent-report measure and examination of children’s open-ended responses offer unique insight into the development of young children’s future thinking and engagement in future-oriented processes.
Open Access
Do we become more honest as we age? A multi-methodological approach to studying dishonesty across adulthood
O'Connor, Alison; Department of Psychology
Being dishonest with others is a common social behaviour, and it has been proposed that dishonesty increases throughout childhood, peaks in adolescence, and gradually declines across adulthood (i.e., an aging-honesty-effect among older adults). Yet, very little research has comprehensively explored how dishonesty is used and evaluated in later life. Using a multi-methodological approach, the primary goals of my dissertation were to examine if this aging-honesty-effect replicated across methodologies and social contexts and to provide a deeper understanding of the deceptive profiles of older adults to uncover what they lie about, who they lie to, and how they morally evaluate lies. In Study 1, I measured younger and older adults’ willingness to cheat in a spontaneous deceptive paradigm and personality traits of honesty-humility. In Study 2, younger and older adults completed an experience sampling study where they recorded their daily lies for a 7-day period. In Study 3, younger and older adults morally evaluated truths and lies, and participants were recruited in Canada, Singapore, and China to examine if age differences were culturally dependent. Results supported the proposed aging-honesty-effect where older adults were less likely to cheat in a task when given the opportunity (Study 1), they scored higher in the honesty-humility personality trait (Study 1), and they told fewer lies across a 7-day period (Study 2) compared to younger adults. Extending these results beyond lie frequency, Study 2 provided insight into the ways in which younger and older adults use lies in their natural social lives, uncovering that this aging-honesty-effect can vary depending on the type and topic of the lie and the relationship between the liar and the lie recipient. Finally, Study 3 found that not only are older adults more honest themselves, but they evaluate blunt or immodest honesty more favorably and good-intentioned lies less favorably than younger adults, and these effects persisted beyond a Western cultural context. These results provide the foundation for understanding older adults’ use and evaluation of dishonesty and can contribute to constructing a lifespan model of dishonesty from childhood through to old age.
Open Access
The development of sensitivity to threat among children and adolescents
Heffer, Taylor; Department of Psychology
Several theories of adolescent brain development suggest that adolescence is a sensitive period of development characterized by the onset of internalizing problems, such as anxiety. Sensitivity to threat, a heightened responsiveness to aversive situations, has been suggested to be a precursor to anxiety, highlighting the importance of understanding sensitivity to threat among children and adolescents. Yet relatively little is known about the development of sensitivity to threat. Further, identifying the neural indicators that are associated with heightened sensitivity to threat would help classify which youth are most at risk for anxiety. The primary goals of my dissertation were: 1) to explore whether adolescents, compared to children, have heightened sensitive to threat, 2) assess which neural indicators are associated with heightened sensitivity to threat, and 3) assess whether individual differences (e.g., in consistency of sensitivity to threat across time and situation) help predict which youth are most at risk for anxiety-related problems. Study 1 of my dissertation examined, with concurrent data, whether adolescents have greater neural sensitivity to negative feedback compared to children. Study 2 examined whether children and adolescents differ in their longitudinal trajectories of sensitivity to threat (e.g., consistency across time). I also was interested in whether these trajectories were associated with frontal asymmetry, a neural indicator associated with avoidance motivations. Study 3 extended the findings from Study 2 to examine consistency across threatening situations. While Studies 1 through 3 investigated whether adolescence is a period of heightened sensitivity to threat, Study 4 of my dissertation used a latent class analysis to investigate whether individual differences in sensitivity to threat, impulsivity, and emotion dysregulation are associated with anxiety and/or risk taking. Results indicated that adolescence (especially when defined by pubertal status), may be a normative period for sensitivity to threat. At the same time, not all youth who are sensitive to threat go on to develop anxiety; thus, it may be that for many adolescents, sensitivity to threat is an adolescent-limited phenomenon, meaning that threat sensitivity may peak in adolescence, but then tapers off into adulthood. Importantly, neural indicators associated with threat sensitivity helped identify which youth may have the highest levels of threat sensitivity. Overall, my dissertation shows that while some level of sensitivity to threat is normative, it is less common for youth to be consistently sensitive to threats and importantly, these youth who are consistently sensitive appear to be most at risk. Taken together, the four studies of my dissertation incorporate EEG, longitudinal designs, multiple indicators of development (age and pubertal status), and self-report data to gain a holistic understanding of sensitivity to threat from childhood to adolescence.
Open Access
Extending Intergroup Contact Theory to Men’s Anti-Women Biases
Earle, Megan; Department of Psychology
Men’s exploitation of women in heterosexual relationships is commonplace, both through sexually assaulting or otherwise taking advantage of women’s bodies, and in exploiting women for domestic labour such as housework and childcare. In the current investigation, we first present evidence for the co-occurrence of men’s willingness to sexually exploit and their willingness to domestically exploit their partners, then assess predictors and emotional processes underlying such hostility. Specifically, in Chapter 2, we develop a two-dimensional scale of willingness to exploit women with male participants (Study 1a; n = 103) and provide evidence that sexual exploitation willingness and domestic exploitation willingness are indeed separate, but related, factors. In Study 1b, we perform confirmatory analysis of this measure in two additional samples (n = 129 and n = 632 respectively) and provide evidence of construct validity for the scale. Then, Study 1c (n = 281) we provide evidence for stability of the construct over time, as well as its ability to predict behavioural indicators of exploitation. In Chapter 3, we investigate predictors and emotional processes underlying anti-women hostility and willingness to exploit women drawing on intergroup contact theory. In a correlational investigation (Study 2; n = 229), we find that perceived negative experiences with women predict greater anti-women bias via greater anger toward women. We then confirm this pattern of results using an experimental manipulation in Study 3 (n = 174), finding indirect effects of anger toward women in the relation between negative contact condition (vs. control) and greater anti-women bias. Positive contact, in contrast, has little relation with more positive attitudes toward women. Finally, in a three-wave longitudinal investigation (n = 577), Study 4 presents evidence for more nuanced relations between perceived contact, anger, and anti-women hostility; the findings suggest that not only do negative contact experiences predict downstream anger toward women, but also that anger and anti-women attitudes feed into men’s perceptions of their contact experiences with women. Overall, these findings reveal that perceived negative (but not positive) contact with, and anger toward, women are particularly relevant to understanding anti-women biases in heterosexual relations and future directions for reducing anti-women hostility are discussed.
Open Access
An In-depth Examination of Personality and Aggression Across Different Contexts
MacDonell, Elliott; Department of Psychology
Acts of aggression are associated with a variety of negative outcomes. Accordingly, research has aimed to identify the personality traits that give rise to different forms of aggressive behaviour. Recent work has indicated that the factor of Honesty-Humility is associated with a variety of deviant behaviours, including aggression towards others; however, the nuances of these relationships require further investigation. This dissertation aimed to address several gaps in this literature through three main studies. In Study 1, we extended previous findings to younger populations, examining the associations between Honesty-Humility and aggression longitudinally in a large sample of children and youth. These findings demonstrated a bidirectional relationship between Honesty-Humility and aggression over time, such that low levels of Honesty-Humility resulted in higher levels of aggression and vice versa. In Study 2, we explored the specific facets of Honesty-Humility to determine if they differentially predict proactive and reactive aggression. Despite the theoretical link between Modesty and reactive aggression, we found limited support for this association, especially when controlling for proactive aggression. Overall, the Sincerity and Fairness facets were found to strongly predict both forms of aggression. Lastly, Study 3 explored the associations between Honesty-Humility and deviance, aggression, exploitation, and victimization in a workplace context. Robust relationships were found between Honesty-Humility and several deviant behaviours, further emphasizing the importance of this trait. In particular, when provided with the opportunity to aggress, individuals low in Honesty-Humility were more likely to do so, regardless of their level of power in the situation. Collectively, these findings indicate that Honesty-Humility is the strongest predictor of aggressive and deviant behaviour among the broad factors of personality. However, this dissertation extends previous findings by demonstrating the applicability of Honesty-Humility across different contexts and by providing a nuanced understanding of the components responsible for this relationship.
Open Access
The Mental Representation of Visual Information
Robitaille, Joel; Department of Psychology
Despite working in relative independence, the working memory and imagery literatures investigate the mental representation of visual information. Recent reports investigating the neural structure and their associated functional activity responsible for the creation and maintenance of these cognitive representations suggest a significant overlap between these fields of study. Because each field has adopted methodologies that does not allow for a direct comparison of the mental representation described by their respective literatures, it is difficult to determine whether imagery and working memory representations are related. Hence, the current thesis further investigates the properties of the visual representation of visual information to bridge between the imagery and working memory fields. In a first study, I compare the psychophysical properties of simple stimuli commonly used in working memory reports with more complex objects adopted by the imagery field. In the course of three experiments, I demonstrate that the cost of stimulus complexity predominantly affects the quality of the mental representation while still providing evidence of a shared cognitive mechanism driving the formation and maintenance of these representations. In a second study, I evaluate the impact of mental rotation on these mental representations as well as whether the adoption of different paradigms, along with different performance metrics, assess the same cognitive construct. Here again, I show strong evidence in support of a common cognitive mechanism driving the performance across mental manipulation and through assessment methods. Finally, the last study attempted to track the manipulation of these visual representations by applying an encoding model to raw EEG activity. While I show evidence of the orientation-relevant activity during perception, the encoding model does not detect reliable enough activity to allow for tracking the orientation of the stimulus during retention and mental rotation. Together, this thesis provides evidence of a shared cognitive mechanism that drives visual working memory and imagery representation, but tracking these mental representations using EEG activity during manipulation remains unclear.

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