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Applied Cognition and Technology Lab

UCF Psychology Department

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Honors Undergraduate Theses

2023:

Investigating Perceived Control and Personality

Author: Kayla Norman

Thesis Chair: Dr. Valerie Sims

Researching How Excess Social Media Use and Filters Affect Trust

Author: Ula McCarthy

Thesis Chair: Dr. Valerie Sims

Attention Contagion in Online Courses: Examining Student Attention During Recorded Lectures

Author: Makenna Connolley

Thesis Chair: Dr. Matthew Chin

 

2022:

The Deaf Community and Their Preferences in a Clinical Psychological Setting

Author: Alexandra Alonso

Thesis Chair: Dr. Valerie Sims

Differences in Performance Anxiety Between Expert and Amateur Dressage Riders

Author: Hanna Benne

Thesis Chair: Dr. Valerie Sims

Flashbulb Memories Among College Students During COVID-19

Author: Sabah Qureshi

Thesis Chair: Dr. Valerie Sims

 

2021:

The Effects of Bioidentical Hormone Replacement Therapy on Irritability in Menopausal Women

Author: Giavana Hanna

Thesis Chair: Dr. Matthew Chin

The Usage of Social Media to Fulfill Social Needs in Introverts

Author: Nathaly Rayo

Thesis Chair: Dr. Matthew Chin

Relating the Big Five Personality Factors and the Method of Dog Obtainment in Female Dog Owners

Author: Julia Rifenberg 

Thesis Chair: Dr. Valerie Sims

 

2020:

Perceptions and Punishment of Human-Animal Altercations
Author: Adriana C. Mata Guidi 

Thesis Chair: Dr. Valerie Sims

 

2019:

Determining the Relationship Between Weight Dissatisfaction and Attention to Calories
Author: Eleanor Didden 

Thesis Chair: Dr. Valerie Sims

Postures in Mobile Device Usage: Effects on Interpretation Bias, Mood, and Physical Tension
Author: Gabriela Flores-Cruz 

Thesis Chair: Dr. Valerie Sims

How the Body Moves the Mind: Exploring the Effects of Perspective of Physical Sensation on Embodied States and Perception
Author: Kathryn G. Satoski 

Thesis Chair: Dr. Matthew Chin

Measuring Media Multitasking
Author: Alexandria Trombetta 

Thesis Chair: Dr. Valerie Sims

Role of Spatial Ability in Musical Instrument Choice: Implications for Music Education

Author: Tevis L. Tucker 

Thesis Chair: Dr. Valerie Sims

 

2018:

The Effect of Controlling Messages on Doctor-Patient Communication

Author: Kayla A. LaDez

Thesis Chair: Dr. Valerie Sims

Openness to Experience: A Predictor of Technology Use at Any Age?
Author: Olivia Ojalvo 

Thesis Chair: Dr. Matthew Chin

Memory of Words: A Categorization Task

Author: Paulina Maxim 

Thesis Chair: Dr. Valerie Sims

Online Product Reviews: Effects of Star Ratings and Valence on Review Perception among Those High and Low in Need for Cognition

Author: Jacquelyn L. Schreck

Thesis Chair: Dr. Matthew Chin

 

2016:

Individual Differences of Directed Forgetting

Author: Griselda Alavez 

Thesis Chair: Dr. Valerie Sims

Music and memory: A qualitative look at how music affects episodic memory

Author: Jonathan A. Coad

Thesis Chair: Dr. Valerie Sims

Hebrew And Computer-Mediated Communication: The Effects Of A Language Manipulation On Perception, Identity, And Preservation

Author: Tamir Nir 

Thesis Chair: Dr. Valerie Sims

The Effect of Neighborhood Size and Morphology in the Chinese Language
Author: Long Nguyen 

Thesis Chair: Dr. Valerie Sims

 

2015:

A Psychophysiological Investigation of the Proposed Paradoxical Effects of Valuing Happiness

Author: Nicholas Coles 

Thesis Chair: Dr. Valerie Sims

Virtual Team Coopetition: An Investigation of Coopetitive Proclivity in Virtual and Face-to-Face Female Dyads

Author: Andrew Lutz

Thesis Chair: Dr. Matthew Chin

Mental Rotation with Martial Arts Expertise

Author: Michael E. Torres 

Thesis Chair: Dr. Valerie Sims

 

2014:

The Universal Design Paradigm: An Examination of Real-Time, C-Print, Meaning-for-Meaning Transcription and Individual Differences in Learning

Author: Amanda Boone 

Thesis Chair: Dr. Valerie Sims

Dangerous Opinions: Perception of Violent Video Games on Jury Decision Making
Author: Brock Jacobi 

Thesis Chair: Dr. Valerie Sims

Spatial Schema Transfers to Similar Place: A Case of Disney Theme Parks
Author: Daphne Kopel 

Thesis Chair: Dr. Valerie Sims

The Effect of Weight and Size on Mental Rotation
Author: Luke Furtak 

Thesis Chair: Dr. Valerie Sims

Attribution of Blame in a Human-Robot Interaction Scenario

Author: Federico Scholcover 

Thesis Chair: Dr. Valerie Sims

 

2012:

A cognitive investigation of computerized walk-through models

Author: Maria Carrillo 

Thesis Chair: Dr. Valerie Sims

Influencing opinions about bats the impact of levels of interaction during educational presentations
Author: Samantha Hynes

Thesis Chair: Dr. Matthew Chin

 

2011:

Spatial ability and experts of needlework crafts an exploratory study

Author: Shannon K. T. Bailey

Thesis Chair: Dr. Valerie Sims

Attitude change regarding animal abuse in adults the effect of education and visual aids

Author: Ashley Carter

Thesis Chair: Dr. Matthew Chin

Effects of input modality and expertise on workload and video game performance

Author: Travis M. Kent

Thesis Chair: Dr. Valerie Sims

Intolerance of ambiguity and gender differences between humanists and normativists

Author: Jorge I. Mendoza

Thesis Chair: Dr. Matthew Chin

Examining the relationship between female parents with low perceived control and adolescent child stress

Author: Brendan P. Monaghan

Thesis Chair: Dr. Valerie Sims

Improving eyewitness testimony methods for more accurate recall of events
Author: Ashley M. Schachter

Thesis Chair: Dr. Matthew Chin

Moral cognition in children an examination of the possible impact of school didactic philosophies

Author: Smit S. Shah

Thesis Chair: Dr. Valerie Sims

Effect of a human-teacher vs. a robot-teacher on human learning a pilot study

Author: Melissa A. B. Smith

Thesis Chair: Dr. Valerie Sims

Perceived gender and its effect on attributions toward avatars in the video game Spore

Author: Victoria M. Sweeney

Thesis Chair: Dr. Valerie Sims

 

2010:

‘When you believe in things you don’t understand’ : an evolutionary exploration of paranormal, superstitious and religious belief

Author: Michael A. Moncrieff

Thesis Chair: Dr. Valerie Sims

 

2008:

Development of a scale to measure gift-giving behaviors

Author: Ariel Baruch

Thesis Chair: Dr. Valerie Sims

Mental rotation and a drawing based training regiment

Author: Anthony R. Selkowitz

Thesis Chair: Dr. Valerie Sims

 

2006:

Action Video Game Skill Level Predicts Performance on Target Detection and Identification in a Simulated Combat Environment.

Author: Charles Dapra

Thesis Chair: Dr. Valerie Sims

Interactions Between Working Memory Demands, Motor Activity, and Self-Reported Ratings of ADHD

Author: Michael Strand

Thesis Chair: Dr. Valerie Sims

 

2005:

Working Memory in Bilinguals and Second Language Learners

Author: Simone Chin

Thesis Chair: Dr. Valerie Sims

Violence in Film: Narrative and Contextual Importance in Subjective Response

Author: Denise Petrunak

Thesis Chair: Dr. Valerie Sims

 

2004: 

The Recategorization Effect of a Shared Threat Mortality Salience Condition

Author: Tamara Cummings

Thesis Chair: Dr. Matthew Chin

 

2003:

Proficiency as a Predictor of Lexical Representation in English Speakers Learning German

Author: Lisa Durrance

Thesis Chair: Dr. Valerie Sims

Spatial Memory Affects Recall and Attitudes Toward Advertisements

Author: Jessica Gordon

Thesis Chair: Dr. Valerie Sims

Tailoring Taylor: locus of control and attitudes toward genetically altering children

Author: Barbara Gromadzin

Thesis Chair: Dr. Valerie Sims

The stroop color word task as a predictor of proficiency in English speakers learning German

Author: Cheryl I. Johnson

Thesis Chair: Dr. Valerie Sims

 

2001:

Studying the relationship between parental involvement and Sternberg’s triarchic theory of intelligence

Author: Liliana M. Bailey

Thesis Chair: Dr. Valerie Sims

Recent News

PhD student Kristen Schmidt was accepted to the Naval Research Enterprise Internship Program (NREIP) as a summer intern working at the Naval Air Warfare Center – Training Systems Division (NAWC-TSD).

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PhD candidate Briana Sobel was awarded a $10,000 scholarship from the Interservice/Industry Training, Simulation, and Education Conference (I/ITSEC).

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PhD student Kristen Schmidt was elected President of the UCF Human Factors and Ergonomics Society (HFES) Student Chapter.

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