Search results

(1 - 2 of 2)
STEREOTYPE THREAT: THE EFFECT OF MINDFULNESS ON GENDER DIFFERENCES IN SPATIAL REASONING
Title
STEREOTYPE THREAT: THE EFFECT OF MINDFULNESS ON GENDER DIFFERENCES IN SPATIAL REASONING
Creator
Leon, Adeline
Date
2014, 2014-12
Description
Stereotype threat is a phenomenon in which performance is inhibited due to the psychological threat of an individual’s association with a...
Show moreStereotype threat is a phenomenon in which performance is inhibited due to the psychological threat of an individual’s association with a group believed to underperform on the task at hand (Steele, 1997). Though stereotype threat is typically attributed to race and ethnicity, there is a gender stereotype effect as well, caused by the notion that women are underperformers in spatial reasoning. Mindfulness, with its focus on acceptance and taking a non-judgmental stance, has been associated with broad physical, emotional, and cognitive benefits (Malinowski, 2013) that could counter these negative psychological effects and improve performance during a stereotype threat task. This study explores the relationship between mindfulness and women’s performance on a spatial reasoning task. A total of 256 women were randomly assigned to one of two conditions: a stereotype threat primed group or a stereotype threat non-primed group. The study found no statistically significant relationship between mindfulness, spatial reasoning, and priming. However, future studies based on these findings may still contribute to the literature by including a mindfulness intervention, conducting a similar study in person, or assessing potential benefits of mindfulness in ethnic minorities. These studies may lead to more valuable interventions to overcome the effects of stereotype threat.
M.S. in Psychology, December 2014
Show less
MEASURING DEGREE OF BILINGUALISM AND ITS EFFECT ON COGNITIVE PERFORMANCE
Title
MEASURING DEGREE OF BILINGUALISM AND ITS EFFECT ON COGNITIVE PERFORMANCE
Creator
Leon, Adeline
Date
2017, 2017-07
Description
Bilingualism is a unique experience that has been shown to have a distinct impact on cognitive performance: disadvantages in language...
Show moreBilingualism is a unique experience that has been shown to have a distinct impact on cognitive performance: disadvantages in language production (Gollan, Montoya, Fennema-Notestine, & Morris, 2005) and advantages in executive functioning skills (Bialystok, Craik, Klein, Viswanathan, 2004; Costa, Hernandez, Sebastian-Galles, 2008). However, some researchers assert that bilingual differences do not exist at all (Kousaie & Phillips, 2012a, 2012b; Paap & Greenberg, 2013). These discrepancies can have a substantial effect on neuropsychological assessment results, diagnoses, and treatment recommendations. The purpose of this study was to measure bilingualism in patients presenting for neuropsychological testing to determine the effect of degree of bilingualism on cognitive performance. Bilingualism was measured in an objective, continuous manner using the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT; Dunn & Dunn, 2007) to assess proficiency in English and the Test de Vocabulario en Imagenes Peabody (TVIP; Dunn, Lugo, Padilla, Dunn, 1986) to assess proficiency in Spanish. This bilingualism index was used to measure the effect of degree of bilingualism on neuropsychological test performance in English/Spanish bilinguals assessed in their dominant language. Archival data from 99 participants presenting for neuropsychological testing were used to examine the bilingualism effect on the following cognitive domains: shifting of set, divided attention, naming, lexical retrieval, and verbal working memory. With the exception of the BNT, results of linear regression analyses revealed no significant effect of bilingualism on cognitive performance in any of the domains measured. Future research may investigate alternative ways to measure bilingualism to facilitate proper diagnosis and treatment recommendations in a clinical population.
Ph.D. in Psychology, July 2017
Show less