Do inward and outward consonants and vowels have different effects on customer’s liking rates towards the brand names?
subject: Consonants, vowels, MacNeilage syllables, brand names, liking rates
description: The origin of speech development starts with the way that infants or children produce their first words. In the early stage of speech acquisition, children tend to produce particular syllables that are low in energy to produce, such as intrasyllabic and intersyllabic consonant-vowel co-occurrence patterns (MacNeilage et al., 2000). Such patterns may have an effect on individual’s preference for words later in life, such as for brand names. More pointedly, according to Topolinski et al. (2014), there is an in-out effect which significantly affect individual’s liking rates towards the brand names that contain inward and outward consonants. However, previous findings have only focused on such effects on consonants, whereas there is insufficient research on the combination effects of consonants and vowels on brand names. Therefore, this study is designed to investigate whether such in-out effects of both consonants and vowels of English brand names have association with customer’s emotional response to the words, as well as whether the involvement of MacNeilage syllables in the brand names are associated with customer’s liking rate. The whole experiment was conducted through an online questionnaire consisting of 360 sound stimuli to test on participant’s liking rate towards the brand names which are non-words with the combination of inward and outward consonants and vowels, and Macneilage syllables. Results of the study showed that liking rates towards the brand names are significantly increased for the ones that include inward consonants and vowels, while lower liking rates were associated with outward consonants and vowels. Not to mention, no significant relationship was found between the number of MacNeilage syllables and one’s preference towards the brand names, yet individuals had higher preference for brand names that contained MacNeilage syllables as the first syllable of the word.
creator: Keung Wang Shan
source: Participants A total of 51 participants who spoke different first languages were recruited through researcher’s family and friends as well as invited via SONA. They were all healthy individuals with normal vision and hearing, all aged 18 or above with no health conditions. The participants included 23 males and 28 females, with the age range from 22 to 28 and a mean age of 23.33, SD=. Materials The study was carried out as an online questionnaire which consisted of four open ended questions at the beginning and 360 questions with a 10-point Likert scale to display the answers. The whole questionnaire was based on the liking rate of the brand names that were presented as sound stimuli displayed in the questionnaire. The first four open ended questions were designed to ask participants’ age, gender, first language and whether they speak other languages (see Appendix D). Next, 360 questions each containing an audio of a sound stimulus that was between one to three seconds were presented in the questionnaire (see Appendix D). All sound stimuli were recorded by the researcher’s supervisor who was a native English speaker with a Northern English accent with training in phonology beforehand, which were also produced in a monotone. Within the 360 sound stimuli, they were divided into six different sets which included six combinations of inward and outward consonants and vowels. The total six sets of stimuli included nonwords that contained consonants that required the articulation from front to the middle to back of the mouth (inward) (FMB), from front to back to middle (FBM), from middle to front to back (MFB), from middle to back to front (MBF), from back to middle to front (outward) (BMF) and from back to front to middle (BFM). There was a total of 60 stimuli with the same articulation of consonants and different articulation of vowels in each set, and 10 stimuli with the same articulation of both consonants and vowels in each set. Within each set of the same articulatio…
publisher: Lancaster University
date: 5/9/2022
contributor: Keung Wang Shan
rights: open
relation: none
format: Data/Excel.csv Data/R.r
language: english
type: data
coverage: LA1 4YF

A Match Made in Heaven? The Effect of Congruency Between Accent and Promoted Product in Radio Adverts
subject: None
description: Research consistently shows that accents are powerful social cues used in our everyday interactions as well as in advertisements; they can change how we perceive others and potentially also associated products or brands. Recent studies have explored the effect of congruency between the accent of the speaker in adverts and the country-of-origin of the advertised products. Yet the findings from research on the congruency effect is mixed and sparse. Therefore, this study investigated further into the effect of congruency. Participants were randomly assigned to one of four experimental conditions. The study employed a 2 (Accent: Northern English vs. Italian) x 2 (Product: fish and chips vs. pizza) between participant design. In doing this, two adverts had a congruent accent-product pair (e.g., Northern English speaker advertising a fish and chips brand) and two ads were accent-product incongruent (e.g., Northern English speaker advertising a pizza brand). After listening to the ads, participants then completed a questionnaire which measured participants’ brand memory, attention to the ad, purchase intentions, perceived similarity to the speaker and evaluations of the brand, advert and speaker. The results showed no congruency effect, however other striking findings were revealed that will be discussed in this paper.
creator: Samantha Trow
source: This study used a 2 (Accent: Northern English vs. Italian) x 2 (Product: fish and chips vs. pizza) between subject design. The dependant variables were participants’ attention to the ad, memorability of the advertised brand name, purchase intentions, evaluations of the speaker, and attitude towards the ad and brand. Additionally, the evaluations of the speaker included their perceived warmth, competence, sociointellectual status, aesthetic qualities, and dynamism traits. Participants Through opportunity sampling, 82 participants were recruited. This sample comprised of 29 males and 53 females. Participants were randomly assigned to one of the four conditions. The participants’ age ranged from 19 to 65 (Mage = 25.5 years, SDage = 10.8). All but one participant were native speakers of English. Materials Radio Advertisements. For this experiment, four radio adverts were created (see Appendix A). Two ads were accent-product congruent (Italian accent and pizza, Northern English accent and fish and chips) and two ads were accent-product incongruent (Italian accent and fish and chips, Northern English accent and pizza). In order to create the adverts, two male speakers were recruited. One of the speakers spoke with an authentic Northern English accent and one of the speakers spoke with an authentic Italian accent, both spoke at similar paces with no major differences in their tone of voice. Questionnaire. The questionnaire used in the experiment was created via the survey software, Qualtrics. The questionnaire took approximately 10 minutes to complete. The items and scales used to measure the dependent variables are discussed below. Brand attitude. Participants’ attitude towards the advertised brand was measured using a 4-item, 7-point bipolar scale used in Liu, Wen, Wei. and Zhao’s (2013) study (ɑ = .92). See Appendix B for the full subscale. Ad attitude. Participants’ attitude towards the advert subscale was taken from Lalwani, Lwin, and Li’s (2005) study. The participan…
publisher: Lancaster University
date: 2018
contributor: Rebecca James
rights: Open
relation: None
format: Data/SPSS.sav
language: English
type: Data
coverage: LA1 4YF

A review of the PEACE interview model training and implementation in real-life interviews
subject: PEACE model, Interviewing, Investigation, Interrogation, Training, Evaluation, Interviewing techniques, PEACE model training
description: Police officers in England and Wales are trained to conduct interviews in line with the PEACE model of interviewing, however, the level of implementation of the PEACE procedures can vary between organisations and over time. The present study aimed to review the quality of current PEACE model interviewing training and its implementation into interviewing practice. Initially, in Study One, 62 training feedback forms from the Cumbria police force were analysed using thematic analysis to gain an overview of the training’s strengths and weaknesses. In Study Two, 30 interviews from 10 officers trained on these courses were analysed, to see if reported intention to implement the PEACE model and techniques learnt during training were transferred into real-life interviewing practice. Data from Study One indicated that the course was satisfactorily structured and presented, with data from Study Two showing improvement for most Tier-2 interviewers interviewing abilities after training, though some interviewers failed to implement concepts and techniques covered on the training course. Potential explanations for these findings and ways to improve the transference of skills from interviewing training are discussed.
creator: Jack Hardaker
source: Study One Method Participants All 62 participants undertook either a Tier-2 or Tier-3 interviewing course with the Cumbria police force. Participants were currently serving officers of constable rank or higher, of which, 34 were female and 28 were male. There was considerable variance in years of service between Tier-2 interviewers and Tier-3 interviewers, though no exact measure of years of service or age was included with the data provided. Materials Data The 62 training evaluation forms were provided to the researcher by the Cumbria police force, and were from either the Tier-2 investigative interviewing or the Tier-3 investigative interviewing course. The forms contained two scales indicating levels of confidence in conducting interviews before and after receiving the training, with a further four scales indicating levels of agreement with questions relevant to the study, and a single “Yes or No” question indicating if the participant was satisfied with the training received overall (see Appendix A for the full list of questions and exact wording). For all six scales, participants rated their strength of agreement with the statement using a scale of one to five (Likert, 1932). Three open questions were included on the form that stated: “If you have any other comments about this training please record them here”, “Are there any elements of the course did you not find useful or feel require further explanation?”, “If you have any other comments to make about this course please record them below.” Ethics Ethical approval was granted by a member of the Lancaster University Psychology department before data collection and analysis began. Data was collected by the Cumbria police force with all participants consenting to complete the feedback forms with the knowledge that their comments would be evaluated to improve the training courses. All course evaluation forms were reviewed by the researcher in a secure location at Cumbria police force headquarters, with findings …
publisher: Lancaster University
date: 07/09/2022
contributor: Donavan Cheung
contributor: Mert Kaplanoglu
rights: Open
relation: N/A
format: Data/Excel.csv
language: English
type: Data
coverage: LA1 4YF

A Scoping Review of the Effects of Benzodiazepines on Emotions in Young People
subject: Benzodiazpines, Young people, Children, Adolscents, Emotion/s, Emotional dsyregualtion, Non-prescription misuse.
description: Background: Benzodiazepines are primarily used to manage anxiety and agitation. While it is understood how benzodiazepines work physiologically it is not fully understood how these physiological changes cause the emotional changes. As this relationship is not fully understood, it maybe that benzodiazepines also affect emotions in ways not currently known, such as being a factor in emotional dysregulation. Objective: To conduct a scoping review into the effects of benzodiazepines on young people. To map the of the effects benzodiazepines have on emotions in young people and identify any links between benzodiazepines and emotional dysregulation. Design: A scoping review was conducted. PRISMA protocols were followed but other sources such as Cochrane and Joanna Briggs Institute were consulted to develop a framework. Results: This review’s findings suggests that benzodiazepines do reduce anxiety and agitation. However, the research concerning children and adolescents is limited, and suggests benzodiazepines maybe less effective than in adults. There are many adverse effects but despite this prescription use remains relatively high. Non-prescription misuse in adolescents is evident and globally prevalent. Only one direct link was found to emotional dysregulation, but other possible links were also found. Conclusions: More research into the areas of the efficacy of benzodiazepines in children and adolescents and the risks associated with paradoxical and adverse effects is needed. Possible links between emotional dysregulation and benzodiazepines misuse were made and research is needed to understand if this relationship exists and the effects. Any improvement in understanding this relationship will enable targeted interventions to be developed.
creator: Lewis Pares
source: The search was conducted using the following databases: Web of Science, PubMed, CINAHL, Psych Info, Medline and Embase. Searches were dependent on the functionality of the different databases such as different key terms, different abilities to expand search terms and different limiters or age groups, these are all shown in the search terms document in the OSF repository. All searches were limited to English language. No further sources were used to supplement the search.
publisher: Lancaster UNiversity
date: 2021
contributor: Jiqian Chen; yemi oluwaleye
rights: Open
relation: None
format: Excel spreadsheet/.xlsx
language: English
type: Date
coverage: LA1 4YF

A secondary data analysis: How will the effects on accuracy differ when measuring individual differences in word reading skill in Spanish?
subject: Individual differences, Dyslexia, Word property effects, Language orthographies, Reading accuracy
description: A deficit in accuracy has been found to correlate to reading difficulties (Davies et al., 2007). Effects of psycholinguistic factors and differences in language orthographies contribute to reading skills, predominantly in children with reading impairments such as dyslexia. The present study is a secondary data analysis of the original research conducted by Davies et al. (2007). The effects on accuracy of individual differences demonstrated by nonword reading skill and word property measures were examined in Spanish children. Participants were 110 students differing in reading ability from schools located in A Coruńa, Lugo, Orense and Pontevendra in northern Spain. The subjects were required to take standardized and experimental reading ability and intelligence tests. Eight lists consisting of 15 words each were created. The words were presented in five rows of three columns. Participants were asked to read the words as quickly and accurately as they could. Words which were incorrectly pronounced were identified as errors. Word property measures suggested to affect reading ability were selected and updated from an online database of Spanish words ‘EsPal’. Variables of frequency, length of words, neighbourhood size (Levenshtein distance), RAN, PROLEC-R nonword reading were investigated in the present analysis. Accuracy of reading scores was found to be significantly high for the sample. Effects of individual differences on accuracy were noted. Word property measures of frequency and neighborhood size were found to significantly affect reading accuracy. Effects of fluency (RAN) and nonword reading (PROLEC-R) were also observed. The analysis provides insight into plausible factors which contribute to reading impairments in a rule governed orthography such as Spanish. Results suggest that perhaps nonword reading skill could serve as an marker for reading difficulties.
creator: Julianna Krol
source: Participants In the original study (Davies et al.,2007) researchers selected and identified three groups of children from an initial sample of 110. Children who indicated clear reading disabilities (DYS/ dyslexia), a control group consisting of children matched by reading ability level (RA matched group) to the DYS group and a chronological age control group (CA matched group). The present analysis investigated the whole sample of 110 participants and no group selection was conducted. Participants were students from schools located in A Coruńa, Lugo, Orense and Pontevendra in northern Spain. 110 children differing in reading ability and age were selected. These children did not obtain any prior diagnoses of impaired neurological or sensory-motor functioning. The sample of 110 children was required to take standardized and experimental reading ability and intelligence tests on different school days during a 3-month time. Experimental data was gathered in a single session focusing primarily on the experimental test, whereas the standardized reading test was given in a separate session. Measures Reading performance was measured across a series of ability tests (PROLEC-R, RAN). PROLEC-R Battery Tests of Literacy Skills Evaluation of reading processes for children is assessed through the use of the PROLEC-R battery constructed by Cuetos, Rodriguez, Ruano & Arribas (1996). The battery consists of Spanish tests analyzing reading processes such as lexical, semantic etc. Subjects were required to read from a list of 40 words as quickly and accurately as possible. Words differed on properties such as frequency and length. The scores obtained consist of a score relating to accuracy and reading speed when assessing words and nonwords. It has been suggested that the results of the test provide significantly more information when combining the PROLEC-R scores of accuracy and PROLEC-R reading times. This is why PROLEC-R nonword reading was computed into a combined measure. This wa…
publisher: Lancaster University
date: 2021
contributor: Florine Causer, Siri Sudhakar
rights: Data set belongs to Robert Davies who is the author of the original published study (Davies et al.,2007, “Reading development and dyslexia in a transparent orthography: a survey of Spanish children”.)
relation: The present work is a secondary data analysis of the original research conducted by Davies et al. (2007), “Reading development and dyslexia in a transparent orthography: a survey of Spanish children”.
format: Data/Excel. csv
language: English and Spanish (Spanish participants, words, database)
type: Data
coverage: LA1 4YF

Academic Resilience: Adversity and traumatic experience in an educational context at university
subject: academic resilience traumatic experience resilience nontraumatic experience stress self-esteem self-efficacy academic performance
description: Resilience is a process whereby individuals bounce back or beat the odds despite the significant threat that can jeopardise their development. Academic resilience pertains to student´s success after educational adversity and their coping behaviour in challenging circumstances. Recently academic resilience became a validated psychological construct, and the present study uses this Academic Resilience Scale (ARS) to measure students response to academic adversity in a university sample with three analysis. The primary analysis: estimated the Life Event Checklist (LEC) or traumatic experienced and academic resilience which is unresearched. The findings indicated that students´ who have experienced a traumatic life event(s) and stressful situations are showing slightly more academic resilience than those who have not experienced a traumatic life event and stressful situations. A second analysis: academic resilience in a relationship with the life event, brief resilience, self-esteem, self-efficacy, perceived stress, and academic performance. Both self-efficacy and brief resilience predicted academic resilience. Third analysis: same parameters from the second analysis was utilised but now in a relationship with traumatic experienced and displayed that traumatic students had a more tendency for brief resilience, self-efficacy, self-esteem but perceived more stress than nontraumatic student´s. These results show that the academic resilience could be used as an intervention in the educational environment to enhance student´s coping behaviour and facilitate them to adjust more effectively in challenging circumstances.
creator: Astthor Odinn Olafsson
source: Participants The sample was based on an internet survey of 154 Lancaster University students from 29 different nationalities who enrolled either as an undergraduate at first year (n = 47), second year (n = 49), third year (n = 30), Master student (n = 19) or PhD student (n = 3). Subsequently, five participants were excluded because of not being a student. The final sample contained 149 participants between the ages of 18 and 52 years old (M = 21.21; SD = 3.66). Majority of participants ethnicity was 51.6% British, 10.5% Chinese, 3.3% Indian, 2,6% South Korean and 2.6% Cypriot and other nationalities were in the minority. The principal investigator was not able to obtain gender because of a technical problem. Materials Academic Resilience Scale-30 (ARS-30) ARS-30 (Cassidy, 2016), measures academic resilience and is developed to estimate university students. Participants answer 30 statements of an imaginative vignette where a comment or feedback from a tutor about a low grade on an assessment that was presented. Participants imagine themselves being in that position and their response is confined to a statement: „You have received your mark for a recent assignment, and it is a ‘fail.’ The marks for two other recent assignments were also poorer than you would want as you are aiming to get as good a degree as you can because you have clear career goals in mind and don’t want to disappoint your family. The feedback from the tutor for the assignment is quite critical, including reference to ‘lack of understanding’ and ‘poor writing and expression,’ but it also includes ways that the work could be improved. Similar comments were made by the tutors who marked your other two assignments.“ Responses were on a 5-point Likert scale 1 (very likely) to 5 (very unlikely). Items include, “ I would not accept the tutors´ feedback”; “I would just give up”; and” I would blame the tutor.” Following the guidelines provided by Cassidy (2016), 9 of the items were reverse-coded (e.g., “I w…
publisher: Lancaster University
date: 2018
contributor: Ellie Ball
rights: Open
relation: None
format: data/SPSS.sav
language: English
type: Data
coverage: LA1 4YF

Accessing Cortical Hyperexcitatbility and Its Predisposition Using Two Types of Measurements
description: This study aimed to explore in depth about the cortex hyperexcitability. In order to do so, the study will use the pattern glare task and three questionnaires. These three questionnaires include the Cortex Hyperexcitability Index II, Cardiff Anomalous Perceptions scale, and the Multi-Modality Unusual Sensory Experiences Questionnaire. The pattern glare task induces on-spot hallucinations and distortions, while the questionnaires measure the long-term daily unusual sensory experiences one may have experienced. In this study, both the questionnaires and the task measured the same underlying factor, the cortex hyperexcitability. In the sense that it was hypothesized that the predisposition of seizure-like hallucinations and distortions and of daily-based hallucinations and anomalous experiences should be associated in a particular way. The pattern glare task had two blocks in the experiment, one with a blindfold and the other without. They were presented to participants in different orders to counterbalance the order effect. In between the two blocks, the participants answered the three questionnaires. The result of the study showed no significant effect of the blindfold, suggesting that wearing the blindfold for five minutes neither increased the sensitivity of the eyes nor the visual cortex. Most of the relationships between the pattern glare and questionnaires failed to be significant. The investigation on the association between the predispositions of the two types of hallucinations also failed to show any significance, only MUSEQ and pattern glare has a significant correlation. The migraine and migraine with aura groups appeared to be more sensitive to the phosphene phenomena. Their sensitivity, though the results were not significant, could be clearly observed through descriptive statistics. Although the results and findings failed to prove the research hypothesis, probably due to the main limitation of the poorly presented stimuli, the current study to some exte…
creator: Flora Zuo
source: Along with the pattern glare task, there were three more questionnaires used in the study, these are MUSEQ (Mitchell et al., 2017), CAPS (Bell et al., 2006), and CHI II (Fong et al., in press). This study has been ethically approved by the Department of Psychology in Lancaster University on 11th May 2018. Participants The current study screened participants before they could take part in the experiment, the screening standard is whether they have been diagnosed with photosensitive epilepsy, epilepsy, or that they recently had a brain or eye surgery. This criterion was created as the viewing of the striped pattern of particular spatial frequencies may induce seizures in patients with photosensitive epilepsy (Wilkins et al., 1984). It turned out none were excluded due to disease or had a history of diseases. There was a total of 43 participants who took part in the study. Among them, 15 were males and 28 were females. The age ranged from 19 to 36, with a standard deviation of 2.92, and around half of the participants were native English speakers. The six participants who self-reported having a migraine or a migraine with aura were noted before the study, as the pattern glare task may induce or intensify their symptoms, which can cause visual discomfort, visual distortions, or a headache. Among the six participants who reported they had migraineur, three of them were migraineurs with aura. Stimuli and Procedure The current study used stimuli that were printed onto cards, and the stimuli were presented to the participants from around 50 cm away at eye level. The patterns were the same size at 20mm * 15 mm, all in black and white, and with the shape of the ellipse. According to the given conditions, the visual angle was calculated to be 12.84 degrees. The three questionnaires were all printed on paper, and the participants were asked to read aloud their answers instead of writing it down. The plain black blindfold which participants were asked to wear during the study wa…
publisher: Lancaster University
date: 2015
contributor: Ellie Ball
rights: Open
relation: None
format: data/SPSS.sav data/.JASP
language: English
type: Data
coverage: LA1 4YF

Advertising, Behavioural Science and Ethics: perspectives on the commercialisation of cognitive biases
subject: Advertising, Behavioural Science, Behavioural economics, Ethics
description: Increasingly, behavioural science in the form of behavioural economics is being utilised to increase the effectiveness of advertising communications. The practice of using known cognitive biases and lapses in rational thinking to help sell products and services prompts ethical considerations. Whilst sparking some passionate, albeit small debate, research has not included the voice of the intended target, the general public. The aim of this research was to provide an open and sensitive forum in which the public could share their ideas surrounding the use of behavioural economics with the intention of detecting the perceived ethical boundaries, fairness in their implementation, and ultimately possible resolutions. In exploration of this topic, five interviews and two focus groups were conducted to discuss these increasingly pressing issues. Despite judged as unfair in advertising, behavioural economics was seen as an unavoidable reality in the fabric of the advertising landscape, although the public seek increased transparency and information regarding the specific techniques being utilised, while requesting little from advertisers themselves. The public also take special consideration of vulnerable groups of individuals who might be particularly susceptible to such tactics, a conversation which whilst incredibly important, hitherto has not been discussed, consequently contributing valuable insight into the literature concerning consumer protection. Future avenues for research may seek to address professionals in the industry, as personal insight may lead to richer, nuanced ideas that could lead to realistic and actionable solutions. Additionally, research could involve discussion of other potentially invasive techniques, such as data tracking, and how these techniques may combine to construct a psychological and technological sphere of influence and what sort of provisions can be made to empower the consumer.
creator: Rebecca Mitchell
source: Participants Overall, 14 participants took part, encompassing a wide range of ages to collect a broad set of opinions (range 21-62, mean 34 years, five males, eight females, one non-binary). Five participants were individually interviewed, with two focus groups taking place afterward. A breakdown of the participants can be found in Table 1, in Appendix A. All were residing within Britain and were therefore familiar with British advertising. Due to the nature of the research, recruitment was achieved via opportunity and snowball sampling, to ensure those participating would be comfortable in sharing their private thoughts and their time. Materials A discussion guide was developed in order to assess the public’s views on the issues considered in this research’s objectives, comprising of open-ended questions that can be seen in Appendix C. Although following an inductive framework for analysis, this was not strictly adhered to in the formation of the discussion guide, a brief literature search was conducted prior to its development, as to provide some direction for rich and useful prompts. 15 The first section sought to break the ice, probe for ideas and assess the awareness that participants may have in relation to psychology in advertising. Then, they were informed through a short paragraph what behavioural economics in advertising would look like, in order that they understand the concept, parameters and focus of the research. The resulting feelings were explored. Sources for this explanatory paragraph encompassed academic journals (Kovic & Laissue, 2016) and quotes lifted from the website of ‘The Behavioural Architects’ (2022) (a leading behavioural science consultancy agency) in order to represent an accurate and unbiased picture of what behavioural economics is considered to encompass. Example ads were also included and shown to participants in order to foster understanding. There are 108 cognitive biases listed by Wikipedia, (Wikipedia, 2022) and this list is gr…
publisher: Lancaster University
date: 2022
contributor: Wenying He
rights: Open (unless stated otherwise)
relation: N/A
format: Text/Word.doc
language: English
type: Text
identifier: Braun and Clarke (2006)
coverage: LA14YF

Advertising, Behavioural Science and Ethics: perspectives on the commercialisation of cognitive biases.
subject: Advertising, Behavioural Science, Behavioural economics, Ethics
description: Increasingly, behavioural science in the form of behavioural economics is being utilised to increase the effectiveness of advertising communications. The practice of using known cognitive biases and lapses in rational thinking to help sell products and services prompts ethical considerations. Whilst sparking some passionate, albeit small debate, research has not included the voice of the intended target, the general public. The aim of this research was to provide an open and sensitive forum in which the public could share their ideas surrounding the use of behavioural economics with the intention of detecting the perceived ethical boundaries, fairness in their implementation, and ultimately possible resolutions. In exploration of this topic, five interviews and two focus groups were conducted to discuss these increasingly pressing issues. Despite judged as unfair in advertising, behavioural economics was seen as an unavoidable reality in the fabric of the advertising landscape, although the public seek increased transparency and information regarding the specific techniques being utilised, while requesting little from advertisers themselves. The public also take special consideration of vulnerable groups of individuals who might be particularly susceptible to such tactics, a conversation which whilst incredibly important, hitherto has not been discussed, consequently contributing valuable insight into the literature concerning consumer protection. Future avenues for research may seek to address professionals in the industry, as personal insight may lead to richer, nuanced ideas that could lead to realistic and actionable solutions. Additionally, research could involve discussion of other potentially invasive techniques, such as data tracking, and how these techniques may combine to construct a psychological and technological sphere of influence and what sort of provisions can be made to empower the consumer.
creator: Rebecca Mitchell
source: Participants Overall, 14 participants took part, encompassing a wide range of ages to collect a broad set of opinions (range 21-62, mean 34 years, five males, eight females, one non-binary). Five participants were individually interviewed, with two focus groups taking place afterward. A breakdown of the participants can be found in Table 1, in Appendix A. All were residing within Britain and were therefore familiar with British advertising. Due to the nature of the research, recruitment was achieved via opportunity and snowball sampling, to ensure those participating would be comfortable in sharing their private thoughts and their time. Materials A discussion guide was developed in order to assess the public’s views on the issues considered in this research’s objectives, comprising of open-ended questions that can be seen in Appendix C. Although following an inductive framework for analysis, this was not strictly adhered to in the formation of the discussion guide, a brief literature search was conducted prior to its development, as to provide some direction for rich and useful prompts. 15 The first section sought to break the ice, probe for ideas and assess the awareness that participants may have in relation to psychology in advertising. Then, they were informed through a short paragraph what behavioural economics in advertising would look like, in order that they understand the concept, parameters and focus of the research. The resulting feelings were explored. Sources for this explanatory paragraph encompassed academic journals (Kovic & Laissue, 2016) and quotes lifted from the website of ‘The Behavioural Architects’ (2022) (a leading behavioural science consultancy agency) in order to represent an accurate and unbiased picture of what behavioural economics is considered to encompass. Example ads were also included and shown to participants in order to foster understanding. There are 108 cognitive biases listed by Wikipedia, (Wikipedia, 2022) and this list is gr…
publisher: Lancaster University
date: 2022
contributor: Leah Murphy
rights: Open
relation: N/A
format: Text/Word.doc
language: English
type: English Text
coverage: LA1 4YF

Age-Related Changes in the Attentional Modulation of Temporal Binding
subject: Ageing, attention, TBW, multisensory integration, stream-bounce illusion
description: In multisensory integration, the time range within which visual and auditory information can be perceived as synchronous and bound together is known as the temporal binding window (TBW). With increasing age, the TBW becomes wider, such that older adults erroneously, and often dangerously, integrate sensory inputs that are asynchronous. Recent research suggests that attentional cues can narrow the width of the TBW in younger adults, sharpening temporal perception and increasing the accuracy of integration. However, due to their age-related declines in attentional control, it is not yet known whether older adults can deploy attentional resources to narrow the TBW in the same way as younger adults. This study investigated the age-related changes to the attentional modulation of the TBW. 30 younger and 30 older adults completed a cued-spatial-attention version of the stream-bounce illusion, assessing the extent to which the visual and auditory stimuli were integrated when presented at three different stimulus onset asynchronies, and when attending to a validly-cued or invalidly-cued location. A 2x2x3 mixed ANOVA revealed that when participants attended to the validly-cued location (i.e. when attention was present), susceptibility to the stream-bounce illusion decreased. However, crucially, this attentional manipulation affected audiovisual integration in younger adults but not in older adults. Whilst no definitive conclusions could be drawn about the width of the TBW, the findings suggest that older adults have multisensory integration-related attentional deficits. Directions for future research and practical applications surrounding treatments to improve the safety of older adults’ perception and navigation through the environment are discussed.
creator: Jessica Pepper
source: Participants This study used a total of 60 participants; 30 younger adults (15 males, 15 females) between 18-35 years old (M = 21.37, SD = 1.30) and 30 older adults (11 males, 19 females) between 60-80 years old (M = 67.91, SD = 4.71). This sample size was determined via an a-priori power analysis using the data of Donohue et al. (2015) and Chen et al. (2021), who conducted similar experiments (see pre-registration on www.aspredicted.com, project ID #65513). All participants were fluent English speakers. Participants were required to have normal or corrected-to-normal vision. Participants were ineligible to proceed with the experiment if they had a history or current diagnosis of neurological conditions (e.g. epilepsy, mild cognitive impairment, dementia, Parkinson’s Disease) or learning impairments (e.g. dyslexia), or had severe hearing loss resulting in the wearing of hearing aids. Participants were recruited via opportunity sampling; the majority of younger participants were students at Lancaster University and were known to the researcher, whilst the majority of older participants were members of the Centre for Ageing Research at Lancaster University. All participants were able to provide informed consent. Pre-screening tools Participants were asked to complete two pre-screening questionnaires using Qualtrics survey software (www.qualtrics.com), to assess their eligibility for the study. Speech, Spatial and Quality of Hearing Questionnaire (SSQ; Appendix A; Gatehouse & Noble, 2004). Participants rated their hearing ability in different acoustic scenarios using a sliding scale from 0-10 (0=“Not at all”, 10=“Perfectly”). Whilst, at present, no defined cut-off score on the SSQ is available as a parameter to inform decision-making, previous studies have indicated that a mean score of 5.5 is indicative of moderate hearing loss (Gatehouse & Noble, 2004). As a result, people whose average score on the SSQ was lower than 5.5 were not eligible to participate in the exper…
publisher: Lancaster University
date: 8th September 2021
contributor: Robert Taylor
rights: Open
relation: None
format: Data/SPSS.sav; Data/Excel.xlsx
language: English
type: Data
coverage: LA1 4YF