Age-related Changes to 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: 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 experiment. Informant Questionnaire on Cognitive Decline in the Elderly (IQ-CODE; Appendix B; Jorm, 2004). Participants rated how their performance in certain tasks now has changed compared to 10 years ago, answering on a 5-point Likert scale (1=“Much Improved”, 5=“Much worse”). An average score of approximately 3.3 is the usual cut-off point when evaluating cognitive impairment and dementia (Jorm, 2004), therefore people whose average score was higher than 3.3 were not eligible to participate in the experiment. The mean scores of each pre-screening questionnaire are displayed in Table 1. An independent t-test revealed that there was no significant difference between age groups on the SSQ questionnaire [t(58) = -1.15, p=.253]; however, there was a significant difference between age groups on the IQ-CODE questionnaire [t(58) = -13.29, p<.001]. Experimental Design This research implemented a 2(Age: Younger vs Older) x 2(Cue: Valid vs Invalid) x 4(Stimulus Onset Asynchrony [SOA]: Visual Only [VO] vs 0 milliseconds vs 150 milliseconds vs 300 milliseconds) mixed design, with Age as a between-subjects factor and Cue and SOA as within-subjects factors. The experiment consisted of 16 different trial conditions (Table 2), ra…
publisher: Lancaster University
date: 08.09.2021
contributor: Hamish Bromley
rights: Open
relation: Open
format: xlsx file
language: English
type: Data
identifier: Pepper 2021
coverage: Lancaster University, LA1 4YW.

An exploration of how young adults engage with charities
subject: None
description: Research exploring how individuals choose to engage with charities has been limited to studies and interpretations from the 20th Century. In addition to this, research into how young adults choose to interact with charities has not been explored frequently. The present study aims to tackle both of these issues by exploring how young adults choose to interact with charities. Using Sargeant’s (1990) donor decision model as a base, this investigation explores what motivates and deters potential donors from engaging with charity and exploring how they choose to engage. It was found that income was a major barrier towards donation and that the role of others was an important motivator. Lastly participants registered that social media is a prevalent part of how people choose to interact with charities, however donation and volunteering are more valued.
creator: Saday Lakhani
source: Participants This investigation consisted of 15 participants based in Lancaster between the ages of 19-25 years, all of which studied at Lancaster University. The sample consisted of eight male participants with an age range of 19-25 and seven female participants with an age range of 19-22. Participants were recruited via opportunistic methods on social media. Advertisement for participation was published on various social media platforms relevant to the University. Each recruited participant was asked to invite a friend to their focus group discussion. Participants were provided with refreshments as an incentive for participation. Due to the method of online recruitment, it was assumed that all of the participants were frequent users of social media and therefore understood its utility. Participants were not filtered for their donation history as it was assumed that individuals would have donated at some point in the past. Procedure Each focus group consisted of up to four participants which, as a result of the recruitment method, ensured that each group would be consist of two pairs who were not familiar with each other. The intention of this conflicting paired discussion was to encourage a more open and honest discussion. As well as this, the design of having a paired discussion ensures that statements made by an individual can be verified or rejected by the paired member as they are familiar with the activities of the speaker. As such, the paired member can act as a moderator for the contributions. The focus groups were segmented by gender. One group consisted of all male participants, another consisted of all female participants. The remaining two groups were mixed gender groups. The purpose behind this segmentation was to explore if there was a difference in responses between male and female participants. The focus group discussions took place in a quiet and comfortable room within Lancaster University to encourage a free-flowing discussion without interruptio…
publisher: Lancaster University
date: 2018
contributor: Rebecca James
rights: Open
relation: None
format: Text/Word.docx
language: English
type: Text
coverage: LA1 4YF

An exploration of the psychological mechanism and effectiveness behind the co-creation process in advertising, based on the ‘Co-create by Sharp’ method.
subject: Keywords: Co-creation, advertising, psychology, behaviour
description: Scholars have referred to co-creation as the interaction between firms and stakeholders to create value. Co-creation for product innovation and campaign delivery is a growing trend in today’s competitive market due to a demand for consumer-centric communication and product development strategies. Even when traditional research techniques are relevant for evaluating brand messaging, they are considered backwards looking. Traditional research techniques (e.g., interviews, questionnaires, focus groups) rely on companies’ terms rather than the customer’s domain, limiting stakeholders to only react to market offers instead of cooperating to build them. The application of co-creation techniques does not replace reactive research but is the new next step to building brand and campaign strategies. The Sharp Agency developed ‘Co-create by Sharp’, a co-creation methodology that aims to build campaign and brand strategies with a higher value of insight than other approaches. According to The Sharp Agency, their unique approach to co-creating ideas with stakeholders has demonstrated effectiveness in their clients’ performance (i.e., 400% of revenue increase, 33% growth speed, and 19% spending increase). However, the method lacks information that supports its efficacy, more specifically, an exploration of the perceptions of people involved in their co-creation methodology (i.e., co-creation participants, Sharp team members, and Sharp’s commissioning clients). This report aims to identify the presence of plausible psychological theories that could support the ‘Co-create by Sharp’ methodology. Accordingly, this study intends to explore the dynamics, perceived effectiveness, and limitations of the ‘Co-create by Sharp’ methodology through a series of individual interviews with the people involved in the process. The researcher worked as an intern in the Sharp Agency, and a qualitative experimental design was used to investigate the research objective. Three types of interviews were …
creator: Maria Gabriela Vivero Donoso
source: The researcher worked as an intern in the Sharp Agency to better understand the company’s way of work and the ‘Co-create by Sharp’ method. The internship allowed the researcher to be involved in various steps of the co-creation method: 1) Attend co-create sessions and observe participant behaviour (see Appendix K and Appendix L). 2) Develop post-co-create decks of information, including sessions’ outputs. 3) Participate in strategic brainstorming sessions. 4) Collate evidence of the final results of messaging and visuals for campaign delivery. A qualitative experimental design was used to investigate the research objectives and provide answers to research questions. Three types of interviews were conducted with different participant profiles, including co-creation participants, Sharp team members and Sharp clients. Interview sessions lasted between twenty and thirty minutes, using a pre-determined discussion guide for each interview and received ethical approval. Interviews were designed to gather insights about co-creation perceptions from every person involved in the process. A qualitative design allowed interviewees to express freely their co-creation experience with The Sharp Agency. Considering the research aimed to explore people’s attitudes, it would not have been appropriate to use a quantitative method. Instead, a qualitative design allowed for gathering a spectrum of people’s observations and feedback. Sampling Representative sampling was used to obtain results that reflect each participant’s profile perspective. Interviewing involved five participants from the latest co-creation sessions moderated by Sharp, seven Sharp team members with roles involved in different stages of the co-creation process (including founders of the ‘Co-create by Sharp’ method), and three company commissioning clients that represent market leader companies (i.e., Medical Protection Service, Barbour ABI, and Lonza). Considering that Medical Protection Service (MPS) and Lonza are pa…
publisher: Lancaster University
date: 06/09/2022
contributor: Madie Lulek
rights: Open
relation: None
format: Word.doc
language: English
type: Qualitative Data
coverage: LA1 4YF

An exploration of the psychological mechanism and effectiveness behind the co-creation process in advertising, based on the ‘Co-create by Sharp’ method.
subject: Keywords: Co-creation, advertising, psychology, behaviour
description: Scholars have referred to co-creation as the interaction between firms and stakeholders to create value. Co-creation for product innovation and campaign delivery is a growing trend in today’s competitive market due to a demand for consumer-centric communication and product development strategies. Even when traditional research techniques are relevant for evaluating brand messaging, they are considered backwards looking. Traditional research techniques (e.g., interviews, questionnaires, focus groups) rely on companies’ terms rather than the customer’s domain, limiting stakeholders to only react to market offers instead of cooperating to build them. The application of co-creation techniques does not replace reactive research but is the new next step to building brand and campaign strategies. The Sharp Agency developed ‘Co-create by Sharp’, a co-creation methodology that aims to build campaign and brand strategies with a higher value of insight than other approaches. According to The Sharp Agency, their unique approach to co-creating ideas with stakeholders has demonstrated effectiveness in their clients’ performance (i.e., 400% of revenue increase, 33% growth speed, and 19% spending increase). However, the method lacks information that supports its efficacy, more specifically, an exploration of the perceptions of people involved in their co-creation methodology (i.e., co-creation participants, Sharp team members, and Sharp’s commissioning clients). This report aims to identify the presence of plausible psychological theories that could support the ‘Co-create by Sharp’ methodology. Accordingly, this study intends to explore the dynamics, perceived effectiveness, and limitations of the ‘Co-create by Sharp’ methodology through a series of individual interviews with the people involved in the process. The researcher worked as an intern in the Sharp Agency, and a qualitative experimental design was used to investigate the research objective. Three types of interviews were …
creator: Maria Gabriela Vivero Donoso
source: The researcher worked as an intern in the Sharp Agency to better understand the company’s way of work and the ‘Co-create by Sharp’ method. The internship allowed the researcher to be involved in various steps of the co-creation method: 1) Attend co-create sessions and observe participant behaviour (see Appendix K and Appendix L). 2) Develop post-co-create decks of information, including sessions’ outputs. 3) Participate in strategic brainstorming sessions. 4) Collate evidence of the final results of messaging and visuals for campaign delivery. A qualitative experimental design was used to investigate the research objectives and provide answers to research questions. Three types of interviews were conducted with different participant profiles, including co-creation participants, Sharp team members and Sharp clients. Interview sessions lasted between twenty and thirty minutes, using a pre-determined discussion guide for each interview and received ethical approval. Interviews were designed to gather insights about co-creation perceptions from every person involved in the process. A qualitative design allowed interviewees to express freely their co-creation experience with The Sharp Agency. Considering the research aimed to explore people’s attitudes, it would not have been appropriate to use a quantitative method. Instead, a qualitative design allowed for gathering a spectrum of people’s observations and feedback. Sampling Representative sampling was used to obtain results that reflect each participant’s profile perspective. Interviewing involved five participants from the latest co-creation sessions moderated by Sharp, seven Sharp team members with roles involved in different stages of the co-creation process (including founders of the ‘Co-create by Sharp’ method), and three company commissioning clients that represent market leader companies (i.e., Medical Protection Service, Barbour ABI, and Lonza). Considering that Medical Protection Service (MPS) and Lonza are pa…
publisher: Lancaster University
date: 06/09/2022
contributor: Madie Lulek
rights: Open
relation: None
format: Word.doc
language: English
type: Qualitative Data
coverage: LA1 4YF

An Exploration of the Use and Effectiveness of Nature Imagery, Metaphor, and Symbolism in Advertising.
subject: Nature imagery in advertising, symbolism in advertising, metaphors in advertising
description: Core participation of nature imagery, indoor scenery, visual metaphor, and literal image in the construction of commercials and advertising industry has been established through repeated research. The current study aims to deeper investigate regarding the role of two specific components of aesthetic communication (nature imagery, poetry) in advertising. Results suggested that between nature imagery and indoor scenery there was a significant preference to nature imagery. However, results from the comparison between visual metaphor and literal image indicated a more divided outcome with participants suggesting that both presented as equally appealing. Overall, our results suggest that nature imagery was established to be the most significant component towards forming an appealing advertisement. We indicated that further research could investigate and highlight the effectiveness of other mediator components of aesthetics (verbal language, humour, music, etc) in advertising.
creator: Konstantinos Perimenis
source: In all focus groups, a digital voice recorder was used for further analysis. The first selected pair of ads, with indoor and outdoor imageries, was about Coca-Cola brand. At the first Coca Cola’s ad film, which was broadcasted for the first time in 2010, participants had the chance to watch two young people inside an overcrowded bus. Even if these two passengers were completely strangers, they finally broke the ice between them, thanks to an invisible Coca-Cola bottle. At the second Coca-Cola’s commercial, diversity in terms of gender, religion and race, within the United States of America, was presented. At the same time, the viewers were given the opportunity of admiring some of the most breathtaking landscapes in USA. The second selected pair of ads, in terms of connotative and denotative imageries, was about Smirnoff brand. At the Smirnoff’s connotative commercial, there were clear signs that its creators intended to show temptation and seduction. From the beginning it was clear that the starring couple was meant to represent a modern day Adam and Eve. As the music picked up, snakes appeared from the bartender’s sleeves to help make an Apple Bite and the customers got up to dance in a fast-paced song. The bartender was leading ‘Adam and Eve’ to the apple flavour cocktail and the fast-paced music suggested that something big would happen if the drink was taken. This also insinuated that the drink was so desirable that they would not be able to resist the apple drink. At the denotative one, there was a stylish, classy man that was just listing the values of Smirnoff vodka. The initial 40 advertisements were selected randomly from Coloribus.com (See Appendix H for full links) an online databases for commercials and advertisements. Data analysis Responses to the focus groups’ questions were thematically analyzed. The current research followed the six step thematic analysis approach as described by Braun and Clarke (2006). Notes of detailed observation were used to g…
publisher: Lancaster University
date: 2018
rights: Open
format: WAV
language: English
type: Data
coverage: LA2 0PF

An Exploratory Analysis of Cortical Hyperexcitability, Anxious Tendencies, and Sleep
subject: Cortical hyperexcitability, Anxiety, Problematic Sleep
description: Cortical hyperexcitability reflects abnormal or aberrant neural processes and has been associated with visual distortions, discomfort, and hallucinations. Abnormal visual behaviors have previously been found to exist within non-clinical populations. The present study explored the previously implied relationship between anxiety, sleep patterns, and cortical hyperexcitability. Three inventories were used to gather data; the General Anxiety Disorder inventory (GAD-7; Löwe et al., 2008) measured anxiety, the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI: Buysse, Reynolds, Monk, Berman, & Kupfer, 1989) measured problematic sleep behaviors, and the Cortical Hyperexcitability index version two (CHi-II; Braithwaite, Marchant, Takahashi, Dewe, & Watson, 2015; Fong, Takahashi, & Braithwaite, 2019) measured cortical hyperexcitability, which is composed of three separate dimensions, or ‘factors’. In order to analyse the three factors, this study utilised three separate multiple regression models (n = 97), and a correlation analysis was used to analyse the relationship between anxiety symptoms and problematic sleep behaviors. Some significant results were found in support of the relationship between anxiety and cortical hyperexcitability. No significant results were found for the relationship between sleep and cortical hyperexcitability. A significant correlation analysis found that there is a significant positive relationship between anxiety and sleep. Collectively, these findings provide additional external validation for the CHi-II as an indirect proxy measure for symptoms of cortical hyperexcitability.
creator: Logan R Caola
source: Participants Due to the ongoing pandemic, 34 participants were gathered from Lancaster University student-based Facebook groups. This was an attempt to gather students in a similar manner to common recruitment without the use of in-person interaction. In addition to the gathered 34, 63 additional participants were used from previously collected data, gathered in-person also from Lancaster University students. Overall, 97 participants were gathered for this study. The mean age of participants was 21 (age range 18-33 years), of which 65 (67%) were female. Informed consent was obtained from all participants. Materials Due to the remote nature of the study, each of the surveys used was a digital variant made on Qualtrics. The Cortical Hyperexcitability II (CHi-II) is one of the first verified measures of cortical hyperexcitability. The CHi-II consists of 30 items and takes 20 to 25 minutes to complete. Each item focuses on a specific experience followed by two 7-point Likert scales, to measure participant’s frequency and intensity of each experience (Fong et al., 2019). The CHi-II can be broken down into three separate factors. Factor one, “Heightened Visual Sensitivity and Discomfort”, which consists of 11 items. Factor two, “Aura-Like Visual Hallucinatory Experiences”, which consists of nine items. Factor three, “Distorted Visual Perception,” which consists of six items (see Fong et al., 2019). For each of the three factors, intensity and frequency scores were added for a global score of each factor, for each participant. These global factor scores were then divided by the number of items in each factor, respectively, to provide an average for each participant for each factor. There are four items that are not part of any factor. Although these items were recorded in data collection, they are not used in this analysis. The General Anxiety Disorder assessment (GAD-7) measures anxious tendencies and has been established as conceptually valid and reliable in measuring an…
date: September 8th, 2020
rights: N/A
format: Excel Workbook “.xlsx” file
language: English
type: Data

An investigation into automatic imitation: Comparing live and video setups, the effect of prior training and the influence on affective empathy
subject: automatic imitation, empathy, imitation training, inhibition training, mirror neuron system, self-other distinction
description: If decreased Automatic Imitation(AI) improves empathetic abilities, then selfother distinction processes are probably the mediating factor between imitation and empathy. But if increased AI improves empathy, then probably imitation is at the core of the socio-cognitive functions. Until now, it was shown that decreased AI improved visual perspective taking, corticospinal empathy and self-reported empathy. Also, the studies until now focus on video AI stimuli. But to understand whether AI has a more direct relation to mimicry, I developed also live paradigm. My research questions were firstly, what effect will imitation training and inhibition training have on AI. Secondly, whether live stimuli AI will have the same effects on AI testing (inhibition versus imitation) and arousal empathy testing. Thirdly, whether the effects are transferable on arousal empathy. As expected, there was a significant decrease of AI in the video inhibition condition in comparison to the video imitation condition. Unexpectedly, a significant, but weak increase in arousal empathy was observed in the video imitation condition and not in the video inhibition group. The difference in AI and arousal empathy between the life imitation group and the life inhibition group were not significant. The results give a new perspective on the topic of AI. If the results can be reproduced by more studies, then probably imitation is more important than self-other distinction processes or maybe arousal empathy is different from other forms of empathy. Finally, the insignificant results in the life imitation versus life inhibition training indicate that there are maybe confounding factors in live AI research or that the video AI designs are more artificial than it is assumed.
creator: Evangelos Baltatzis
source: Participants Sixty(N=60) participants were recruited in a two-by-two factorial design, and divided equally among two between-subject factors. The first factor is Stimulus, whereby AI will be measured in response hand actions performed by an experimenter sat across a table from the participant (Live) or to the actor’s pre-recorded hand-action stimuli presented on a monitor. The second factor is Training, whereby participants will undertake a brief period of imitating the actions of the live or videoed handaction stimuli (IMI) or performing the opposite actions (IMI-IN). The participants were recruited from students of the University of Lancaster. Random selection could not be used, because of practical and logistical difficulties. Hence, most of the participants were Masters students and some were PhD students. The participants were either friends and acquaintances or they had the motivation to win a 10 pounds amazon voucher. In many cases they had the motivation to participate in my study, because they also wanted me to participate in their study. Firstly, we conducted the experiments with the video paradigm (15 participants in the imitation training condition and 15 participants in the inhibition training condition) and then we conducted the experiments of the live paradigm (15 participants in the imitation training condition and 15 participants in the inhibition training condition). We use random assignment for the recruitment in the training condition, thusly, every participant was randomly assigned in either the imitation training or in the inhibition training condition. For instance, we did not conduct first 15 experiments in the imitation training condition and then 15 experiments in the inhibition training condition, but every participant was in a different training condition. Nevertheless, one possible limitation may be that we did not do the same for the stimulus condition, as we conducted first the experiments of the video condition and then the experiment…
publisher: Lancaster University
date: 2017
contributor: Rebecca James
rights: Open
relation: None
format: Data/SPSS.sav
language: English
type: Data
coverage: LA1 4YF

An investigation into the effect of climatic, ambient temperature on societal-level income inequality
description: Previous research has revealed contradictory findings concerning the relationship between temperature and behaviour. Some studies have found a warmer-is-better effect; warmer temperatures are associated with enhanced interpersonal interactions, including pro-social behaviours. Whereas other studies have found a warmer-is-worse effect; warmer temperatures are associated with negative social behaviours such as conflict, societal instability, crime and aggressive behaviours. The present study investigated the relationship between climatic, ambient temperature and societal income inequality. Climatic temperatures and Gini ratios (a measure of income inequality) were sourced from online databases for 29 countries across a range of time periods that fell between 1961 and 2015. A panel linear model analysis revealed that climatic temperature had no direct effect, nor lagged effect on income inequality. Therefore, the findings are not congruent with the warmer-is-better literature or the warmer-is-worse literature. Despite the null effect, the present study provides a further data point towards the debate concerning the effect of temperature on behaviour.
creator: Sophie Lund
source: Firstly, the study required Gini ratios of disposable, equivilsed income. The Gini ratio is a measure of income inequality whereby a ratio of 1 reflects perfect inequality (i.e. one household receives all of the income) and a ratio of 0 is indicative of perfect equality (i.e. income is equally shared across households). The ratio was calculated from disposable income, which is income after the deduction of taxes and social security charges. Additionally the ratio was equivilised which means that the ratio was adjusted to account for different sizes and compositions of households. Secondly, the study required mean climatic temperatures in degrees celsius. Procedure Gini ratios for 29 countries belonging to the organisation for economic co-operation and development (OECD) were sourced from several online databases that had calculated the ratios. The countries and years used in the present analysis were somewhat dictated by the availability of Gini ratios online and as a result the OECD countries Australia, Chile, Israel, Japan, Korea and Mexico could not be included in the present analysis and the year ranges included fell between 1961-2015. See table 1 for the sources of Gini ratios, and the countries and years for which Gini ratios were available. It is important to note that the surveys from which the Gini ratios were calculated were slightly different, for example, some had different definitions of a ‘household’. Additionally, not all of the sources provided the exact Gini ratio calculation used. Table 1: Online sources from which Gini ratios were obtained from several countries across several, differing, time periods Country Time period Source of Gini ratios Austria (AUT) 1995-2001, 2003-2015 Eurostat, European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions (2017). Belgium (BEL) 1995-2001, 2003-2015 See Austria. Canada (CAN) 1976-2015 Statistics Canada (2017). Czechoslovakia (CZE) 2001, 2005-2015 See Austria. Denmark (DEN) 1987-2015 Statistics Denmark (2017). E…
publisher: Lancaster University
date: 2017
contributor: John Towse
rights: Open
format: data/excel.xlsx
language: English
type: The Gini ratio
coverage: LA1 4YF

An Investigation into the Effects of Temporary Visual Deprivation on Cortical Hyperexcitability, and Links with Multisensory Integration
subject: Cortical hyperexcitability, pattern glare, sensory hallucinations, temporary visual deprivation, migraine with aura
description: Cortical hyperexcitability is a state of highly increased neuronal activity in the brain. The current research is a novel investigation into the effects of short term temporary visual deprivation on cortical hyperexcitability and resultant aberrant visual experiences in non-migraineurs, migraine with aura, and migraine only participants. This research also assesses the link between cortical hyperexcitability and its effects on aberrant experiences across all senses; vision, audition, gustation, olfaction, and bodily sensations. Forty-three participants, including three migraine aura sufferers and three migraine only sufferers, completed the pattern glare test to induce and measure state-based cortical hyperexcitability under normal and temporary visual deprivation conditions, along with two questionnaire measures; the Cortical Hyperexcitability Index (version II; CHi-II), measuring trait-based cortical hyperexcitability; and the Multi-Modality Unusual Sensory Experiences Questionnaire, assessing aberrant experiences across senses. Results indicated no effect of temporary visual deprivation on cortical hyperexcitability, although migraine aura participants reported higher cortical hyperexcitability levels overall compared to migraine only and non-migraineurs. State-based pattern glare was not associated with unusual experiences in senses aside from olfactory, however the trait-based CHi-II was strongly correlated with unusual auditory, gustatory, and bodily sensations. Potential methodological and theoretical reasons for these results are discussed, alongside improvements and new directions for future research.
creator: Abbie Cochrane
source: Participants Forty-three participants took part in this study, consisting of 28 females and 15 males. All participants were students at Lancaster University with a mean age of 22.5 years, ranging from 19 to 36 years (SD=2.92, SE=0.45). Twenty-two participants were native English speakers, and 21 spoke English as their second language. Of these participants, three self-reported suffering with migraine only (MO) and three with migraine with aura (MA). Participants were recruited using opportunity sampling, and all gave fully informed consent before completing the experiment. Prior to participation, all participants were screened to ensure they did not suffer with any form of epilepsy, seizures of an unknown origin, and that they had not recently undergone brain or eye surgery. As no subjects reported these experiences, no participants were excluded on this basis. One participant reported suffering with micropsia; a visual impairment causing distortion of object size, so was removed from future analyses. All remaining participants reported normal or corrected to normal vision (i.e. through aid of glasses or contact lenses). Two participants were later removed from analysis for unusual scores on the baseline pattern glare task measure, explained in the results section. As such, the final sample size was 40 (age: M=22.53, SD=3.02, SE=0.48). Materials and Procedure Pattern glare task. Participants completed the pattern glare task under two conditions; blindfold or non-blindfold, creating a within-subjects design. Half completed the blindfold condition first, followed by the non-blindfold condition, with the other half completing the non-blindfold condition followed by the blindfold condition. The pattern glare task utilised three black and white striped grating patterns. The low frequency grating, calculated to have a spatial frequency of 0.5 cycles per degree (cpd; Figure 1), and the high frequency grating of 5.8cpd (Figure 2) acted as baseline measures. The medium frequ…
publisher: Lancaster University
date: 2018
contributor: Rebecca James
rights: Open
relation: None
format: Data/Excel.xlsx
language: English
type: Data
coverage: LA1 4YF

An investigation of the influence of individual differences on susceptibility to product placement
subject: Marketing, Product placement, Individual differences, Cognitive capabilities, Inhibitory control, Age, Familiarity, Gender, Purchase intentions.
description: Product placement increased in popularity in 1982 when Reese’s Pieces Chocolate was included in E.T. the film, which led to a 65% increase in sales. Still to this day product placement is omnipresent within our cultural climate and research has supported that it enhances our purchase intentions. However, what remains unknown is how individual differences may influence product placement susceptibility. To address this gap, the current study investigated whether individual differences in cognitive capabilities, inhibitory control, age, familiarity, gender and timepoint enhance/reduce the likelihood of individuals' purchasing intentions being influenced by product placement. To do this, 55 participants (23 younger adults (Mage = 61.62(8.70)) and 22 older adults (Mage = 21.75(0.68)) were presented with images of four cups of coffee and asked to rank their purchase intentions/familiarity with the products. Following this, participants watched three scenes from Coronation Street, with the second clip including a product placement (Costa Coffee). Approximately 48 hours later, participants completed another purchase intentions questionnaire on the same four cups of coffee. The results highlighted that purchase intentions increased immediately post-clip; however they decreased 48 hours post-clip. Therefore, advertisers may use this information to discover ways in which the consumer can easily purchase the product immediately post-clip e.g. through QR codes. In regard to all other variables, no other significant relationships were found. Thus, it cannot be suggested to advertising agencies that product placement targeted to individuals who fulfil a given criteria (e.g. older adults, etc) will achieve optimal results when compared to non-targeted product placement.
creator: Ellen Dimeck
source: Method Design The present quantitative study adopted a repeated measures design. There were several predictor variables: overall cognitive capabilities (including executive functioning; as assessed by the ACE-III; Hsieh et al., 2013), inhibitory control (as assessed by the Stroop effect), age, familiarity, gender, and timepoint. The dependent variable was susceptibility to product placement as measured by change in purchase intention. Participants At the time of the current studies design no published studies had investigated the influence of individual differences on product placement susceptibility, therefore the required sample size was modelled on the most comparable study the authors could source. Specifically, Hoek et al. (2022) investigated the influence of inhibitory control on advertising literacy activation and advertising susceptibility. Hoek et al. (2022) recruited 57 participants. Given the time restraints of data collection, the authors elected to recruit 55 participants. A total of 55 participants volunteered to participate in part one of the study. All participants were recruited via opportunity sampling through word of mouth and through advertisements placed on various Lancaster University Facebook pages (e.g. the Perception and Action Lab group). Participants were either aged between 18-25 (younger adults) or aged 50 and over (older adults). Out of the 55 participants, there were 27 younger adults (19 women; Mage = 60.93; SDage = 8.26) and 28 older adults (18 women; Mage = 21.78; SDage = 0.85). No participant had a known diagnosis of a psychiatric, neurological, or visual impairment, thus psychiatric, neurological, and visual impairments were not included in the analysis. All participants were White British/Irish. Therefore, there was no variation between ethnicities, thus ethnicity was not included in the analysis either. Given that cognitive capabilities was a key predictor variable within this study, it was necessary to ensure that participants …
publisher: Lancaster University
date: 14/09/2022
contributor: Reece Graham
rights: Open
relation: None
format: Data/RStudio.csv
language: English
type: Data
coverage: Lancaster