Psychology and Cognitive Science: Prerecorded - Panel 4
Monday, May 19 12:01AM – 11:59PM
Location: Online - Prerecorded
Presenter 1
JASMINE DIAZ, SOPHIA CRESITELLO, Robert Bilder, Steven Reise, Kristen Enriquez
The Boston Naming Test (BNT) is widely used in neuropsychology to assess language and cognitive functioning. However, its validity for younger populations is increasingly questioned due to outdated stimuli. This study tested the hypothesis that younger individuals would be less likely than older individuals to correctly identify specific BNT items. We analyzed 1,642 clinical cases of adults with diverse diagnoses from the National Neuropsychology Network. Only participants who began the BNT at item 30 and completed items 30-60 were included, consistent with standard administration for individuals without suspected impairment. A primary analysis of logistic regression was used to assess age-related differences in item-level performance on the BNT. Logistic regression revealed six items with lower accuracy among younger participants (knocker, accordion, yoke, trellis, palette, and abacus). While older adults are often assumed to struggle with word retrieval, younger adults' poorer performance likely reflects reduced exposure rather than cognitive decline. This generational gap is expected to widen as language and culture continue evolving, while the test has not been updated since the 1980s. Additionally, scoring inconsistencies and ambiguous discontinue rules may further limit the BNT’s effectiveness in modern clinical practice. These findings highlight the need to modernize neuropsychological tools to ensure equitable assessment across generations.
Presenter 2
CHENGZHEN (ANGELINA) MENG, Paul Savoca, Bridget Callaghan
Interoception—the brain’s ability to detect and integrate internal bodily signals—is essential for well-being, with disruptions linked to various health conditions. Despite its importance, how interoception develops remains poorly understood. Research suggests it is a skill acquired during early life, particularly through caregiver interactions. However, how different types of caregiver-child interactions shape children’s interoceptive learning is still unclear. This study addressed that gap by examining whether concordance between caregiver and child interoceptive functioning—expected if caregivers are actively shaping their child’s interoceptive abilities—varies with different interaction patterns. Interoceptive function was assessed using the MAIA-2 self-report questionnaire, and interaction patterns were coded from structured lab-based caregiver-child conversations (n = 57) using the FIMS behavioral coding system. Results showed that greater caregiver attunement, warmth, and supportiveness were associated with stronger concordance on the Self-Regulation subscale (int = 0.234; 0.211; 0.202; all p < .05). Higher parental structuring of tasks was linked to stronger concordance on Emotional Awareness (int = 0.364, p < .05) and Body Listening (int = 0.281, p < .05). In contrast, greater warmth was associated with lower concordance on Attention Regulation (int = -0.212, p < .05). These findings highlight the formative role of early caregiving on interoceptive development and suggest potential targets for early intervention.
Presenter 3
KATHERINE SONG, Francisco A. Reinosa Segovia, Vanessa Calderon, Denise Chavira, Michelle Craske, & Kate Wolitzky-Taylor
Though mental health problems are prevalent among community college (CC) students, they tend to underutilize mental health services even when available (Hunt & Eisenberg, 2010). In response, the STAND (Screening and Treatment for Anxiety & Depression) program was developed to screen and rapidly assign mental health care through a triage system. The aim of this study was to understand the factors impacting CC students’ perceived need for mental healthcare, as well as its interaction with perceptions of STAND’s triage tier system. Data drawn from CC student focus groups were analyzed using rapid qualitative analysis. Results indicated that participants recognized the importance of mental health treatment, but cited stigma, familial backlash, and busy schedules as barriers for initial uptake. Participants expressed more willingness to participate in the highest tier involving a therapist rather than in lower tiers without therapist involvement, suggesting that perceived need for mental health support may be self-adjusted by legitimizing perceived needs when there is high quality, available support and devaluing services when perceived quality is lower. These findings suggest that stigma reduction may be targeted as part of mental health interventions to increase service utilization among CC students. Future research should examine the role of low-intensity interventions to promote mental health knowledge and increase buy-in for CC students experiencing mental health distress.
Presenter 4
ARJUN PAWAR, Meg Cychosz
Information theory characterizes how signals are optimized for transmission from source to receiver across noisy channels, yet little is known about how these principles manifest when the receiver’s capabilities change over time. Using child-directed speech as a natural experiment, we analyzed >7.5 million phones in North American English caregiver speech to children aged 3-44 months (N=218) from the CHILDES database. We found that while the relative frequency of individual phones remained stable over this developmental time period, phonological informativity increased from early infancy (3-8 months) through toddlerhood (27-32 months),
before plateauing in the preschool years. This result suggests that speech directed to children sounds less redundant, with a phonological structure that is harder to predict in context, as children progress through early childhood. Our findings demonstrate how linguistic signals may be optimized to accommodate receiver (child) characteristics, with implications for both general principles of information transmission and theories of how children carve out linguistic representations and patterns from limited, noisy input. This study contributes to our understanding of how information theory can be applied to understanding redundancy within language (“babytalk” specifically) in the context of language acquisition.
Presenter 5
JOSHUA ANTONY, Shriya Nayyar, Ashley Johnson, Reina S. Factor
Previous research has indicated that autistic children may experience miscommunications in peer relationships, especially during playdates, and may also struggle to join social gatherings, understand different perspectives, and communicate functionally (O'Connor et. al, 2022; Raulston et. al, 2020; Syriopoulou-Delli, 2016). Although studies have used pre-intervention measures of social skills proficiency to predict playdate frequency and conflict post-intervention, they did not specifically focus on autistic children (Frankel & Mintz, 2011).
We investigated whether initial social skills proficiency significantly impacts playdate conflict and amount. Data from the Social Skills Improvement System (SSIS) and the Quality of Play Questionnaire (QPQ) were used to assess these domains in autistic individuals before and after an evidence-based 12-week online social skills intervention. This intervention, the Children’s Friendship Program, seeks to help elementary school-aged children make and keep friends (Frankel et. al, 2010). Findings suggest that initial SSIS scores had a significant impact on playdate frequency (p = .027), and that those with higher initial SSIS scores had more playdates post-intervention. A Wilcoxon Signed Rank Test also indicated that this difference was significant (p = .001, Z = -4.141). These findings suggest participants with higher initial social skills proficiency experienced greater increases in playdates hosted pre- to post-intervention and present a further need for social skills interventions.