Prime, David J. | DOOR - DOuglas Open Repository

Prime, David J.

Photograph

Person Preferred Name

David J. Prime

Position

Faculty Member

Field of Activity

Working memory

Cognitive processes

Brain activity

EEG measures

Decision making

Email/Contact

primed@douglascollege.ca

Department

Psychology

Humanities and Social Sciences

Status

current

Education and Credentials

Ph.D, Psychology, University of British Columbia
M.A., Psychology, University of British Columbia
B.A.(Hons., 1st Class), Psychology, Simon Fraser University

I am an expert in applying EEG measures of brain activity to investigate cognitive processes. I have conducted studies on attention, perception, decision making, and working memory. In particular, I have published several studies investigating the attention related phenomenon known as Inhibition of Return (IOR). Recently, I have began investigating the effect of biases on high level decision making and belief formation.

Related Works

Object-substitution masking modulates spatial attention deployment and the encoding of information in visual short-term memory: insights from occipito-parietal ERP components

Digital Document

If object‐substitution masking (OSM) arises from mask representations replacing target representations, OSM should impede the formation of representations in visual short‐term memory (VSTM). We utilized event‐related potentials to examine the effect of OSM on target processing. An N2pc was observed on trials with delayed‐offset masks, indicating that focused attention was directed to the target. The sustained posterior contralateral negativity (SPCN), an index of VSTM storage, was observed in delayed‐offset trials only on trials with correct responses. This supports the hypothesis that inaccurate performance on delayed‐offset trials arises from a failure to encode the target in VSTM. On co‐termination trials, accuracy was high and neither the N2pc nor SPCN was observed. This indicates that, in the absence of masking, the task was accomplished by maintaining a diffuse attentional state that enabled the joint encoding of the potential target items.

Self-construal, mood, nationality and openness to evidence against the afterlife

Digital Document

There is considerable evidence that people process information in a manner that favours prior beliefs, and that they are resistant to evidence against those beliefs. People who believed in an afterlife were recruited, and they all indicated their level of confidence. This study analyzed the effect of self-construal, mood, and nationality on openness to belief-contradicting evidence. Our study used a 2 (self-construal: rational vs fallible) X 2 (mood: positive vs negative) X 2 (nationality: Western vs non-Western) factorial design. Self-construal was manipulated through the use of questionnaires, while mood was manipulated with videos. All participants were exposed to arguments that contradicted their beliefs, and they indicated how convincing the arguments were. Their ratings of the arguments were our measure of openness to belief-contradicting evidence. There was a strong negative correlation between initial belief confidence and ratings of the arguments. Participants who were more confident in their beliefs tended to find the arguments unconvincing, but participants with less confidence tended to find the arguments convincing. Self-construal did not produce significant differences in ratings of the arguments, and neither did the mood manipulation. There was also no significant difference in average ratings between Westerners and non-Westerners. However, there was an unexpected interaction between nationality and self-construal. A fallible self-construal led to significantly lower ratings of the arguments for Westerners, while it led to higher ratings of the arguments for non-Westerners. Possible explanations of this finding are discussed, including identity threat and differences is self-serving bias.

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