https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/79843 Tue, 07 Apr 2026 04:36:23 GMT 2026-04-07T04:36:23Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/88892 Title: The MILO-switch task : comparing online and app-based assessment Abstract: In this study, an online variant of the MILO task was used to examine whether basic findings from previous iPad studies generalise to a new experimental scenario. Furthermore, the study aimed to examine whether the distinct saw-tooth pattern of reaction times reported by Thornton and Horowitz (2020b) was caused by chunking responses into pairs, or rather related to whether items were letters or digits. Twenty four participants each completed a Sequential block (e.g., 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, A, B, C, D, E, F) and a Mixed block (e.g., 1, A, 2, B, 3, C, 4, D, 5, E, 6, F) of MILO trials, with each block consisting of 15 trials where the target items vanished when selected, and 15 trials where they remained visible (Vanish/Remain condition). The two trial conditions were randomly interleaved. The order of initial stimulus type (letter or digit) was counterbalanced across participants. Results showed that participants take longer to carry out the MILO task online compared to on an iPad, although SRT patterns were generally very similar. One notable difference was a constant offset between Vanish and Remain trials during the Sequential blocks of trials. Finally, stimulus order did not affect the saw-tooth pattern during mixed blocks of trials, suggesting this feature arises due to the tendency to chunk the overall sequence into response pairs. Description: M.Sc.(Melit.) Fri, 01 Jan 2021 00:00:00 GMT https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/88892 2021-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/88884 Title: The effect of transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation (taVNS) on visual perceptual learning of faces through noise Abstract: This study sought to examine the effect of transcutaneous auricular Vagus Nerve Stimulation (taVNS) on visual perceptual learning of faces (face learning). Research about taVNS is limited and there has been no attempt to combine this area with face learning prior to this study. Experiment 1 (n = 12) measured both sensory (i.e. when a sensation of stimulation becomes present) and sub-sensory thresholds (i.e. when a sensation stops being present) in order for the researchers to familiarise themselves with and select the stimulation devices (Chattanooga’s Cefar® TENS, the NeuroTrac® TENS, and the Parasym™ devices) for the main experiment. Stimulation was delivered at sub-sensory thresholds in the main experiment. Experiment 2 used a single-subject/psychophysics design (n = 4), in which each participant took part in multiple sessions over the course of 6 days. All participants experienced both Active Stimulation (taVNS directed at the left tragus and previously correlated with neuroplasticity) and Sham Stimulation (directed at the left earlobe and expected to have no effect) in a counterbalanced order. Stimulation was delivered during a face learning task where participants were required to match a gradually less obscured face with its unobscured double as quickly as possible. There was a significant effect of Repetition (i.e. how many times a face was encountered) which indicates that face learning took place during this experiment. There was no significant effect of Stimulation Type (i.e. whether the vague nerve was stimulated via the tragus). Due to this, there is no sufficient evidence supporting the hypothesis that taVNS enhances or inhibits face learning. Although the difference was not significant, Active Stimulation appeared to be linked to a slight initial advantage, but less prominent learning than Sham Stimulation. Description: M.Sc.(Melit.) Fri, 01 Jan 2021 00:00:00 GMT https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/88884 2021-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/79868 Title: The curious case of lexical ambiguity : using talker-specific characteristics and facial expressions to decode the puzzle Abstract: This thesis investigates how facial expressions and the talker-specific characteristics (TSCs) of age, gender and sociolinguistic background affect language processing in Maltese. The main hypothesis within this study is that facial expressions and TSCs (talker-specific characteristics) guide language processing by categorising information, thus enabling superior usage and control of the information stream encountered during language processing. To test this, three experiments were carried out. The first was a behavioural study inspired by the McGurk paradigm, where facial expressions were expected to aid with the disambiguation of phonetically similar yet lexically diverse words. Here the results show attention to the facial features, however no specific effect of facial expressions in a single word situation. The second was an eye-tracking experiment containing biased sentence interpretations, based on common gender and age biases. Results show that participants could use speaker identity to guide language processing, albeit with some constraints. The third was a trial EEG study inspired by the second experiment, using biased sentences based on common gender and sociolinguistic biases. The results show no clear effects of speaker identity. Based on these results a series of limitations are discussed and ideas for future work are suggested. Overall, this thesis shows that language processing is a complex matter and much work still needs to be done (especially within the Maltese setting) to learn the extent of involvement of speaker identity and facial expressions within this process. Description: Ph.D.(Melit.) Fri, 01 Jan 2021 00:00:00 GMT https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/79868 2021-01-01T00:00:00Z