Here is the first in our series of student blog posts regarding their time at StFX and working in ETAL. First up is ETAL's first ever honours student, Veda Haggarty, reporting on her thesis work from the 2023/24 academic year. If you're interested in connecting with Veda, you can find her on LinkedIn here.
During my time in Dr. Redden’s lab, I assessed the relationship between relationship attachment and how we pay attention to the world around us. Participants came to the lab to play the AttentionTrip, an iPad game designed to evaluate our attention by presenting auditory cues, distractors, and spatial cues. Participants also completed the Experience in Close Relationships-Revised Questionnaire to determine relationship attachment style. Participants reporting insecure attachment demonstrated faster reaction times than those reporting secure attachment, suggesting that increased vigilance is a consequence of insecure attachment. Participants reporting one type of insecure attachment (high attachment avoidance) demonstrated reduced interference from distractors compared to those reporting low attachment avoidance, suggesting that attachment avoidance is related to the enhanced ability to ignore irrelevant information. Participants reporting another type of insecure attachment (high attachment anxiety) found the presence of a spatial cue more helpful than those reporting low attachment anxiety, suggesting that attachment anxiety is related to the ability to strategically attend to stimuli around us.
During my time in Dr. Redden’s lab, I assessed the relationship between relationship attachment and how we pay attention to the world around us. Participants came to the lab to play the AttentionTrip, an iPad game designed to evaluate our attention by presenting auditory cues, distractors, and spatial cues. Participants also completed the Experience in Close Relationships-Revised Questionnaire to determine relationship attachment style. Participants reporting insecure attachment demonstrated faster reaction times than those reporting secure attachment, suggesting that increased vigilance is a consequence of insecure attachment. Participants reporting one type of insecure attachment (high attachment avoidance) demonstrated reduced interference from distractors compared to those reporting low attachment avoidance, suggesting that attachment avoidance is related to the enhanced ability to ignore irrelevant information. Participants reporting another type of insecure attachment (high attachment anxiety) found the presence of a spatial cue more helpful than those reporting low attachment anxiety, suggesting that attachment anxiety is related to the ability to strategically attend to stimuli around us.
Following completion of my thesis, I presented my research at the Canadian Psychological Association’s 85th Annual National Convention. It was inspiring to chat with graduate students, professors, psychologists, researchers, and other like-minded attendees. I even had the opportunity to chat with Dr. Lachlan McWilliams, whose research I replicated! Attending the convention was the perfect way to conclude my undergraduate experience.
My time at StFX deepened my desire to learn and therefore further motivates me to apply to graduate programs and continue my education. After researching my options, I am most interested in pursuing a Master of Science in Audiology. Conducting thesis research at StFX was more fun than I had initially imagined, so I would love the opportunity to conduct more research