This thesis offers a look into color theory and how it applies to commonly-used electronics, with computers being the main focus. This is done by employing research in user interface design, color theory, Brief Implicit Association Task validity, and Mechanical Turk participant validity. This study utilizes a recent modification of the more widely known implicit association task and takes advantage of MTurk's pool of subjects for its' data. Via a BIAT, implicit associations between red or blue colored computer images and "analytic" or "creative" synonyms were examined. No significant associations were found, despite strong background research. These findings suggest that further research is needed in this area before broader conclusions can be made.

Safe headway learning plays a core role in driving education. Traditional safe headway education just use the oral and literal methods to educate drivers the concept of safe headway time, while with the limitation of combining drivers subject and situational domains for drivers to learn. This study investigated that whether using ego-moving metaphor to embody driver's self-awareness can help to solve this problem. This study used multiple treatments (ego-moving and time-moving instruction of safe time headway) and controls with pretest experimental design to investigate the embody self-awareness effect in a car-following task. Drivers (N=40) were asked to follow a lead car at a 2-seconds safe time headway. Results found that using embodied-based instructions in safe headway learning can help to improve driver's headway time accuracy and performance stability in the car-following task, which supports the hypothesis that using embodied-based instructions help to facilitate safe headway learning. However, there are still some issues needed to be solved using embodied-based instructions for the drivers' safe headway education. This study serves as a new method for the safe headway education while providing empirical evidence for the embodied theories and their applications.

As technology increases, so does the concern that the humanlike virtual characters and android robots being created today will fall into the uncanny valley. The current study aims to determine whether uncanny feelings from modern virtual characters and robots can be significantly affected by the mere exposure effect. Previous research shows that mere exposure can increase positive feelings toward novel stimuli (Zajonc, 1968). It is predicted that the repeated exposure to virtual characters and robots can cause a significant decrease in uncanny feelings. The current study aimed to show that modern virtual characters and robots possessing uncanny traits will be rated significantly less uncanny after being viewed multiple times.

Research on priming has shown that exposure to the concept of fast food can have an effect on human behavior by inducing haste and impatience (Zhong & E. DeVoe, 2010). This research suggests that thinking about fast food makes individuals impatient and strengthens their desire to complete tasks such as reading and decision making as quickly and efficiently as possible. Two experiments were conducted in which the effects of fast food priming were examined using a driving simulator. The experiments examined whether fast food primes can induce impatient driving. In experiment 1, 30 adult drivers drove a course in a driving simulator after being exposed to images by rating aesthetics of four different logos. Experiment 1 did not yield faster driving speeds nor an impatient and faster break at the yellow light in the fast food logo prime condition. In experiment 2, 30 adult drivers drove the same course from experiment 1. Participants did not rate logos on their aesthetics prior to the drive, instead billboards were included in the simulation that had either fast food or diner logos. Experiment 2 did not yielded faster driving speeds, however there was a significant effect of faster breaking and a higher number of participants running the yellow light.

ABSTRACT Research studies have demonstrated that stereotypes can elicit a priming response. An experiment was conducted to test the effects of priming elderly and young stereotypes on driving behavior. Participants drove in a driving simulator while navigating through two driving routes. Participants were guided by a neutral voice similar to "Siri" that informed them where to turn. Each route primed the participants with names that were deemed "old" or "young" as determined by a survey. The experiment yielded slower driving speeds in the elderly condition than in the young consistent with previous research regarding elderly stereotypes (Bargh et al, 1996; Branaghan and Gray, 2010; Taylor, 2010; Foster, 2012). These findings extend research on priming and behaviors elicited by participants in a simulated driving environment.

As the desire for innovation increases, individuals and companies seek reliable ways to encourage their creative side. There are many office superstitions about how creativity works, but few are based on psychological science and even fewer have been tested empirically. One of the most prevalent superstitions is the use of objects to inspire creativity or even make a creative room. It is important to test this kind of notion so workplaces can find reliable ways to be innovative, but also because psychology lacks a breadth of literature on how environmental cues interact with people to shape their mental state. This experiment seeks to examine those gaps and fill in the next steps needed for examining at how multiple objects prime creativity. Participants completed two creativity tasks: one for idea generation and one that relies on insight problem solving, the Remote Association Task. There were four priming conditions that relied on objects: a zero object condition, a four neutral (office) objects condition, a single artistic object condition, and finally a four artistic objects condition. There were no differences found between groups for either type of task or in mood or artistic experience. The number of years a participant spent in the United States, however, did correlate with mood, idea generation scores, and insight problem scores. This potentially demonstrates that performance on idea generation and insight tasks rely on the tasks created and culture.