Publication Date
2018
Document Type
Thesis
Committee Members
Subhashini Ganapathy (Advisor), Michael Raymer (Committee Member), Mateen Rizki (Committee Member)
Degree Name
Master of Science in Computer Engineering (MSCE)
Abstract
Mindfulness is the state of retaining awareness of what is happening at the current point in time. It has been used in multiple forms to reduce stress, anxiety, and even depression. Promoting Mindfulness can be done in various ways, but current research shows a trend towards preferential usage of breathing exercises over other methods to reach a mindful state. Studies have showcased that breathing can be used as a tool to promote brain control, specifically in the auditory cortex region. Research pertaining to disorders such as Tinnitus, the phantom awareness of sound, could potentially benefit from using these brain control strategies as the auditory cortex is suspected of being the region in the brain responsible for the production of symptoms associated with Tinnitus. Mobile Applications have become an increasingly popular tool, due to their accessibility, that can be used to promote mindfulness, and as a result help patients cope better with Tinnitus. Using applications to guide patient's breathing patterns could be a more desirable and effective method to attaining a more mindful state. This study explores the effectiveness of such an application, and how the application can modified to be adaptive towards each individual user. Two questionnaires, Attentional Control Scale (ACS) and Mindful Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS), are used to measure self-reported attentional control and mindfulness. The results obtained from the questionnaires along with number of times the application was used, were used to determine which features, and whether using the application more times, had an effect on a participant's mindful score. Machine learning regression trees and ANOVA was used as part of the analysis, but due to lack of data, concrete conclusions on whether using the application more times has a better affect on a participant's mindfulness could not be established. That said future work will include a larger more diverse dataset which could allow us to make more accurate conclusions about this study.
Page Count
79
Department or Program
Department of Computer Science and Engineering
Year Degree Awarded
2018
Copyright
Copyright 2018, all rights reserved. My ETD will be available under the "Fair Use" terms of copyright law.
ORCID ID
0000-0001-5123-4972
