Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

François Guizot, The History Of Civilization In Europe. Liberty Fund Inc., 2013, Mariana Tepfenhart

Comparative Civilizations Review

No abstract provided.

End Matter, Comparative Civilizations Review

Comparative Civilizations Review

No abstract provided.

The Neurobiological Basis Of Memory Specificity: The Influence Of Context And Re-Encoding, Dr. Brock Kirwan

Journal of Undergraduate Research

At a general level, we know that the information that is successfully encoded in and retrieved from long-term memory is influenced by the context during encoding and retrieval. However, we do not yet know how context affects mnemonic discrimination of similar or overlapping items or events. Further, we do not yet know what the effect is of retrieving the wrong information (or false recognition) on the original memory representation. Here, I propose to lead a group of students in an investigation using functional MRI (fMRI) on the effects of context on a neural process called pattern separation that is thought …

Ianimate: Exploring The Use Of Animation And Virtual Environments In Educational Settings, Ryan O. Kellems

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Evaluation of how well the academic objectives of the proposal were met

The academic objectives of the grant were met. During the course of the study there were four independent research sites where the intervention was delivered and data was collected. The results form several of theses studies has been published and the conceptual ideals from the project have also been published. This funding has also provided the foundation for the current work I am doing. There is currently one other data set from the grant under review and another manuscript in the final stages of preparation.

Project Final Evaluation: Parent Training In Southeast Europe: Strengthening Families Of Children With Autism In Macedonia, Blake D. Hansen

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The purpose of this project was to evaluate program to education parents of children with autism in the Republic of Macedonia, located in Southeastern Europe. Macedonia has many factors that made it an important research site. Poverty rates, ethnic conflict, and access to professional resources make parenting a child with autism very difficult in Macedonia. This project sought to alleviate some of these burdens by providing a training model where parents trained each other on simple interventions to help their children.

Investigating The Processes And Outcomes Of Theistic Spiritually Oriented Psychotherapies, Dr. Scott Richards

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The MEG grant I was awarded for the academic years 2015 and 2016 funded two projects:

(1) Review of the research literature about the state of the evidence based on spiritually integrated psychotherapies.

Completed Academic Objectives:

a. completed literature search b. wrote manuscript summarizing and discussing findings c. presented findings at APA and AMCAP conventions (American Psychological Association, Denver, Colorado, August 2016, and Association of Mormon Counselors and Psychotherapists, Salt Lake City, October 2016, and American Psychological Association, Washington, DC, August 2017) d. submitted manuscript for publication consideration

(2) Data analysis and reporting the findings of two practice-based evidence studies …

The Effects Of Media On Ambivalent Sexism, Career Aspiration, And Help-Seeking Attitudes Toward Mental Health Services, Niwako Yamawaki

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Evaluation of how well the academic objectives of the proposal were met I proposed some academic objectives that students must achieve through the research project, entitled above. First, students were expected to create three 15-minutes video clips. Through this activity, they have learned about ambivalent sexism, identified examples of ambivalent sexism, learned how to run focus groups, and improved technical skills dealing with media. Second, Students must submit an IRB application for this project. Their application was successfully approved, and they have learned research processes, conducted literature reviews, improved writing and hypothesis building skills, and received training in ethical issues …

Enhancing Social, Emotional, And Language Learning In Children With Language Impairment., Bonnie Brinton, Phd, Martin Fujiki, Phd

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Introduction: We were extremely grateful to receive a 2016 Mentored Environment Grant. Our project was entitled Enhancing Social, Emotional, and Language Learning in Children with Language Impairment. The purpose of this project was to employ a multiple baseline, single subject design to investigate the efficacy of a social communication intervention designed to foster emotional and language learning simultaneously for children with developmental language disorders (language impairment). The treatment program was designed to be administered within the service delivery model (and constraints) of the public school system.

Approaching Arabic Automatic Speech Recognition With Usage, James Longstaff, Deryle Lonsdale

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The purpose of this project is to improve Arabic automatic speech recognition (ASR) by distinguishing between different dialects with the use of machine learning. Machine learning is the teaching of computers to recognize and distinguish between categories by themselves. Machine learning works off of statistical and mathematical algorithms implemented with computer programming.

Implementation Of Recurrent Neural Nets In Forecasting Macroeconomic Indicators, Christ Rytting, Dr. Kerk Phillips

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Drivendata.org says “In the year 2000, the member states of the United Nations agreed to a set of goals to measure the progress of global development. The aim of these goals was to increase standards of living around the world by emphasizing human capital, infrastructure, and human rights.”

Transformations: Lessons On Moral Agency For Families, Katelyn Suneson, Dennis Packard

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The purpose of this project was to complete and publish an LDS family relations text, which is now in its second year of development. The text draws on some of the best resources developed in and outside of BYU in the last three decades¹²³ and applies them to some of the most serious family problems now facing members of the Church, including failure to marry, divorce, addictions, and pornography.

English As A Second Language Speakers’ Ability To Replicate Native Speaker Speech Forms When Engaged In Imitative Interaction, Ariana Avila, Dr. Mark Tanner

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The purpose of this study was to gather acoustic data aimed at empirically assessing the degree to which non-native English speakers can approximate the linguistic features of native speech when engaged in imitative interaction. The focus of my study was to investigate the degree to which ESL learners living in an English speaking environment can produce linguistic features (variation in intonation, appropriate word and sentence stress, and appropriate use of pausing to delineate meaning units in discourse) in their speech similar to those produced by native English speakers when the ESL learner is trying to imitate what a native speaker …

How Teachers Grade Native And Non-Native Writing: Exposing Biases And Grading Discrepancies, Jenna Snyder, Dr. Grant Eckstein

Journal of Undergraduate Research

With Dr. Grant Eckstein leading our research team, we gathered TESOL writing teachers together to start our data collection. Using an eye-tracker, we monitored the different grading tendencies of 10 different writing teachers. Using this data, we made important observations and applications to writing teachers who teach mixed classrooms of both native English speakers and non-native English speakers.

Development And Evaluation Of An Eeg-Based Symbol-Digit Substitution Task, Christopher Beckett, Dr. Bruce Brown

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The event-related potential (ERP) method has led to major advances in the experimental exploration of the neurological correlates of human cognition (Luck, 2005). The usual process is to take EEG (electroencephalographic) recordings during a cognitive task. The recording is timelocked to a stimulus so that multiple trials can be averaged to amplify the signal of the resulting cognitive process. In past research studies, faculty and students in our Quantitative EEG Lab (qEEG) have discovered a way to isolate individual cognitive “bands” within a set of ERP waves. These cognitive bands have diagnostic utility. They can be used to identify personal …

An Eye Tracking Study: Composition Teachers’ Assessment Of Native And Non-Native, Rachel Casper, Grant Eckstein

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Applied linguists are interested in the cognitive processes of writing teachers within the subfields of both second language writing and writing assessment. Such cognitive insights as how a teacher reads and scores a piece of non-native English speaker (L2) writing can have an impact on the way in which second languages are taught and assessed in writing classrooms. This is particularly relevant as increasing numbers of L2 students matriculate into composition courses traditionally designed for native-English speakers.

Moving Toward And Away From Others: Social Orientations In Emerging Adulthood, Nathan A. Jorgensen, Larry J. Nelson

Faculty Publications

As emerging adults navigate numerous changes to their relationships, the ways in which they connect with and move away from others, or how they are socially oriented, may play an important role in their relational and individual well-being. The current study explored holistic types of social orientations (i.e., social motivations, the self in relation to others, other-directed emotions, and actual behaviors) and how they relate to the quality of close relationships, depression, and substance use in a sample of 787 US emerging adult college students. Results from latent profile analysissuggested five types of social orientations, each showing a distinct pattern …

Toxoplasma Gondii Seropositivity And Substance Use In Us Adults, Bruce L. Brown, Andrew N. Berrett, Shawn D. Gale, Lance D. Erickson, Evan L. Thacker, Dawson W. Hedges

Faculty Publications

The intracellular parasite Toxoplasma gondii (Nicolle et Manceaux, 1908) infects humans resulting in acute toxoplasmosis, an infection that in immunocompetent people is typically mild but results in persistent latent toxoplasmosis. In that T. gondii appears to affect dopamine synthesis and because addicting drugs affect midbrain dopamine transmission, latent toxoplasmosis could influence substance use. Using both the third and continuous National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, we used logistic regression to test for associations between T. gondii seropositivity and subject self-report of having ever used tobacco, alcohol, marijuana, cocaine, heroin, or methamphetamine. …

Lack Of Access To Water In Rural Malawi, Marissa Getts

Ballard Brief

Lack of access to clean water affects almost every aspect of a person's life in significant ways, and especially impacts the lives of women and children. Measurements of access to water are often deceiving and paint a limited or inaccurate picture of actual access. Building a water point and appointing a water point management committee are the most common methods of addressing the problem. but both are unsustainable because unattended water points typically break down quickly and most management committees are poorly trained. To sustainably increase access to clean water, people should not just create new water points; they should …

Sex Differences In Rhesus Monkeys’ Digit Ratio (2d:4d Ratio) And Its Association With Maternal Social Dominance Rank, Alexander Baxter, Elizabeth K. Wood, Parker Jarman, Ashley N. Cameron, John P. Capitanio, James Dee Higley

Faculty Publications

Prenatal androgen exposure (PAE) plays a pivotal role in masculinizing the developing body and brain, and extreme exposure may contribute to autism, anxiety disorder and schizophrenia. One commonly used biomarker for PAE is the pointer-to-ring-finger digit length (2D:4D) ratio. Although this biomarker is widely used in human studies, relatively few studies have investigated 2D:4D ratio in nonhuman primates, particularly rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta), one of the most commonly used animals in biomedical research. Thus far, data suggest that sexual dimorphism in 2D:4D ratio may be in the opposite direction in some monkey species, when compared to the pattern …

Advancing Social Connection As A Public Health Priority In The United States, Julianne Holt-Lunstad, Theodore Robles, David A. Sbarra

Faculty Publications

A robust body of scientific evidence indicates that being embedded in high-quality close relationships and feeling socially connected to the people in your life is associated with decreased risk for all-cause mortality as well as a range of disease morbidities. Despite mounting evidence that the magnitude of these associations is comparable to many leading health determinants (that receive significant public health resources), government agencies, healthcare providers and associations, and public/private healthcare funders are slow to recognize human social relationships as either a health determinant or health risk marker in a manner that is comparable to other public health priorities. This …

Begin Again, Holt Zaugg

Faculty Publications

One of the hallmarks of any assessment or evaluation is that it serves as an agent for improved change. However, not all changes are positive. In some cases, improvements in one area of library service delivery have negative effects in other areas of service delivery. In addition to this, no assessment is ever perfectly planned nor conducted. Each of these factors contributes to the need for library assessments to be periodically repeated. This chapter begins with a description of an assessment planning guide and journal to chronicle how the assessment was planned and unfolded. From here it discusses factors of …

Popular With Whom?: Usage Demographics Of Popular Science Nonfiction At An Academic Library, Megan Frost, Rebecca Walton

Faculty Publications

There is a large body of nonfiction written for a general audience which is infrequently promoted in popular reading collections at academic libraries. The aim of this research is to look at the usage of nonfiction science literature at a large university library in comparison to the science collection as a whole. This information can help librarians to not only determine how best to prioritize the collection of nonfiction science literature, but it can also be used to provide insight into how popular nonfiction science books can be most effectively promoted to library patrons.

A Nordic Anomaly: Examining The Establishment Of An Anti-Immigrant Party In Sweden, Louise Paulsen

Undergraduate Honors Theses

This thesis examines the establishment of an anti-immigrant party (AIP) in Sweden. Until recently, Sweden was known as the Nordic anomaly with no AIP in spite of high levels of immigration and high rates of right-wing violence. This has now changed, and the AIP, Sweden Democrats, are rising to popularity in high speed. I examine the causes given for the anomaly up until 2006 and show that a change in these has since created a favorable environment for an AIP to become successful. First, socio-economic cleavages have become less salient through decreasing party loyalty and increasing numbers of party switchers. …

Gdp And Refugees: An Economic Argument For Accepting Refugees, Michael Jarman

Marriott Student Review

This paper examines both the costs and benefits associated with accepting refugees and purports to show that accepting refugees is economically beneficial; increasing GDP in the long run. There is a substantial cost associated with accepting and sustaining refugees, both in providing necessities and in the impact that refugees have on local job markets. However, longitudinal data pulled from Denmark, Germany, and Turkey has shown that local markets do recover from the initial shock. Over time as refugees integrate into their host communities, they provide dividends in the form of increasing demand, greater mobility and wage increases for locals, and …

The Power Of Happiness, Sarah R. Romney

Marriott Student Review

This article synthesizes research and psychological principles to explain the impact that one’s attitude can have oneself and others. A positive attitude is contagious and can help one perform better, be more motivated, and earn a higher wage. It can also increase team performance and help others be happy to receive the same benefits. By focusing on their expressions and attitude, people can greatly impact the organizations they are a part of.

A Spatial And Temporal Analysis Of San Juan Red Ware, Robert Jacob Bischoff

Theses and Dissertations

San Juan Red Ware was widely distributed throughout the Four Corners region of the U.S. Southwest between about AD 750 and 1100. Prior research indicates this ware is a marker of identity and was likely associated with feasting and other communal activities. A study of the distribution of this ware indicates that it was traded widely, but with significant variation in relative quantity between sites. This variation is likely caused by unequal access to this ware due either to a lack of access to the necessary exchange networks or by a conscious decision to not participate in the exchange of …

Lithics And Mobility At Land Hill And Hidden Hills: A Study Of The Stone Tools And Debitage At Sites In The Santa Clara River Basin And On The Shivwits Plateau, Megan Ellice Mangum

Theses and Dissertations

The Land Hill and Hidden Hills study areas were the site of the 2006 and 2007 Brigham Young University's archaeological field schools. The two study areas are located in contrasting environments; the Land Hill area is located along the Santa Clara River in southwestern Utah, and the Hidden Hills area was is located on the Shivwits Plateau in northwestern Arizona. The Land Hill study area is located within a well-watered environment which would support a primarily horticultural lifestyle. The Hidden Hills study area is located in an arid environment without permanent streams which would support a more mobile hunting lifestyle. …

Beauty As A Confounding Variable: Refining Measure Of Viewing Time, Rachael Caryn Pinkerman

Theses and Dissertations

Current research on viewing time measures of sexual attraction fail to explore potential confounding variables of viewing time. One viewing time measure, the LOOK, has been shown to be reliable over time and generally correlated with self-reported sexual orientation but has been unable to differentiate between a non-offending group and an offending group of individuals. This study utilizes the LOOK to examine the relationship between viewing time and a potential confounding variable of viewing time, beauty, using two constructs of beauty (facial beauty and full-body beauty). Facial beauty scores were created by measuring the degree of adherence to four universal …

Exploring Ceramic Vessel Use At Casas Grandes, Chihuahua, Mexico, Through Use-Alteration Analyses, Jessica Simpson

Theses and Dissertations

The Casas Grandes Valley is located in the northwestern corner of the modern state of Chihuahua, Mexico. This area falls into the greater Northwest/Southwest cultural region. Research conducted on Casas Grandes ceramics up to this point has focused on form and design in connection with burials, authority, sociopolitical organization, ceremony and ritual, communication, and identifying cultural boundaries and influences. Very little has been said about some of the everyday uses of Casas Grandes ceramics. My thesis explores the evidences of use on ceramic vessels in the Casas Grandes region during the Medio period (AD 1200-1450). I conducted a use-alteration analysis …

Informant Discrepancy In Y-Oq Reporting And Inferences Regarding Youth And Primary Caregiver Functioning, Tess Janeen Collett

Theses and Dissertations

Discrepancy in reporting is a frequent phenomenon in psychotherapy research and its presence indicates added information to take into account when assessing youth functioning (De Los Reyes, 2011; Hawley & Weisz, 2003). There is a need to further understand patterns in youth psychotherapy to protect from risk of treatment failure or deterioration. Our study aimed to explore informant discrepancy and its relation to key therapeutic constructs as well as youth functionality over time within youth outpatient mental health populations who use the Y-OQ and TSM in routine outcome monitoring and as clinical support measures. Using an outpatient mental health sample, …