Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Behavioral Mechanisms Of Pramipexole-Induced Impulsivity: Discrimination Processes Underlying Decision-Making, Patrick S. Johnson

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Impulsivity represents a substantial and devastating cost to our economic, cultural, and physical prosperity. Using quantitative models of choice behavior, researchers are able to identify environmental conditions likely to promote impulsive decision-making. Such an approach is especially valuable in experimental efforts to better understand how drugs negatively affect choice in humans and nonhumans alike. For instance, pramipexole, a dopamine agonist medication prescribed for Parkinson’s disease, has been associated with reports of increased rates of impulsive behavior. By which behavioral mechanisms pramipexole achieves these effects is unknown and requires further investigation.

The research reported herein sought to clarify pramipexole’s effects on …

Military As Welfare State: Conditions Leading To The Adoption Of The National Guard Youth Challenge Program, Madisen B. Drury

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Since its inception in 1993, nearly 90,000 high school dropouts have completed the National Guard Youth Challenge Program, a youth diversion program for unemployed high school dropouts. As of 2008, 27 states have partnered with the military to implement this residential program for at-risk youth. There is limited research on this new social welfare program despite its representing a dynamic military-state-welfare relationship. This study examines state-level conditions and looks to answer three research questions: 1) Under what conditions do states start a ChalleNGe program?; 2) What role do time-varying social and economic factors have in influencing states to initially adopt …

A Demographic Evaluation Of Increasing Rates Of Suicide Mortality In Japan And South Korea, Sun Young Jeon

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

According to a World Health Organization report, about one million people die by suicide each year. Fortunately, rates of suicide mortality have been decreasing
among most of the OECD countries, but Japan and South Korea are the only two exceptions to this trend, which has shown increasing suicide rates over the last 25
years. A number of studies have focused on psychological motives and individual-level causes of suicide, such as depression, mental disorder, and disability. However,
as Durkheim pointed out, suicide in a society does not have any obvious relationship to the prevalence of mental disorder. With his theory indicating …

The Application Of Instructional Design Principles In The Development Of Sportsmanship Education Software And Its Impact On Children’S Acquisition Of Sportsmanlike Attitudes And Behaviors, Michael J. Petersen

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Millions of people participate in sporting events as either athletes or spectators, or both. The presence or absence of sportsmanship they experience can affect them in both negative and positive ways. The purpose of this study was to determine whether schoolchildren who use a computer-based sportsmanship education program would learn and exhibit more sportsmanship than those who did not use the software. It was determined that younger children were more affected by the software than the older children were.

Digitizing Items From Special Collections: The Usu Approach, Clint Pumphrey, Andrew Wesolek

Library Faculty & Staff Presentations

The presentation outlines a USU pilot project in using the Institutional Repository to promote and provide access to materials in Special Collections.

Roping, Corralling And Branding Silos Of Information: Old West Techniques For A New World, Cheryl D. Walters, Randy Williams, Liz Woolcott

Library Faculty & Staff Presentations

Isolated silos of information are somewhat outdated in today's fast paced, Google-ized search environment. At Utah State University Libraries, we are creating strategies for aggregating unique primary source materials form multiple institutions and creating uber-collections that preserve institutional-level branding. Modeling our efforts on Indiana University's and the American Folklore Society's OpenFolklore Initiative, we are "roping" the oral histories (and associated materials) of American Folklorists, "corralling" them with CONTENTdm and rich metadata records, and branding them with institutional logos. The digital collection Collecting Memories: Oral Histories of American Folklorists is our first such effort.

Breathe In, Breathe Out: Utilizing Mindfulness In The Social Work Practicum, Allison Leigh Leonard

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

Mindfulness is defined as the ability to be aware of your thoughts, emotions, physical sensations, and actions – in the present moment – without judging or criticizing yourself or your experience (McKay, Wood, & Brantley, 2007). It has been used in a variety of settings and in a variety of ways. Within the context of social work, mindfulness can be used to prevent burnout and increase awareness. This paper reports research on teaching mindfulness techniques with the purpose of training students to use mindfulness and improve their professional development. Specifically, the paper presents the following: review of current literature on …

How Subject Librarians Make Better Irs And How Irs Make Better Subject Librarians, Andrew Wesolek, Kacy Lundstrom

Library Faculty & Staff Presentations

No abstract provided.

Working Hard Or Hardly Working: Recent Mlis Grads Finding Work And Making It Pay In A Harsh Economy, Andrea Hathaway, Liz Woolcott, Becky Skeen, Katie Wesolek

Becky Skeen

No abstract provided.

Working Hard Or Hardly Working: Recent Mlis Grads Finding Work And Making It Pay In A Harsh Economy, Andrea Hathway, Liz Woolcott, Becky Skeen, Katie Wesolek

Library Faculty & Staff Presentations

These slides come from the presentation given at the Utah Library Association Conference (April 26, 2012).

An Examination Of Citizens United: Where We're Going And How We Got There, Stephanie M. Lewis

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

Citizens United v. Federal Elections Commission (2010) has been touted as both champion and destroyer of First Amendment free speech rights. It remains a controversial decision of which we are only beginning to see its true effects. The case brought rise to the Super PACs commonly denounced in the media and the vast amount of money that comes with them. We have seen negative and positive campaign ads that candidates for election don’t have to answer to. In order to truly understand these effects, I examined the Supreme Court’s decision to determine its line of reasoning as well as media …

Interactions Between Emotion Regulation Measures, Depression, And Gender, Rachael Kimberly Wicker

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

Throughout history there has been anecdotal, observational and empirical evidence, as well as entire theoretical frameworks indicating that there are differences between men and women when it comes to emotional expression and regulation. For example, differences exist in how and why different emotions are felt in a given circumstance for men versus women and what behaviors these emotions elicit in others. Yet despite these differences the same questionnaires are used to assess emotion regulation. Furthermore, the same diagnostic criteria are used to assess mood disorders in men and women. In the present study the domains of emotion regulation assessed are: …

Copyright Solutions For Institutional Repositories: A Collaboration With Subject Librarians, Heather Leary, Kacy Lundstrom, Pamela Martin

Library Faculty & Staff Publications

This work investigates using subject librarians to conduct copyright clearance in an institutional repository (IR). At Utah State University, the library assures copyright clearance for faculty scholarship, thereby garnering input of faculty scholarship into the IR. Currently, subject librarians are not widely participating in routine IR work; however, the involvement of subject librarians with the IR offers benefits to the subject librarians and the institution as a whole. This article provides a model for institutions needing new solutions for copyright clearance using subject librarians and discusses the rationale, benefits and challenges of adopting this model.

The Impact Of Deliberative Strategy Dissociates Erp Components Related To Conflict Processing Vs. Reinforcement Learning, Christopher M. Warren, Clay B. Holroyd

Psychology Faculty Publications

We applied the event-related brain potential (ERP) technique to investigate the involvement of two neuromodulatory systems in learning and decision making: The locus coeruleus–norepinephrine system (NE system) and the mesencephalic dopamine system (DA system). We have previously presented evidence that the N2, a negative deflection in the ERP elicited by task-relevant events that begins approximately 200 ms after onset of the eliciting stimulus and that is sensitive to low-probability events, is a manifestation of cortex-wide noradrenergic modulation recruited to facilitate the processing of unexpected stimuli. Further, we hold that the impact of DA reinforcement learning signals on the anterior cingulate …

Marginalia No. 31, Merrill-Cazier Library

Marginalia

The Next Chapter: Is the Book Extinct?

2011 Arrington Writing Award Winners

Book of Hours

Founder’s Day: 150 Years. “Democracy Enrolls at the College”

Common Literature Experience 2012: The Beast in the Garden

‘Forgotten Photographs of the Union Pacific Railroad’

Jack London Society coming to Logan

Spring: Library Academia

How Technology Changed Us, Lori Brassaw, Sherill Shaw, Denise Reid, Aimee Lauritsen

Library Faculty & Staff Presentations

No abstract provided.

Sustainability Beliefs Of First-Year Students In Natural Resources, Donald J. Orth, Kim Hodge Cowgill, Dean F. Stauffer, Eric P. Wiseman

Conference on University Education in Natural Resources

A crux of the environmental problem is change resistance and few college students possess the critical analysis and persuasive communication skills needed to engage in this dialogue. Furthermore, there is little appreciation among college students for the diversity of beliefs regarding sustainability issues. We surveyed students enrolled in a First-Year Experience class in Virginia Tech’s College of Natural Resources and Environment. We used the Dunlap and Van Liere New Environmental Paradigm (NEP) measurement scale to assess the individual student orientations toward nature and the environment. The students enrolled in this class had enrolled voluntarily based on their interest in the …

Site Planning Using Gis: University / Agency Service Learning Collaboration, Rob Porter

Conference on University Education in Natural Resources

This case study presentation outlines an ongoing partnership between Western Illinois University and the Army Corps of Engineers Mark Twain Lake (ACOE) that allows students to integrate classroom knowledge into field-based work. While attending a series of classes students receive appropriate natural resource management curriculum, practice GIS skills through labs, and engage in the planning and implementation of an actual facility. First, the students visit the area, engaging in a tour giving them an overview of the area. Second, they create an open space plan for a recreation area that is devoid of facilities or underutilized. GIS is utilized in …

How Service-Learning Can Support The Practice Of, And Education About, Collaborative Natural Resource Management, Kimberly J. Coleman

Conference on University Education in Natural Resources

Many researchers agree that contemporary natural resource management requires successful collaboration between diverse stakeholder groups. However, achieving successful collaboration can be challenging. So what makes stakeholder collaborations work and what models exist for educating the next generation of natural resource professionals about successful stakeholder collaboration? The Harwood Union Forest Project, a community-based forestry initiative in Vermont, provides such a model. By forming service-learning partnerships between a public high school and natural resources students at the University of Vermont, the Harwood Union Forest Project has successfully supported community-based forestry activities at the high school’s 180 acre forest, and educated both high …

Gis In Natural Resource Education: Where Are We Headed?, Joseph K. Berry

Conference on University Education in Natural Resources

Over the past three decades, GIS education in natural resources has evolved from a focus on automated cartography, to spatial database management, to geo-web applications. Within these contexts, curricula have emphasized the mechanics of descriptive mapping (“Where is What”) involving acquisition, storage, retrieval, query and display of spatial objects. However, the future of GIS education is moving from a “down the hall and to the right” specialist’s role for providing mapped data, to a broader and more active role of providing spatial information for natural resource research, policy, planning and management. The instructional emphasis is shifting from data–centric tools to …

Understanding Scholarly Communication – Tools To Help Graduate Students Publish, Susanne Clement

Conference on University Education in Natural Resources

Although graduate students are increasingly expected to publish before graduation, they are rarely offered formal education in the full range of the scholarly communication process in their discipline. They quickly learn how to do the research and to present their findings in a format suitable for submission to an academic peer-reviewed journal, but seldom do they (or their faculty advisors) understand the business of publishing and how that may affect their ability to get published. At Utah State University, the Department of Environment and Society (College of Natural Resources) started in 2010 requiring first-term graduate students to take a 2-credit …

Conducting Mountain Lion Research: A Citizen Science Project, Barbara Patterson, Don Hunter, Caroline Krunn

Conference on University Education in Natural Resources

Rocky Mountain Cat Conservancy, a Colorado-based conservation group dedicated to promoting wild cat conservation through research and community stewardship, seeks to mitigate human-mountain lion conflicts through an innovative community stewardship project that engages local students and volunteers in citizen science research. In addition to establishing a permanent, outdoor, wildlife-based curriculum at Front Range Community College - Larimer Campus, Communities, Cameras and Conservation establishes a connection to conservation through hands-on education where no such opportunity currently exists. It creates a new prospect for community members to engage in citizen science research and serve as conservation envoys by raising the level of …

Creating Environmental Leaders Through Service Learning: A Classroom Transition From Theory To Real World Application, Roslynn G. Brain, Robert H. Schmidt

Conference on University Education in Natural Resources

Incorporating service learning opportunities into classroom instruction has been well documented as a successful teaching strategy in the literature. For example, service learning has been linked to outcomes ranging from increased student self esteem to enhanced critical thinking skills. Service learning provides an opportunity for reflection and community engagement in addition to classroom teaching and learning. This approach ultimately fosters a sense of community responsibility and encourages lifelong community engagement. In other words, when students are involved in service learning, they develop life skills that will benefit them well into the future. This oral presentation will introduce 1) a redesigned …

Impact Of Extraordinary Experiences On Teachers Science Identity, Michael P. Marlow, Brad Mclain, Bruce Nash, David Krueger

Conference on University Education in Natural Resources

Experiential science learning is all about personal close encounters with the content, processes, and emotions of science. It is a philosophy that emphasizes learning from direct first-person experience and a holistic perspective that includes the self-construction of knowledge as well as emotions, attitudes and beliefs that combine to form a learner’s “science identity.” The Experiential Science Education Research Collaborative (XSci) at the University of Colorado Denver provides extraordinary experiences, internship and professional opportunities in collaboration with a large number of community, academic and government partners. Activities include local, regional and international field studies, internships, conference group presentations and science identity …

Undergraduate Experiential Learning Activity To Improve Communication Skills And Engage Public School Students In Forest Ecological Principles, John R. Seiler, Nick Fuhrman, Carolyn Copenheaver, John Peterson, Shannon Fowler

Conference on University Education in Natural Resources

Since 1988, Virginia Tech has had various programs in which undergraduate students visited public schools and presented natural resources-based information One of the more popular presentations involved teaching public school students how to identify and measure forest vegetation. In 2008, the Ambassadors for Conservation Education (ACE) Program was developed to enlist a larger, more diverse student body to participate in forestry and agriculturally-related undergraduate degree programs. In this program, undergraduates visited two parks and six high schools with forest nearby to collect forest ecological data with high school students. At each park and school we established a series of 0.02-ha …

Meeting Students Where They Are: Adapting Natural Resource Education To Emerging Digital Landscapes, Zachary D. Cole

Conference on University Education in Natural Resources

For students, connecting through text, email, chat, and social media has become an integral part of their daily lives. The near endless supply of digital media outlets and information sources has created a new landscape at the interface of the student-professor relationship; incorporating these emergent platforms into hybrid educational environments can enhance student engagement with course material while improving communication between and amongst classmates, including the instructor. This new hyper-connected reality, however, presents both challenges and opportunities in educating tomorrow’s natural resource leaders and professors must “meet students where they are” by communicating and teaching in relatable ways (i.e. through …

Environmental Attitudes And Intentions: The Effects Of An Environmentally-Focused Study Abroad Program, Craig Matisoff, Roger L. Moore, Annette Moore, Michael Tarrant

Conference on University Education in Natural Resources

No abstract provided.

Pre- And Post-Course Assessment To Assess – Agri-Nres 103 Introduction To Agricultural And Natural Resource Systems, Gary L. Bailey, James Brandle, John E. Quinn

Conference on University Education in Natural Resources

No abstract provided.

Joomla As A Tool For Hybrid Or Online Course Development, Jeremy P. Stovall

Conference on University Education in Natural Resources

Joomla is a freely available content management system that streamlines development of complex websites. It is well-suited to the development of hybrid educational environments where online resources augment traditional classroom learning. While requiring more time and effort than most online learning management systems (e.g. Blackboard), Joomla-developed content can be made easily accessible to those not enrolled at an institution and can be maintained on department or college servers where faculty members can have greater control over their course materials. A user-friendly graphical user interface allows easy creation and management of individual webpages, while numerous freely available plugins and extensions requiring …

Contrasting Student Values About General Education Vs. Major Courses: Differences Among Majors, Sexes And Standing, John D. Bailey, Susis Brubaker-Cole, Bill Bogley, Milo Korstsky

Conference on University Education in Natural Resources

No abstract provided.