Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

119— The Role Of Post-Encoding Retrieval On Cognitive And Neural Representations Of Spatial Environments, Brooke Demetri, Kaitlyn Bertleff, Harris Schwab, Jonathan Mccart, Jason Ozubko

GREAT Day Posters

Spatial memory is an important ability for navigating around one’s surrounding environment. However, due to the challenges of developing experimental paradigms that utilize large scale, real-world environments, little research has analyzed, in detail, the development of cognitive maps over time. Past research in rodents has shown that hippocampal place-cells replay during periods of quiet wakefulness, suggesting that mental replay of recent spatial experiences is tied to the development of cognitive maps. In humans, we hypothesize that the development of cognitive maps could therefore be manipulated by having participants selectively recall recent navigational experiences. We analyzed the development of cognitive maps …

Residential Segregation By Caste In The Indian States Of Gujarat And Karnataka, Alicia Terrero

Global Studies Student Scholarship

Major: Global Studies and Political Science

Faculty Mentor: Dr. Trina Vithayathil, Global Studies

This project looks at the Indian states of Gujarat and Karnataka and tries to identify why Gujarat has a higher degree of residential segregation than Karnataka. One factor that could explain this is the difference in level of solidarity at the subnational level for both states. Based on social expenditure data and inequality data, we find that Karnataka has higher levels of support for policies that further the collective good of the subnational (i.e. Kannada within Karnataka) community. This higher level of subnationalism and unity across social …

Ua94/6/1 My Story: Wku Softball's Morgan Mcelroy, Morgan Mcelroy

Student/Alumni Personal Papers

My Story is a series of first-person feature articles written by WKU student-athletes. The student-athletes will be telling their own stories in their own words. This article written by softball senior Morgan McElroy, whose career came to a sudden end last month between the team’s midweek game and weekend series in Texas.

Political Scandal And Party Identification, Michael Sekich

Honors Theses

How do voters react to political scandal, especially when a like-minded partisan is involved? We look to answer that question by utilizing the concept of self-monitoring. Before collecting the data, expectations were that high self-monitors would identify as an independent when exposed to the partisan political scandal. But, when presented with a non-partisan political scandal, high self-monitors would feel more comfortable identifying as their own partisanship. This study offers mixed results. We found that high self-monitors had the only meaningful differences, and low self-monitors did not display significant differences across the versions. The Republican scandal yielded the most meaningful response, …

Some Economic Implications Of The Covid-19 Pandemic In Nebraska, John C. Beghin

Cornhusker Economics

It is now clear that the spread, mortality and morbidity impacts of the coronavirus pandemic are sizeable but extremely heterogeneous across multiple dimensions. Geography shows that places with lower human con-centrations (urban/rural divide) and away from main travel axes, such as major interstate highways and in-ternational airports, have a lower incidence of cases. Large urban centers with high human concentrations have been much disproportionally affected and with much higher mortality rates. Age and health status are equally important. Mortality increases dramatically for people 60 years old and older. People with comorbidi-ties (cardiovascular, obesity, diabetes, and others) are much more likely …

137— Skulls Tell Tales: A Comparative Study Of Un-Provenienced Crania, Alice Lee

GREAT Day Posters

In this study I have conducted a detailed analysis of several crania that have yet to be provenienced in the skeletal collection of the Physical Anthropology Lab. While some of these skulls have previously been matched to the correct post-cranial skeleton most of them have not and as such all were studied alone separate from any other skeletal material. The skulls were then compared analytically with a focus on any commonalities of sex, ethnicity, and age which may be present along with what determinations could actually be made with the parts of each skull that were available as some were …

Human Trafficking In Native American Communities, Katja Thomalla

CHP 218 Exploring North American Indian Societies

Human trafficking and prostitution both are prevalent in Native American communities. In Minnesota women are being taken away from their reservations and forced into a life of prostitution. In delving into the human trafficking epidemic of Minnesota, the effects on the victims of these crimes are documented, discovering the women's likelihood developing PTSD and other physical or mental ailments, as well as the criminal justice system's poor response to these crimes.

Psychology 2e, Rose M. Spielman, William Jenkins, Marilyn Lovett

Open Access Textbooks

Psychology 2e is designed to meet scope and sequence requirements for the single-semester introduction to psychology course. The book offers a comprehensive treatment of core concepts, grounded in both classic studies and current and emerging research. The text also includes coverage of the DSM-5 in examinations of psychological disorders. Psychology incorporates discussions that reflect the diversity within the discipline, as well as the diversity of cultures and communities across the globe.

The second edition contains detailed updates to address comments and suggestions from users. Significant improvements and additions were made in the areas of research currency, diversity and representation, and …

Collegiate Dance Club Marketing Plan, Aubrie Malhoit

Honors Theses

The objective of this thesis is to develop a marketing plan to support the creation and implementation of a new dance club at Western Michigan University (WMU). A situational analysis was conducted that established that there are currently no dance-related opportunities on campus that offers a low time commitment and multiple styles of dance for all skill levels of dancers. Based on primary research, this marketing plan outlines a strategy for the inauguration of a dance club that encompasses what current dance-related activities at WMU are lacking and incorporates the features students are looking for in a new dance club. …

Nairobi Informal Settlements: Covid-19 Knowledge, Attitudes, Practices And Needs—Round 2, Population Council

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

To control the spread of coronavirus, the Kenyan Ministry of Health COVID-19 Taskforce has implemented initial prevention and mitigation measures. Of concern are the densely overcrowded, poor urban slums where sanitation and social distancing measures are near impossible. COVID-19 would spread rapidly and be devastating under these conditions. To inform the Taskforce strategy, the Population Council COVID-19 study team utilizes rapid phone-based surveys to collection information on knowledge, attitudes and practices among ~2,000 heads of household sampled from existing prospective cohort studies across five Nairobi urban slums. Iterations of the survey will be conducted every 1-2 weeks. Baseline findings on …

Helping Bereaved Students: The Effects Of Early Traumatic Loss And The Role Of School Personnel And Supportive Services, Sarah Moss, Breanna Couts, Etienne Hopkinson, Emily Jobson, Oliviah Rachael, Abigail Danzig, Gabriella Demelfi, Taylor Pyle

Psychology Presentations

In 1998, Felitti et al. conducted a ground-breaking study that showed how ACES, or adverse childhood experiences, can have major psychological and physical effects not only in the early years, but throughout the lifespan. This study focused primarily on 10 ACES (see chart). Our studies have been investigating whether grief and loss are also ACEs with similar consequences. If so, school personnel and other educators may be in a unique position to support bereaved students.

Teaching Copyright Law Through Participatory Involvement In An Unconference Setting, Amanda Mccormick, Stephanie A. Adams, Hope A. Dunbar, Sarah Mclean-Plunkett

Law Librarian Journal Articles

An “unconference” is an attempt by librarians and other professionals to work outside of the traditional conference model. Presenters are encouraged to break out of traditional modes of presentation and try new methods of engaging with the participants. We submitted an idea for a session focused on demystifying domestic and international copyright law and discussing how the law affects libraries and archives. Modern librarianship demands at least a basic understanding of copyright and intellectual property issues, and librarians have reported that they lack training and knowledge in this area. We determined that we did not want to present a formal …

298— Rural Economic Growth And Disease Intervention In Ghana; The Edward Pettinella '73 Endowed Ambassadorship In Business, Lucas Sutton

GREAT Day Posters

Schistosomiasis is a leading parasitic infection that debilitates many individuals in sub Saharan Africa. Because this parasitic infection involves a snail as an intermediate host, we use a native prawn species as a natural predator to decrease the population of this snail community. This study focuses on Tomefa, a primarily fishing peri-urban community located oi the outskirts of Accra, the capital city of Ghana. A survey was also given to the local community measuring economic characteristics. In the laboratory, Macrobrachium spp prawn exhibit preference of Bulinus snails over Biomphalaria snails while non-parasitic snails were consumed in higher proportion to parasitized …

130— Reducing Stereotypic Behavior With A Ketogenic Diet, Anna Beltramini, Andrew Guido, Alicia Bauers, Joe Spano

GREAT Day Posters

Now a popular fad diet, the ketogenic diet (KD) is a high-fat, low-carb diet that for decades has been used for treatment of intractable epilepsy. Recent therapeutic applications of KD in animal models include treatment of dementia, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and autism. These disorders are associated with stereotypic behaviors (repetitive, invariant behaviors with no apparent function) that are life-impairing and stigmatizing. However, little is known about their underlying mechanisms and no effective pharmacological treatments are available. Here, we present a novel application of KD to reduce stereotypic behavior in an inbred strain of mice (FVBN/J) that displays a prominent repetitive circling …

185— Influences Of Early Relationships In Latinx College Students, Carmen Martinez, Cassidy Jones-Goucher, Denis H. Mazariegos, Olivia R. Sanchez, Daniella Quiroz, Cinta Renaldi

GREAT Day Posters

This qualitative research aims to analyze and better understand how the quality of earlier relationship influences later relationships in emerging adulthood for Latinx college students. This phenomenological investigation analyzed focus group data to explore Latinx culture through thematic analysis. Results revealed that secondary themes such as cultural values, closeness, cultural expectations, and parental expectations on sibling relations are closely involved in influencing our primary theme, factors influencing identity, which seems to be salient in sibling relationships.

391— Mental Health Supports Readily Available For College Students, Heidi Granville

GREAT Day Posters

College students who struggle with mental illness need more resources and support services readily available to them while they are in school. This would help them succeed both as students and as maturing adults. Data collected from Penn State conclude that mental health issues are increasing as time goes on, more students are seeking counseling services, and more students have considered suicide. This data serves a purpose that the current public policy is not enough. Ultimately, when schools are ill-equipped to helping students who suffer from mental illnesses, those students cannot reach their maximum potential, and consequently, the suicide rate …

416— The Effects Of Early Life Trauma On Anxiety And Alcohol Use Is Modified By Environment, Katie Kompanijec, Keara Mullin, Gavin Vaughan, Melissa Herman, Allison Bechard

GREAT Day Posters

Early life trauma is a risk factor for later anxiety and alcohol use disorders. However, the role of the post-trauma environment on the development of such disorders is not well understood. In the present study we investigated experience-dependent changes in anxiety and alcohol use after exposure to early trauma. Young mice (day 23) were exposed to a predator odor (synthetic fox pheromone, TMT) and then reared in either standard (SE) or enriched environments (EE). Adolescent anxiety and conditioned fear were reduced in EE-males, but not EE-females. Adult mice were then tested for their preference to drink alcohol. Alcohol intake escalated …

219— Insuring America's Youth: Examining The Success Of Medicaid And Chip Coverage, James Mcglynn

GREAT Day Posters

Children make up 23% of the nation’s total population, but make up 32% of all persons in poverty. Given the overrepresentation of children among the US impoverished population, questions are raised on how best to provide much needed medical coverage to low income children. Currently, programs such as Medicaid and CHIP seek to provide low or no cost health coverage to children in low income households. However, the uninsured rate for children has risen from 4.9% to 5.5% in 2018. This is equivalent to about 425,000 children becoming uninsured. Do Medicaid and CHIP do enough to ensure that children in …

184— Mortality Rates Of Three Vaccine Preventable Diseases In Historic Rochester, Kayla Carlin

GREAT Day Posters

The purpose of this study is to explore and compare the mortality rates of diphtheria, pertussis, and pneumonia in Rochester, New York from the mid-19th Century until the mid-20th century. The hypothesis of the study is that the proportion of deaths from diphtheria, pertussis, and pneumonia decreased with the presence of preventative initiatives. Public health initiatives about each disease will be used to help explain the mortality trends. Mortality statistics were collected and analyzed using transcription data from Mount Hope Cemetery. While diphtheria rates generally decreased over time, pertussis and pneumonia rates did not change even with new immunization initiatives. …

097— Communication Barriers Beyond The Spoken Language: Senegalese Nonverbal Codes, Sophia Piazza

GREAT Day Posters

Through the ambassadorship program and the funds provided by the The Gérard Gouvernet Ambassadorship in French Language and Cultures I was able to take part in intercultural communication research, specifically studying Senegalese nonverbal communication codes - facial expressions, eye contact, touching, tone of voice, dress, posture, and spatial distance between people - and how differences in these patterns can hinder effective communication between diverse cultures. With the scholarship I lived in Dakar, Senegal for one month in Summer of 2019. While in Senegal, I was able to travel around the country recording observations and conduct research with an interpretive approach, …

287— The Question For The Modernization Theory, Fumi Ogura

GREAT Day Posters

In general, democratic countries have higher economic growth than non-democratic countries. The primary reason for this theory is that democracy and capitalism are mostly the two sides of the same coin. Thus, democratic countries can promote economic growth easier than authoritarian regimes. Most developed countries adopt to democracy while there are a lot of developing countries which do not have democratic political institution and adopt authoritarian regimes. For example, most countries in Middle East do not adopt democracy and overall GDP is not as high as developed countries like the US and European countries. However, some Middle Eastern countries that …

159— The Effects Of Trauma On The Response To Cocaine, Gavin Vaughan, Melissa Herman, Katie Kompanijec, Maren Hogan, Annaclaire Modico, Keara Mullin, Allison R. Bechard Ph.D.

GREAT Day Posters

Exposure to adverse events is a risk factor for substance use disorder. We modeled this in an inbred strain of mice by exposing adult males to a predator odor (a synthetic fox pheromone, TMT) and then assessing 1. Cocaine-induced locomotion, and 2. Conditioned place preference (CPP) of cocaine. TMT was an effective stressor as indicated by freezing behavior, an absence of movement that is an instinctive fear response in mice. Interestingly, in a 1-hour baseline locomotor test, TMT-exposed (TMT+) mice were more active than non-exposed (TMT-) mice. In addition, following a cocaine (10 mg/kg) injection (i.p.) TMT+ mice showed a …

Low And Negative Foreign Interest Rates: Their Impact On The Level Of Foreign Holdings Of U.S. Treasury Bills, Christopher Arnold

Economics Student Scholarship

Major: Business Economics
Minor: Finance and Spanish

Faculty Mentor: Dr. Fang Dong and Dr. Leo Kahane, Economics

Largely motivated by the recent yield curve inversion, the paper examines the effect of a negative interest rate environment abroad on foreign countries holdings of U.S. Treasuries. The study uses a panel dataset covering 95 developed countries over 16 years, including economic and financial composition variables, as well as push and pull factors that impact capital flows. The study uses Poisson regression as its estimation method and ultimately finds that countries facing a negative real interest rate are expected to hold 24% more …

The North-South Policy Divide In Transnational Healthcare: A Comparative Review Of Policy Research On Medical Tourism In Source And Destination Countries., Altaf Virani, Adam Wellstead, Michael Howlett

Michigan Tech Publications

Medical tourism occupies different spaces within national policy frameworks depending on which side of the transnational paradigm countries belong to, and how they seek to leverage it towards their developmental goals. This article draws attention to this policy divide in transnational healthcare through a comparative bibliometric review of policy research on medical tourism in select source (Canada, United States and United Kingdom) and destination countries (Mexico, India, Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore), using a systematic search of the Web of Science (WoS) database and review of grey literature. We assess cross-national differences in policy and policy research on medical tourism against …

Undergraduates’ Interparental Conflict Mediation Based On Conflict Valence, Intensity, And Resolution, Angelina M. Decapua, Samantha R. Leavey, Brooke D. Vitulli, Elise W. Rogers

Psychology Student Scholarship

Angelina M. DeCapua ’20
Major: Psychology and Mathematics

Samantha R. Leavey ’22
Major: Psychology

Brooke D. Vitulli ’22
Major: Psychology Elise W. Rogers ’20 Major: Psychology

Faculty Mentor: Kelly A. Warmuth, Psychology

Undergraduates may be more likely to mediate interparental conflict when perceived as destructive, rather than constructive. Participants were 161 undergraduates who listened to six audio clips of disagreements and reported their perceptions as if those disagreements occurred in their families. Key findings suggest that undergraduates were more likely to mediate conflicts as perceived intensity and negativity increased, but not as resolution decreased. These findings emphasize the effects of …

Youth Homelessness And Rapid Re-Housing Programs In Rhode Island, Laura Fusco

Public & Community Service Student Scholarship

Major: Public and Community Service

Faculty Mentor: Dr. Keith Morton, Public and Community Service

The purpose of this research was to study the effectiveness of Rapid Re-Housing programs in Rhode Island for youth 18-24. There is currently no published research that addresses the satisfaction or effectiveness of Rapid Re-Housing from the perspectives of the youth that are using the services. Additionally, youth are not included in conversations about the creation of these programs. Therefore, the purpose of this research was to shed light on youth’s experiences and dive into their evaluations and suggestions for the future of Rapid Re-Housing. I …

The Rise Of Left-Wing Populism In Europe: A Comparative Study, Daniel Iturri Calvo

Global Tides

The aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis left Europe in a state of shock, out of which political transitions occurred across the country. One of these transitions was the rise of left-wing populist parties. Their rise was most successful in Southern Europe, particularly in Spain and Greece. In these two countries, left-wing populist parties gained power swiftly and eventually began governing their respective governments. This essay compares the rise of Podemos in Spain and SYRIZA in Greece by looking at the main reasons for their mass popularity. The comparison reveals that the 2008 crisis was at the core of the …

The Nuances Of Capital Controls In Economic Development: Argentina And Chile, Reagan A. Shane

Global Tides

In this paper, I analyze the ways that capital controls affect growth and economic development in developing countries and emerging market economies and use the historical evidence of Chile and Argentina to demonstrate how countries may experience the effects of capital controls in different proportions. I then review additional academic literature and historical evidence in Chile and Argentina to determine what factors seem to determine the success or failure of capital control strategies. I find two influential factors in the determination of whether implementation of capital controls helps or hurts economic growth and development. The first is whether capital controls …

Volume 12, Haleigh James, Hannah Meyls, Hope Irvin, Megan E. Hlavaty, Samara L. Gall, Austin J. Funk, Karyn Keane, Sarah Ghali, Antonio Harvey, Andrew Jones, Rachel Hazelwood, Madison Schmitz, Marija Venta, Haley Tebo, Jeremiah Gilmer, Bridget Dunn, Benjamin Sullivan, Mckenzie Johnson

Incite: The Journal of Undergraduate Scholarship

Introduction, Dr. Roger A. Byrne, Dean

From the Editor, Dr. Larissa "Kat" Tracy

From the Designers, Rachel English, Rachel Hanson

Immortality in the Mortal World: Otherworldly Intervention in "Lanval" and "The Wife of Bath's Tale" by Haleigh James

Analysis of Phenolic Compounds in Moroccan Olive Oils by HPLC by Hannah Meyls

Art by Hope Irvin

The Effects of Cell Phone Use on Gameplay Enjoyment and Frustration by Megan E. Hlavaty, Samara L. Gall, and Austin J. Funk

Care, No Matter What: Planned Parenthood's Use of Organizational Rhetoric to Expand its Reputation by Karyn Keane

Analysis of Petroleum Products for …

375— Forgetting Memories: How Meaning Influences Memory Decline In The Hippocampus, Brendan Hines, Sophia Phillips

GREAT Day Posters

Cognitive neuroscience research suggests that forgetting may depend on which brain areas are supporting a memory, and whether the memory is for meaningful or less meaningful content. The hippocampus is known to represent more vivid recollections of the past, and hippocampal memories appear to decay at the same rate regardless of meaning. In contrast, the medial temporal lobe represents more intuitive feelings of familiarity, and is better at retaining memories for meaningful experiences over time. We sought to test the impact of interference on hippocampal and non-hippocampal memories. We had participants study and recognize a list of random words in …