Digital Commons Network^™

Hit Makers: Why Things Become Popular, Derek Thompson (Book Review), Kathleen Mccallister

W&M Libraries Publications

No abstract provided.

The Materiality Of Authority: Ornamental Objects And Negotiations Of Sovereignty In The Algonquian Middle Atlantic (A.D. 900 - 1680), Christopher Judd Shephard

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

This dissertation investigates the emergence, development, and transformation of centralized political authority within Algonquian societies of the Late Woodland and early Colonial period (A.D. 900 – 1680) southern Middle Atlantic. Sixteenth and 17th century European accounts describe coastal Algonquian-speaking societies of modern day Maryland, Virginia, and North Carolina as organized into multi-community polities structured by hierarchical political authority, centralized decision-making and pervasive inequality. However, the hallmarks typically associated with chiefly political organization—monumental architecture, settlement hierarchies, and widespread differentiation in mortuary symbolism—are almost non-existent in the region’s archaeological record. Colonial chroniclers, however, were adamant that the objects most highly valued by …

Algonquian Taskscapes And Changing Landscapes: Archaeobotanical Findings From Tidewater Virginia, Jessica Marie Herlich

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

The historical ecology of Tidewater Virginia from the Late Archaic to Early Colonial eras (ca. 1200 BC–AD 1600) indicates human-environmental dynamics that modified the landscape and simultaneously impacted the histories of Native groups in the region. I consider Algonquian Tidewater Virginia through the perspectives of historical ecology, taskscapes (a model of the landscape interweaving space, time, and human activities [Ingold 1993, 2000]), and gendered landscapes to explore the intersections of place, labor, and time. The Middle Woodland (ca. 500 BC-AD 800) is an important time period in my discussion. During this era, the region’s archaeology suggests shifts towards more sedentary …

Battle Royal: The Wars Of Lancaster And York, 1450-1464, Hugh Bicheno (Book Review), Kathleen Mccallister

W&M Libraries Publications

No abstract provided.

Neurometric Profiling Of Autism Spectrum Disorder Using The Brief Neurometric Battery: A Novel Eeg Based Task, Leigh Catherine Gayle

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

Autism spectrum disorder is a pervasive developmental disorder characterized by heterogeneous deficits in social communication and interaction, as well as repetitive behaviors and restricted interests. Due to the dramatic increase in prevalence, a major theme in contemporary research has been the identification of biomarkers for ASD that can shed light on etiological factors, facilitate diagnosis and serve as markers for tracking the efficacy of behavioral and pharmacological treatments. Electroencephalography (EEG) metrics, such as event-related potentials (ERPs), resting state oscillatory activity (OA), and resting state complexity (multiscale entropy), are well-suited for the measurement of such biomarkers. Due to the complexity and …

A Confluence Of Cultures: Complicating The Interpretation Of 17th Century Plantation Archaeology Using Data From Rich Neck Plantation, Thomas John Cuthbertson

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

Though there is no shortage of 17th century plantation sites in the Chesapeake archaeology enslaved African populations is incipient, but not yetflourishing. This may be a reflection of the result of those communities’ underrepresentation in the archaeological and documentary records from that time period. Detailed analysis of archaeological sites where Africans were present can reveal the material residues of their lives, even when this material culture is inundated by European materials. This thesis marshals archaeological, historiographic, and ethnohistorical data to use the excavations at the Rich Neck Plantation as a window into the diversity of the 17th century Atlantic world. …

“Sugary Mixed-Plate”: Landscape Of Power And Separation On 20th-Century Hawaiian Sugar Plantations, Joshua Timsing Maka'ala Gastilo

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

Archaeology in the Hawaiian Islands predominantly focuses on pre-contact and immediate post-contact contexts, while largely ignoring post-1870 phenomena. The scarcity of studies examining these settings points out the rich opportunities for investigating dynamics that influenced Hawaiian sugar plantation laborer perceptions of power, authority, and class relations on 20th century Hawaiian plantations. Part of the Hawaiian sugar planters’ strategy to dominate the political governance of Hawaiʻi and the social dynamics of the plantations was the establishment of racial hierarchies. Planters reinforced such hierarchies by promoting divisions and segregation and by establishing places of power in the form of managers’ and luna …

Slate Pencils?: Education Of Free And Enslaved African American Children At The Bray School, Williamsburg, Virginia, 1760-1774, Valerie Susan Scura Trovato

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

There is a dearth of literature on the archaeology of childhood. Historical archaeology, by its unique nature as a discipline, can use a combination of written documents, the archaeological record, and oral histories to interpret past lives. Historical documents and correspondence of the Associates of the Late Reverend Dr. Thomas Bray attest to the establishment of The Bray School, a school created for free and enslaved African American children in eighteenth-century Williamsburg, Virginia. Appointed schoolmistress Mrs. Ann Wager played a significant role in what the children were being taught. An abundance of slate pencil fragments found on the Bray School …

Investigating The Relationship Between Event-Related Potentials And Response Kinematics, Kenneth Juston Osborne

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

Movement is one of the most important functions of our nervous system. Recent research has shown that cognitive and perceptual functions ranging from our perception of others’ emotions to the planning of goal-directed behaviors depends critically on brain areas once thought to be primarily motor in nature. Given the important role our motor system plays in understanding and interacting with the world around us, it is surprising that the majority of cognitive neuroscience research using electroencephalogram (EEG) has focused primarily on perception and cognition irrespective of its relationship(s) to the execution of movement. One possible explanation for this is that …

The Teapots In The Tempest: Ceramics And Military Order At 18th Century Fort Stanwix, Elizabeth Scholz

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

Historically, there has been significant interest in examining pre-contact and historic sites of conflict. Recent studies in historic conflict archaeology have contributed to scholars’ understanding of military sites, specific battles, and sites of sieges and encampments. Archaeological excavations at the 18th century Fort Stanwix in Rome, New York have uncovered a rich assemblage that has facilitated the reconstruction of the fort; however, it is a careful analyses of the artifacts recovered during this process that can help scholars explore life at the fort. Integrating archaeological, historical, and documentary evidence, this paper analyzes the spatial and typological distribution of ceramics at …

Food, Brad Weiss

Arts & Sciences Book Chapters

The study of food is at once a classic theme in anthropological theorizing, as well as a burgeoning field in contemporary ethnography. Some of the earliest attempts to characterize culture, or identify the minimal, “elementary” features of social life, drew inspiration from a consideration of food prohibitions. In the 19th century, and again in the middle of the 20th century, the text of Leviticus provided fodder for a host of theories—historical, symbolic, and materialist—that attempted to account for the kosher food laws this text details. The study of these same prohibitions laid the foundation for a comparative anthropology to develop …

Ancient Worlds: A Global History Of Antiquity, Michael Scott (Book Review), Kathleen Mccallister

W&M Libraries Publications

No abstract provided.

Out Of The Ordinary: A Life Of Gender And Spiritual Transitions, Michael Dillon/Lobzang Jivaka (Book Review), Kathleen Mccallister

W&M Libraries Publications

No abstract provided.

Wasting Time On The Internet, Kenneth Goldsmith (Book Review), Kathleen Mccallister

W&M Libraries Publications

No abstract provided.

Does Federal Aid Drive College Tuition?, Robert B. Archibald, David H. Feldman

Arts & Sciences Articles

The “greedy colleges” thesis conflicts with how nonprofit universities decide on admissions and pricing.

Testing The Unconscious Effect Of Visual Context Illusions, Evan Douglas Jones

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

This study tested the effects of a visual context illusion when it was suppressed from the subjects conscious awareness. Using a mirror stereoscope and a particular form of binocular rivalry, subjects made estimations of size with and without awareness of the presence of the illusory elements. No differences were found, suggesting that effect of the illusion may require conscious awareness and perhaps is not a product of early visual processing. Keywords: Ebbinghaus, Consciousness, CFS, Illusion

The Classical World: The Foundations Of The West And The Enduring Legacy Of Antiquity, Nigel Spivey (Book Review), Kathleen Mccallister

W&M Libraries Publications

No abstract provided.

The Fate Of Gender: Nature, Nurture, And The Human Figure, Frank Browning (Book Review), Kathleen Mccallister

W&M Libraries Publications

No abstract provided.

Job Creation And Trade In Manufactures: Industry-Level Analysis Across Countries, Admasu Shiferaw, Degol Hailu

Arts & Sciences Articles

This paper examines industry-level responses of manufacturing employment in the context of globalization using a large sample of developed, developing, and transition economies. We find that developing countries need atypically high rates of value-added growth (about 10 %) to increase manufacturing employment appreciably (about 4 %). The employment benefits of export orientation are also modest even in “comparative advantage” industries of developing countries. However, diversifying the export basket contributes significantly to employment growth, particularly in the medium- and high-technology industries. Import competition does not undermine employment growth in low-technology industries of developing countries while it displaces jobs in the same …

Benjamin Franklin In London: The British Life Of America’S Founding Father, George Goodwin (Book Review), Kathleen Mccallister

W&M Libraries Publications

No abstract provided.

Federal Financial Aid Policy And College Behavior, Robert B. Archibald, David H. Feldman

Arts & Sciences Articles

This monograph by Robert B. Archibald and David H. Feldman finds little evidence that increases in federal financial aid drive up college tuition, and that institutions rarely rely on federal aid as a rationale to give out less of their own institutional aid.

The authors use the so-called Bennett Hypothesis as the launching pad for their analysis. First advanced by William Bennett, secretary of education in the Reagan administration, the theory suggests that the availability of federal student loans, particularly subsidized loans, provides “cover” for institutions to raise tuition because students can offset any price increase with these loans. However, …

Uniting Interests: The Economic Functions Of Marriage In America, 1750-1860, Lindsay Mitchell Keiter

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

This dissertation, "Uniting Interests: Money, Property, and Marriage in America, 1750-1860," examines how marriage was an essential economic transaction that responded to the development of capitalism in early America. Drawing on scholarship on the history of economic development, household organization, law, and gender, I argue that families actively distributed resources at marriage as part of larger wealth management strategies that were sensitive to regional and national economic growth. I focus particularly on women's property holding and how families deployed the legal protection of women's property as bulwarks against financial disaster. This project restores the family and women to the narrative …

Bayesian Mind: Making Sense Of Probability-Based Decision Making Strategies, Kunjoon Byun

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

Bayesian probability problems are notoriously difficult for people to solve accurately. Base rate neglect refers to the hypothesis that people ignore base rate information in preference for individuating information when making these probability judgments (Kahneman & Tversky, 1973). Correct answers to base rate neglect problems often require complex Bayesian calculations involving probability information embedded within realistic event descriptions. The past research emphasis on base rate neglect responses for such problems has overlooked the fact that responses can actually vary widely across participants and within participants from one problem to the next. The verbal protocol analyses of participants’ decision making processes …

Individual Differences In Social Cognitive Processes Between Neurotypical College Students High And Low In Autistic Traits, Catherine Irene Mitchell

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

The autism spectrum may extend into the general population, as previous work has suggested that there is a normal distribution of subclinical autistic traits among neurotypical individuals. Individuals with high levels of autistic traits display interpersonal challenges that are qualitatively similar to those exhibited by individuals diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). In ASD, social challenges may be mediated by differences in social cognition. The current study investigated to what extent social cognitive differences exist between individuals with high and low levels of subclinical autistic traits. Participants were 171 undergraduate students who scored high or low on the Autism Spectrum …

Longitudinal Links Among Adolescent Friend Emotion Socialization, Emotion Regulation, And Internalizing Symptoms: The Role Of Gender, Kara Braunstein

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

Emotion socialization is the process through which individuals learn acceptable forms of emotional expression within their particular social contexts. Although it is widely recognized that peers are a critical influence on adolescent development, most research on emotion socialization has examined parental influences on their children’s emotions (Zeman et al., 2013) with little attention paid to how friends socialize each other’s emotions. One form of emotion socialization occurs in the responses to emotional disclosures. Initial evidence indicates that specific friend emotion socialization responses to negative emotions are related to adolescents' own psychological functioning, concurrently and longitudinally (Klimes-Dougan et al., 2014). However, …

The Role Of Impulsivity In Dietary Restraint And Counter-Regulation, Wen Winnie Zhuang

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

Dietary restraint, or chronically controlling one's weight through diet, is a difficult pursuit. When faced with tempting foods, only a minority of restrained eaters manage to regulate their intake. Impulsivity, a multidimensional construct implicated in addictive behaviors, may be a factor that predicts regulation. The goals of the current study were twofold: firstly, we examined the effect of consuming a diet-violating preload on state impulsivity, and secondly, we examined how dietary restraint and changes in state impulsivity interact to influence subsequent overeating. In a laboratory study, female participants (n=146) with differing levels of dietary restraint provided measures of their state …

Investigating Fraudulent And Privacy Activities In Online Business., Haitao Xu

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

No abstract provided.

Young People's Response To The Response: The Impact Of Political Diversity And Media Framing On Discussions Of Combatant Tribunals, Jeremy Stoddard, Jason Chen

Articles

This article presents results of a study of the impact of political dynamics on group deliberations of issues presented in the short film The Response. We selected four groups of 18-22 year-old participants based on political views, engagement, and efficacy (liberal, conservative, and two mixed groups), and asked them to view and discuss issues presented in The Response related to the combatant status review tribunals held at Guantanamo Bay. We found the groups with mixed political views had higher quality discussions of the issues and a better understanding of the issues post-discussion – in particular the tension between national …

Relationships, Credit, And Value: Analyzing Money As A Social Institution In Late Eighteenth-Century Virginia, Amanda White Gibson

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

No abstract provided.

The Colonial Caribbean: Landscapes Of Power In Jamaica's Plantation System, Frederick H. Smith

Arts & Sciences Articles

Excerpt from publication: "This interesting book explores the landscape of a Jamaican coffee estate through an explicitly Marxist lens that emphasizes power, surveillance, settlement patterns, and the spatial manifestations of plantation social relations. Drawing on archaeological evidence, plantation records, GIS data, and colonial maps, James Delle shows how changing modes of production from the period of Spanish colonization, through plantation slavery and the postemancipation rise of peasantries, altered the Jamaican landscape..."