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Need-Based Heroism : The Motivation To Assign Heroic Status To Others, Torrie Williams Apr 2013

Need-Based Heroism : The Motivation To Assign Heroic Status To Others, Torrie Williams

Honors Theses

This study was looking to determine whether people are more likely to look for heroic qualities in others in an emergency situation where a hero is needed, compared to a situation where nothing is wrong. This study also sought to find whether strangers in non-emergency situations will be seen as more villainous and more threatening than strangers in emergency situations. The hypotheses were supported. Participants found an ambiguous stranger to be more heroic in an emergency scenario, compared to a nonemergency. Additionally, in the situation where no hero was needed, the participants found an ambiguous stranger more threatening than in …


The Effect Of Oral Contraceptives On Performance In Sexually Dimorphic Cognitive Tasks, Kathryn Sears Apr 2013

The Effect Of Oral Contraceptives On Performance In Sexually Dimorphic Cognitive Tasks, Kathryn Sears

Honors Theses

The goal of the current study was to further extend limited research assessing the effects of sex, menstrual phase, and oral contraceptive use on sexually dimorphic cognitive tasks, as well as emotional regulation. Studies have found that menstrual cycle phases have cognitive and physiological effects on women’s brains depending on the concentration of female sex hormones, progesterone and estrogen (Epting & Overman, 1998). Oral Contraceptive pills (OC) contain a concentration of these female sex hormones that have been shown to alter gray matter volume to resemble men’s brains in areas associated with learning, memory, spatial navigation, and emotional regulation (Pletzer …


Effect Of Behavioral Intervention Training On Parents' Stress, Parenting Behaviors And Self-Efficacy, Emily Schworer Apr 2013

Effect Of Behavioral Intervention Training On Parents' Stress, Parenting Behaviors And Self-Efficacy, Emily Schworer

Honors Theses

For children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs), early intervention is incredibly important. In order for a behavioral intervention to be fully effective, it needs to be followed at all times of the day, not just during school hours. Because of this, a key factor during intervention is the involvement of parents of the child with the disorder. Parents/caregivers of children with Autism Spectrum Disorders participating in behavioral interventions at the Faison School for Autism were surveyed in order to find out more about strategies used when implementing a child’s behavioral plan at home, and also their overall understanding of the …


Differential Diagnosis Of Adhd And Bipolar Disorder : An Analogue Study, Sarah Yurinich Apr 2013

Differential Diagnosis Of Adhd And Bipolar Disorder : An Analogue Study, Sarah Yurinich

Honors Theses

Bipolar disorder (BD) and attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) share an overlapping number of symptoms. These shared symptoms may result in the misdiagnosis or over diagnosis of these two disorders. The purpose of this study was to look at the diagnostic practices of clinicians and clinicians-in-training to see what diagnosis they would give to a hypothetical patient who presents with ambiguously ADHD and bipolar disorder symptoms. Clinicians and clinicians-in-training (N = 40) read two vignettes, one child and one adult, where the patient presented with both ADHD and BD overlapping symptoms, and then were asked to provide one primary DSM-IV diagnosis, …


A Comparison Of Mindfulness And Incremental Theory Based Interventions, Kelsey Greenfield Apr 2013

A Comparison Of Mindfulness And Incremental Theory Based Interventions, Kelsey Greenfield

Honors Theses

In only a span of 20 years, the prevalence of obesity has dramatically increased in the United States. Thirty five percent of adults and seventeen percent of children are obese. Every state has an obesity prevalence of over twenty percent (CDC, 2013). The Center for Disease Control and Prevention defines obesity as having a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or greater. A person's weight and height are used to calculate BMI, which indicates level of body fatness that may lead to health problems (CDC, 2013). From the economy to healthcare, this weight trend has turned into a phenomenon that …


The Embodied Cognition Of Resilience, Kelsey Mahler Apr 2013

The Embodied Cognition Of Resilience, Kelsey Mahler

Honors Theses

First impressions can impact our opinions and behaviors towards another person. The act of priming, though, can work to alter a person’s perceptions, and subsequent behaviors. Embodiment, the idea that the body is closely tied to the processing of social and emotional information, can result from priming. The current research seeks to answer several questions related to the importance of first impressions, judgments of sympathy and resilience, deep role categorizations, and the power of priming to prompt the embodied cognition of resilience. The results of the current research partially support the initial hypotheses that—when presented with information about a target …


Generalization Of Expert Face Processing Takes Time, Karen Duan Apr 2013

Generalization Of Expert Face Processing Takes Time, Karen Duan

Honors Theses

Same race faces are recognized better than other race faces, and this other-race effect (ORE) can be explained by reduced holistic processing of other-race faces. Holistic processing is defined as a tendency to process all parts of a stimulus interactively as a whole. Previous studies found that experience can mediate ORE in holistic processing. The present study investigated whether quality or quantity of experience with the other-race better predicts holistic processing of other-race faces between Caucasian and Asian individuals. Contrary to what we expected, we did not find any correlation between experience with the other-race and the ORE in holistic …


The Influence Of Word Problem Structures On Algebraic Expression Construction, Taylyn Hulse Apr 2013

The Influence Of Word Problem Structures On Algebraic Expression Construction, Taylyn Hulse

Honors Theses

Certain learning domains come naturally to humans. Evidence supports that core knowledge systems of objects, number, action and space are innate for infants (Spelke, 2007). These core domains remain throughout development and they also give rise to more complex cognitive skills (Spelke, 2000). As we develop, we form new concepts that transcend the core learning domains (Carey, 2009). These new concepts, unlike core knowledge, are not innate and are learned under social and cultural pressures (Carey, 2009). This means that there is a transition from practicing core knowledge that is learned naturally and higher-functioning cognitive skills that must be specifically …


From Mind To Machine : Parity Affects In The Attentional Set-Shifting Task In Animal And Machine Models, Katie Coren Freeman Jan 2013

From Mind To Machine : Parity Affects In The Attentional Set-Shifting Task In Animal And Machine Models, Katie Coren Freeman

Honors Theses

As a dual behavioral and computational neuroscience research project, this study first tested reproductive effects on attention, learning, and decision making using the Attentional Set-Shifting Task (AS-ST) and then a Machine Learning model was constructed to simulate perceptual judgments and decision making through reinforced learning. In the behavioral task, response times and errors from 5 primiparous (one-time mothers) and 4 nulliparous (never pregnant) Sprague-Dawley rats were recorded during four increasingly complex attention modulation and paired associative learning tasks. The Machine Learning model reconstructed each task's decision problems through representation of internal and external conditions, valuation, action, and outcome evaluation to …