Digital Commons Network^™

Adverse Childhood Experiences, Discrimination, & Adulthood Health Outcomes: Impacts Of Protective And Compensatory Experiences In Childhood, Sallie A. Mack

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Adversity encompasses a wide range of stress-inducing experiences that are often prolonged and/or recurring in nature. Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) capture adversity experienced before the age of 18, including abuse, neglect, and general household dysfunction. ACEs are widely linked to physical and mental health outcomes across the lifespan. Racial/ethnic discrimination, a form of adversity that can occur across the lifespan, has also been linked to many negative health outcomes. Protective and compensatory experiences in childhood (PACEs) are a relatively newer conceptualization of early-life resiliency factors. Early life resiliency is linked to positive health outcomes later in life. Our studies investigated …

The Demographic Effect Of Minimum Wage: Evidence From San Francisco County, Poorya Mehrabinia

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

The minimum wage in San Francisco was increased from $6.75 to $8.5 per hour in November 2003. This was primarily aimed to improve low-income workers' well-being, especially racial and ethnic minorities. This paper conducts a difference-in-difference model using a synthetic control group for San Francisco, looking into a possible change in employees' demographic composition in the Accommodation & Food Services, and Manufacturing industries. The results indicate that the ratio of white employees increased significantly, suggesting that a labor-labor substitution happened in the following years of the minimum wage increase.

A Translational Examination Of Alternative-Response Discrimination Training And Resurgence, Kaitlyn O. Browning

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Individuals with neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism spectrum disorders often engage in severe forms of problem behavior. Reward-based behavioral interventions are highly effective at reducing levels of problem behavior and teaching more appropriate and adaptive alternative behaviors. Despite successful reduction in problem behavior during treatment, problem behaviors are susceptible to reoccurrence or relapse. Resurgence is a type of behavioral relapse that is particularly relevant to the treatment of problem behavior and may occur following the worsening of conditions of a more recently learned alternative behavior. That is, if the rewards that were used to teach the alternative behavior are removed …

Cultural And Contextual Influences On Mental Health, Stigma, And Substance Use Among Mena U.S. College Students, Molly Mechammil

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The aim of this dissertation was to investigate whether certain cultural and contextual factors influence Middle Eastern/North African (MENA) college students' mental health, alcohol/marijuana use, and experiences with mental health stigma and help seeking. Research with MENA college students is very limited, which leaves mental health providers with limited information on how to best support MENAs. MENAs report high rates of discrimination, and other research shows that many they may use religion as a way to cope with stressors such as discrimination. I examined whether religious coping might buffer the effects of discrimination on mental health outcomes. I also considered …

Experience Of Microaggressions: White Bystanders’ Physiological And Psychological Reactions, Alexandra K. Reveles

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The negative impacts of discriminatory events to the physiological and psychological stress of the recipient has been thoroughly documented. However, there is little to no evidence about the impacts to bystanders of these events, particularly White bystanders. Psychological impacts may emerge through academic achievement, which has implications for educational institutions and their diversity initiatives. This study examined the impact of witnessing discriminatory events on academic achievement, biological markers of distress, and emotional distress.

Academic achievement was negatively impacted for participants in the microaggression and blatant racism conditions when compared to a control condition. Study participants also experienced negative emotional impacts. …

A Look Into Lookism: An Evaluation Of Discrimination Based On Physical Attractiveness, Cherea Hammer

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

Discrimination in employment on the basis of race, sex, national origin, religion, and other federally protected categories is well recognized as a social problem and anti-discrimination legislation works to limit the impact of discrimination on marginalized populations. However, most people do not consider discrimination based on physical appearance. “Lookism” captures the idea that an individual can be discriminated against based on their physical appearance or physical attractiveness and can also be called physical attractiveness discrimination. In recent years, the prevalence of the issue of physical attractiveness discrimination has been brought to the attention of professionals dealing with employment and has …

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 …

Latin American Immigrants' Perceptions Of Discrimination And Acquisition Of English As A Second Language As A Result Of Using A Community Social Support Center, Holly Mcfarland

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The associations between Latin American immigrants' use of a community social support center and perceived discrimination and language acquisition were investigated. All variables were measured by respondents' self-reports on a questionnaire designed to obtain demographic data as well as describe the needs of the Latin American community in rural Northern Utah. Chi-square analyses indicated a statistically significant association between use of the center and acquisition of English as a second language. No relationship was found between use of the center and perceived discrimination. The results of this study provide valuable demographic data as well as describe some of the experiences …

Multiple-Stimulus Discrimination And Stimulus Overselectivity With Preschool Children, Maria C. Quintero

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Stimulus overselectivity is said to occur when behavior is under the control of a restricted set of stimuli from a stimulus complex. Three studies investigated the effects of specific multiple-stimulus training histories upon the overselective responding of normal preschool children.

In Experiment 1, eight children 3 to 5 years of age, were trained to discriminate forms presented on cards. Each form was labelled with a nonsense syllable, and each card (multiple stimulus) consisted of two forms. A time-delay training procedure was used. Four subjects were trained using Concurrent training in which two of the three S- response choices contained components …

Differential Effects Of Low-Frequency Filtering Of Speech On The Discriminatory Facility Of Sensorineural Hypacusis, David Jenkins

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

A long-standing controversy concerning the pros and cons of selective amplification for the sensorineural hypacusic has been and is now being waged. There exists clinical evidence to the effect that some cases with high -frequency sensorineural hearing loss can receive benefit through selective amplification.

The purpose of this study was to examine several aspects of the speech signal that could be affecting intelligibility when speech is presented at high -intensity levels.

An Evaluation Of The Small Business Investment Company Program, It's History And Development, With Emphasis On The Utah Sbic Industry, J. G. Dursteler

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Does the small business concern in this country have access to sufficient amounts of growth capital? For the past several years there has been much controversy concerning this question. Articles have been written both pro and con voicing opinions as to whether small businesses are being discriminated against in the acquisition of long-term loans to finance growth and business expansion. The majority of the written information on this subject appears to support the theory that too many small business firms are under-capitalized and the sources of long-term investment and growth funds are seriously limited to the small businessman. The Small …