Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

S.A.D. Survival Kit: A Podcast On Seasonal Affective Disorder, Kate Lincoln

WWU Honors College Senior Projects

This document explores seasonal affective disorder through the lens of the accompanying mini podcast series S.A.D. Survival Kit. Over the course of five episode transcripts, the audience will gain a better understanding of seasonal affective disorder and its associated interrelations with the surrounding environment and any individual’s internal physical and mental health. The podcast is available on Spotify and SoundCloud. (Links are on page 1.) Seasonal affective disorder is a form of seasonal depression marked by a significant change in one’s behavior or thinking patterns when seasons shift. Episode 1 explains the basics of S.A.D. and concludes that many people …

A Closer Look At Interrogation Strategies: Confabulation, False Memories, And False Confessions Due To Interrogator Pressure And Information Exposure, Annika Fiala

WWU Honors College Senior Projects

This literature review seeks to explore how interrogation strategies, such as compliance pressure and provision of information, can result in subject confabulation, false memories, and false confessions. These effects reduce the reliability of subject statements, and overall reliability of the criminal justice system. Additionally, differences in subject cognitive ability can make some more susceptible to interrogation methods. These factors must be accounted for when conducting interrogation procedures in order to mitigate their effects and prioritize the reliability of information relied on by the criminal justice system.

Confronting Ptsd In The Aftermath Of Abuse, Ayla A. Bilyeu

WWU Honors College Senior Projects

This narrative follows a young woman through seven clinical sessions with a psychiatrist as she confronts her diagnosis of PTSD following abuse sustained in a romantic relationship.

Difference In Parental Reactions When Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, And Gender-Diverse Individuals Come Out, Hannah Dahlke

WWU Graduate School Collection

In general, attitudes towards the LGBTQ+ community have been becoming increasingly more favorable in the United States in the past two decades (Rosenfeld, 2017). However, in recent years there has been some pushback, particularly regarding transgender and gender-diverse (TGD) identities, as opposed to lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) identities. Growing transphobia is evident, especially in the political realm, as several anti-TGD bills are being introduced that limit access to bathrooms, sports, and gender-affirming care (Freedom For All Americans, 2022). As the difference in acceptance between LGB and TGD people is becoming more evident on a large scale, it raises the …

Development, Line By Line: An Introspective Case Study On Narrative Identity And Development Through Poetry, Milla Miller

WWU Honors College Senior Projects

Situated at the intersection of creative writing and psychology, this project analyzes the author’s adolescent poetry alongside her current work to explore psychosocial and narrative identity development. Specifically, the work contrasts poems written about developmental stages in process with those written in reflection of previous stages in order to reveal how the understanding of self evolves. In addition to the complexities revealed by these temporal differences, structural elements unique to the poems provide further levels of understanding: choice of form and figurative dexterity show cognitive and narrative advancement; themes reveal psychosocial conflicts; and repetition across a poetic lifespan identifies the …

Social Impact Of Covid-19 In India And Among Asian Indians In The United States, Rajeswari Venkatesh

WWU Honors College Senior Projects

This article is a culmination of the social challenges faced and the solutions found by people in India during the COVID-19 pandemic. The problems faced during the pandemic are still getting unraveled, even after three years. This paper examines the social challenges, such as mental health awareness, including suicide and physical health issues, the effects of loneliness and the reason for the loneliness felt during the pandemic, and the solutions created, such as the usage of technology and religion in positive and negative ways to reduce mental health issues faced during the pandemic. Additionally, this article includes two studies. The …

Inversed Research: A Study About How Psychology Research Impacts Researchers Themselves, Ayanna Stewart

WWU Honors College Senior Projects

This paper focuses on how research impacts the people who are conducting the research. There is literature surrounding how a researcher's biases impact their results, but how are researchers impacted personally by the scientific method of collecting data? This paper weaves together Western and feminist scientific methods in order to understand what happens to a researcher when they conduct research.

This study interviewed four research assistants who were part of the Eating and Body Image lab at Western Washington University. Using their responses to questions, an analysis of the impacts of research and subjectivity was conducted. Results showed that participants …

Developing The *Ucker Carlson Effect: Creating Space For Collective, Personal, And Professional Work In Cognitive Psychology, Zoe Gadbow

WWU Honors College Senior Projects

The media, i.e. Tucker Carlson, often asks leading questions that guide audiences to generate implied answers. This can suggest misleading answers and guide people to construct disinformation. This strategy/format utilizes the generation effect (Slamecka & Graf, 1978), which states that when people generate information, they remember it. The Applied Cognitive Psychology (ACOG) lab is interested in whether this will contribute to an illusory truth effect (Hasher et al., 1977), which states that repetition of a statement increases belief in the statement. In order to investigate this phenomenon and reflect on the process itself this project contained two components: (1) para-professional …

Cannabidiol Administered Via Vapor Inhalation Restores Social Interaction Deficits In A Mouse Model Of Social Anxiety, Brennen Risch

WWU Graduate School Collection

Cannabidiol (CBD), the main non-intoxicating component of the plant cannabis, has shown various promising therapeutic effects in treatment of anxiety and depression in both humans and animals. One potential beneficial effect of CBD is restoration of social interaction deficits following chronic stress. Here I investigate the potential for CBD to be used as a treatment in animal models of Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD), as well as potential mechanisms of action by which CBD may produce these effects. Mice exposed to 10 days of chronic social-defeat stress were administered vaporized CBD in a single 30 minute session before being tested behaviorally. …

Strengthening Mindfulness And Social Support As Psychosocial Skills; Improving First-Year Student’S Adjustment Into College, Raumilya Smith

WWU Graduate School Collection

Extensive research exists regarding the challenges and risk of negative outcomes first-year students face while transitioning into college. Given that psychosocial factors predict adaptive coping and adjustment in the presence of transition stressors, this study examined the efficacy of mindfulness and social support trainings in fostering psychosocial skills and adjustment among college freshmen. Fifty Western Washington University first-year students (75.7% white, 13.5% Hispanic or Latinx, 12.2% Asian, 4.1% Black, 1.4% Native American or Alaska Native, and 9.5% multiracial) participated. Students were randomly assigned to one of the two trainings and were measured pre- and post- training on psychosocial skills (mindfulness, …

How Etiology And Diagnostic Label Are Stigmatized: The Impacts Of Childhood Trauma And “Sluggish Cognitive Tempo” On Recovery Optimism And Blame, Aubrie Patterson

WWU Graduate School Collection

Complex childhood trauma survivors often have global functioning and psychosocial issues and may be diagnosed with multiple disorders, a reality which can preclude trauma-informed treatment and lead to additional stigma. The disorder labeled “sluggish cognitive tempo” (SCT) is strongly correlated with childhood trauma and the symptoms match commonly resulting dissociative patterns. However, those with SCT may face label-based stigma that could limit opportunities for trauma-informed care. Also, they may face stigma that they are unable to recover if their disorder is stigmatized in a similar way to many mental illnesses. In a 3x3 vignette-based study featuring a story of a …

Moral Injury In Survivors Of Domestic Violence, Camille A. Fogel

WWU Graduate School Collection

Many survivors of domestic violence experience persistent but invisible psychological wounds that cannot be photographed for evidentiary purposes. Coercive control refers to the network of subtle, structural, and culturally sanctioned tactics that subjugate victims and cause them existential and identity-based harm. In this paper I propose that moral injury, a trauma construct not yet applied to this context, provides an important and nuanced framework for understanding the impact of coercive control and the invisible aftermath of partner abuse. In a cross-sectional survey-based study (N = 292), I tested a novel path analysis in which physical violence and coercive control differentially …

Real Men Go Green: Environmentalism, Threatened Masculinity, And Identity Recovery, Gabrielle H. Wilson

WWU Graduate School Collection

Masculinity is a precarious and highly valued social identity. Threatening masculinity leads to a range of compensatory responses to recover manhood, which may also impact men’s engagement in sustainable behaviors. Men might embrace or avoid pro-environmentalism when a masculine or feminine gender identity is signaled. The current research applied processes of gender socialization and identity maintenance to the context of environmentalism across two studies. Overall findings showed that masculinity threats can have varied consequences in sustainable contexts, moderated by men’s level of identification with their gender. Study 1 (N = 208) examined if pro-environmental behaviors acted as a threat …

Christians And The Irreligious: What Is Associated With Religious Bias Between Groups?, Lucas Wall

WWU Honors College Senior Projects

With the tremendous rise in the prevalence of atheism and agnosticism in the U.S. in the past several years, it becomes more important than ever to assess intergroup relations between the Christian majority and the rapidly increasing atheist and agnostic minority. This study assesses personal factors that correlate with various levels of participant desire to affiliate with Christians (Progressive Protestants, Conservative Protestants, and Catholics) and the unaffiliated (atheists and agnostics) within a convenience sample. Participant factors studied included political conservatism, agreeableness, openness, social dominance orientation, and religious commitment. While low desire to affiliate is a poor representative of all forms …

Improving Student Outcomes In Introductory Formal Logic, Bryce Rosenwald

WWU Honors College Senior Projects

Across a variety of educational settings, undergraduate introductory courses in formal logic tend to have high failure rates. In this paper, I explore practical, evidence-based steps that logic instructors can take to improve student outcomes. The topics covered are small class sizes, problem-based learning, clicker questions, group activities, and spaced practice. The effect of small class size is moderated by many variables, including each instructor’s unique characteristics and the pedagogical techniques used in large vs. small classrooms. Problem-based learning and clicker questions are determined to be excellent techniques for introducing content and furthering understanding of content, respectively. Small groups can …

Dungeons And Disorders: Destigmatizing The Mental Health Conversation, Wren Hart

WWU Honors College Senior Projects

Games, especially tabletop role-play games, have often been used by individuals to explore parts of their identities or concepts that are bigger than they are. Dungeons and Disorders is an adventure module detailing the quest of heroes destined to save a land plagued by debilitating problems. Dungeons and Disorders combines this tendency with psychological information on mental health disorders, in order to begin destigmatizing the mental health conversation. Players of this module will get to explore dungeons based on mental health disorders, starting with obsessive compulsive disorder and culminating with depression. The final boss of Dungeons and Disorders is an …

Cannabigerol Causes A Cb1 Receptor-Dependent Reduction In Food Consumption And Weight Gain, Jack Jones, Josh Kaplan

WWU Honors College Senior Projects

Slides describing work leading up to a professional scientific poster, created and presented at psych fest depicting my last two years of work in Dr. Kaplan's BNS lab. I included a reflection paper discussing my time at Western.

Pursuing Faith In Good Science: A Neuroscience Student's Argument For Including Science In Spirituality, Savannah A. Hastings

WWU Honors College Senior Projects

Everyone can enhance their sense of spirituality by embracing science. This point is argued by referencing the science of emotions, consciousness, and perceptual learning, as well as the correlation between a strong a sense of meaning and physical health. The way that the brain produces our experience of being human is particularly emphasized. We have electrochemical brains that can do good in the world.

Advancing Technology & Digital Lifestyles: Facilitating A Group Independent Study, Kailey Droz

WWU Honors College Senior Projects

For my senior capstone project, I facilitated a group independent study (ISP) through Fairhaven College of Interdisciplinary Studies at Western Washington University called Advancing Technology and Digital Lifestyles. A small group of students and I critically and creatively analyzed our relationship with technology, and its impacts on the individual, interpersonal relationships, culture, and society. Prior to facilitating, I did research within the fields of cyberpsychology, social psychology, communication studies, and media studies. I am sharing my syllabus and facilitation notes, my final project (two short stories), an annotated bibliography, and a reflection on the group ISP and my process.

Here …

Holocaust Distortion And The Covid-19 Pandemic, Lyric Crane

WWU Honors College Senior Projects

This project explores the use of Holocaust distortion in the COVID-19 pandemic. It seeks to understand how Holocaust distortion has been used in the pandemic. It also aims to understand how the use of distorted information has contributed to current trends in global antisemitism. In order to answer these questions, this project compares accurate information about the Holocaust with the distorted information seen in protests around the world. It also examines current trends in antisemitism and explores links found between them. The findings of this project are significant because they help grant understanding about how Holocaust distortion can directly contribute …

Disrupting Social Order: Proposed Mechanisms To Altering Societal Perceptions On The Outcomes Of Trauma In Veterans Diagnosed With Ptsd, Clairiz Nel

WWU Honors College Senior Projects

The lives of individuals are affected by the narrative created by the majority. This societal narrative is oftentimes distorted, reflecting the attitudes showcased in the media, resulting in the alienation of certain populations. Veterans diagnosed with Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is one such group and the focus of this activist essay. Despite the grievous sacrifices made in the name of honor, freedom, and national security, American veterans continue to wage a war closer to home as they struggle to reintegrate into society. The portrayal of war experiences in traditional media (i.e. News networks) and productions media (i.e. cinema) propagates stigmatization …

The Effect Of Economic Scarcity On Racial Perceptions, Michael Brooks

WWU Graduate School Collection

During economic downturns, socioeconomic and health disparities between Whites and BIPOC tend to widen, and negative attitudes towards BIPOC increase - a pattern most recently seen during the COVID-19 pandemic. While structural inequalities likely contribute to these effects, contemporary work suggests that conditions of scarcity can influence racial perception and categorization, leading to discrimination. Indeed, White individuals are biased to categorize racially ambiguous individuals as Black, more often than White, in times of economic scarcity, which is then linked to discriminatory behavior toward those individuals. However, it remains unclear if this phenomenon persists when categorizing members from two racial outgroups. …

“Say Her Name”: The Influence Of Victim Race, Demeanor, Severity Of Force, And Individual Difference Factors On Perceptions Of Excessive Force Against A Woman, Brooklynn Smith

WWU Graduate School Collection

The Black Lives Matter movement has increased public awareness concerning discriminatory experiences Black people may experience in interactions with police in the United States. Despite this renewed public consciousness, there is a lacuna of empirical research investigating Black women’s unique experiences of prejudice and how public perceptions shape them. Research is needed to understand factors that influence perceptions of women who experience discriminatory treatment by police and barriers that may hinder social change. The current study investigated how a woman’s racial identity (Black, White), demeanor (i.e., attitude directed towards the officer; respectful, confrontational), and the severity of the force used …

No, I Don’T Think It Was Rape: The Relationship Between Rape Acknowledgment Status And Perceptions Of Sexual Violence, Paige K. Michel

WWU Graduate School Collection

Among college students who experience rape, on average, 60% are unacknowledged rape victims, meaning they do not label their sexual violence experiences as rape. Perhaps this is due to unacknowledged rape victims internalizing mainstream cultural values that normalize and stigmatize experiences of sexual violence. This survey and vignette-based study investigated the relationship between rape acknowledgment status, labels, and perceptions of rape. Female-identifying college students (N = 214) with a history of rape reported perceptions and labels of their experiences of rape and a vignette depicting rape. It was hypothesized that unacknowledged rape victims would be more likely to acknowledge their …

Activation Of Meta-Stereotypes And Prejudice: The Moderating Role Of Self-Compassion During Perspective-Taking, Haley Bock

WWU Graduate School Collection

Although perspective-taking has been used to reduce negative attitudes toward social outgroups (see Todd & Galinsky, 2014), there are contexts where perspective-taking may backfire. When perceivers expect to interact with the outgroup target they imagine the perspective of, they have been shown to have an increase in meta-perceptual concerns, meta-stereotypes, which can draw perceivers away from imagining the perspective of the target and toward concerns for how they are being perceived. The current study (N = 193) examined whether different kinds of perspective-taking (imagine-self, imagine-other) influenced attitudes towards marginalized groups and whether such effects were moderated by perceivers’ individual levels …

Who We Are Is Who I Am: Collective Continuity And Socialization Processes For Lgbtq+ Emerging Adults, Kit Turner

WWU Graduate School Collection

One way of understanding the way that society and culture influence identity development is through an examination of collective continuity. Intergenerational socialization from in-group members could be one way that collective continuity develops. However, LGBTQ+ individuals are less likely to receive such socialization from their primary caregivers, and it is unknown how often they may have access to LGBTQ+ elders outside the family of origin. This study sought to examine what kinds of socialization primary caregivers and LGBTQ+ elders engage in, how they differ from each other, and how that socialization relates to collective continuity, identity, and psychological functioning. LGBTQ+ …

Eco-Justice Poetry: An Emotive Transgression, Nicola H. Follis

Summit to Salish Sea: Inquiries and Essays

Dualistic value-hierarchies that are deeply embedded within Western culture assign certain identities, traits and ways of knowing as superior to others. According to eco-justice frameworks, these hierarchies allow some humans to be valued over others and all humans to be valued over the Earth. I specifically talk about the mind/body and human/nature split as two dualities present in Western discourse. Emotions are deemed inferior to the mind’s rational and objective ways of knowing while humans are considered separate and superior to nature. I argue that eco-justice poetry acts as a small transgression against a value- hierarchized culture that devalues emotional …

New Frontiers In Gaming: Playing With Hope, C. Thumper Ormerod

Summit to Salish Sea: Inquiries and Essays

The author, a queer educator, documents how a transformative experience sharing their love of collaborative storytelling games with peers lead to them designing a new game. The author explores the potential of games like Dungeons and Dragons to make space for voices that popular media doesn’t offer a platform to. They explore opportunities to use role playing to practice new social skills, build community, and the potential for emotionally therapeutic play. Finally, outlined is an original game entitled Frontiers which aims to help players develop environmental hope.

Facial Action Coding System And Induced Compassion, Camille Fogel

WWU Honors College Senior Projects

The present study investigated the differential effects of a brief compassion meditation compared to a brief mindfulness meditation on felt and facially expressed compassion while viewing images of suffering. Participants (N = 82) were randomly assigned to one of two meditation conditions designed to promote compassion and relaxation, or relaxation alone. Participants then filmed themselves as they watched a two-minute compassion-inducing video that depicted suffering from around the world. These participant videos were later coded using three-distinct facial coding schemes: Complex FACS, Simplified FACS, and intuition rating. Finally, participants responded to a battery of self-report items about the level of …

Dreams: The Phenomenon Explored Through Scientific, Spiritual, And Subjective Perspectives, Hayden A. Mayer

WWU Honors College Senior Projects

Have you ever wondered what happens while you sleep? Using historical, scientific, and theoretical data we superficially analyze what we believe happens while we're unconscious. We have compiled the most salient contributors to the study of dreams into one presentation, including the Ancient Egyptians Oneiromancy to Freud's psychoanalytic dream interpretations to modern fMRIs. We also discuss the more spiritual side of lucid dreaming and what that may entail.